On October 29, 1986, a stunning batting collapse ensued. Chasing a moderate target of 240 for a win, West Indies were reduced to 43 for nine by Pakistan thanks to an inspired bowling performance by leg-spinner Abdul Qadir. Sarang Bhalerao revisits one of Pakistan’s thumping win over strong West Indies side in Faisalabad.
I saw a tiny 12-year-old Sachin Tendulkar at the Kamat Memorial Cricket Club, which was handled by Ramakant Achrekar sir. Sachin was very regular in the nets. The wickets during practice session were mud-tracks on which the ball used to do all sorts of tricks. But young Sachin would get into good position and had enough time to play his shots. He hated getting out in the nets and always put a price on his wicket.
On October 26, 1952, Fazal Mahmood bowled Pakistan to a comprehensive win over India at the University Ground, Lucknow on a jute-matting wicket. The surface perplexed the Indians casting a shadow of doubt in their minds. Sarang Bhalerao looks at the maiden triumph of Pakistan over their arch rivals.
On October 25, 1993, Daryll Cullinan scored a chanceless 337 which is the highest score in the history of South African domestic cricket. Sarang Bhalerao takes a look at the record-breaking innings by the stylish Cullinan.
Alex Tudor, born on October 23, 1977, is one of the English fast bowlers who showed a lot of promise at the start of his career. His unbeaten 99 at Edgbaston as a nightwatchman showed glimpses of his talent as a batsman. Sadly the spate of untimely injuries proved fatal to his career. Sarang Bhalerao profiles the cricketing career of Tudor.
Armaan Jaffer, the young prodigy, is the run-machine with a penchant for gigantic scores. His compendiums of 473 and 498 in the Harris Shield highlight his jaw-dropping run-hunger. Sarang Bhalerao takes a look at the making of Armaan the run-machine.
I was in Ruia College which had a fantastic cricket team. One day we were casually discussing the batting of Ajit Tendulkar. One of our friends told us: "Forget Ajit, have you seen his younger brother’s batting?"
My first memory of meeting a little Sachin Tendulkar was in 1988 when I was leading Baroda in the Ranji Trophy game. We were playing Bombay at Thane’s Dadoji Kondev Stadium. One of the Bombay players introduced me to him. Tendulkar asked me tips about batting. When I was telling him the nuances of batting, he was completely attentive. He wanted to learn the intricacies of batting.
Ishant Sharma is the senior-most member of the bowling unit but he has looked out-of-sorts. His recent performances against Australia have been below-par. Sarang Bhalerao goes into the analytical mode and studies Ishant’s recent performances.
Ishant Sharma, who conceded 30 runs in an over against Australia on Saturday, became the Indian bowler to concede most runs in an over – equalling Yuvraj Singh’s feat when the left-arm spinner was carted by Dimitri Mascarenhas at The Oval in 2007. Sarang Bhalerao looks at the ignominious record by the Indians.