The 2015 Kotla Test. Blockathon. Ind vs SA 3-7 December.

India and South Africa locked horns for a full series involving 3 T20I , 5 ODI and 4 Test matches And it turned out to be One of the most wonderful contests in the recent past.

Rohit Sharma produced two spectacular innings in both the limited overs format of the series, both went in vain in a losing cause.
Limited over cricket saw the individual brilliances of AB DeVilliers, Faf Du Plesis , J P Duminy , Quinton De kock and a new energentic revelation Rabada.

Over to the test matches , India won Mohali and Nagpur on rank turners, Rain played spoilsport in Bengaluru and denied India a probable win.

Then comes Delhi. Ferozeshah Kotla. The ground where India have never lost a test. A ground where Kumble got his perfect 10. Skipper Virat Kohli's home ground. Ajinkya Rahane's debut ground. And what a way to begin the Day 1. Virender Sehwag being felicitated for being one of India's greatest match winner ever. The only Indian to score two triples. A great gesture by the authorities to name the two ends as Viru 319 end and Viru 309 end.

Day 1 wasnt any different from all the opening days of each test match of the series, Team batting first losing 5 - 6 wickets in the first 2 sessions. Indis from being 139/6  managed to post a decent 334 on the board , courtesy lower middle order and lower order supporting Ajinkya Rahane who reached his milestone of his first test hundred in India and 5th overall , and important contributions from Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.

Ravindra Jadeja probably bowled one of the most magnificient bowling spells of his career scalping 5 wickets for 30 runs , enabling India to skittle out South Africa for a paltry 121 runs. India did not enforce a follow on.

Another Ajinkya Rahane special well supported by Virat Kohli helped India post 264/5 and declare the innings. Rahane being only the 5th Indian batsman in the history of the game to score Hundreds in both the innings of a test match.

South Africa set a taarget of 481, which always looked highly unlikely on a slow wicket. Surviving almost 6 sessions looked highly improbable.

What Kotla witnessed on 6th and 7th December 2015 was an epic Blockathon.
Ashwin provoided an early breakthrough and South Africa were 5/1.
Then came Hashim Amla. The epitome of patience and temperament. On both his earlier tours he had tormented India to a great extent, scoring hundreds at will.
Hashima and Bavuma blocked blocked and blocked everything till finally Ashwin had the better of Bavuma rattling his defenses.

Then walked in probably the Greatest batsman of the current era, A B DeVilliers.
Indian bowlers bowled whatever they could , however they could. These two greats of South African cricket blocked everything thrown at them , and not even attempting to score any run.
Maiden overs after Maiden overs were bowled. They survived the day . South Africa ended the day at 72/2 in 72 overs. probably the slowest ever run scoring witnessed ever. It was a defensive coaching manual at the crease. A lesson learning experience for all the close in fielders watching Amla and DeVilliers bat , block , defend each and every delivery for hours and hours.

On the final day, Ravindra  Jadeja produced probably a delivery which he would remember for the rest of his life that kissed and hugged the off stump of Hashim Amla. India had the gates opened. But still there were Faf and JPD to be negotiated.
Amla had faced 254 balls for his 25 - 30 odd runs.

Faf and ABD continued the Blockathon , and just when there was a feeling that it might end in a immensly hard fought draw... Jadeja got Faf LBW. DuPlesis blocked 92 balls for his 10 runs.
For the record, It took 53 deliveries for Faf to open his account.

Ashwin then gor JP Duminy LBW.
Dane Vilas joined ABDeVilliers and they continued blocking everything.

South Africa took tea at 135/5. fading light and just about 30 overs they had to survive.

But, after this mamoth blockathon...so far about 135 overs had been bowled , it just took another 8 overs to knock out South Africas bottom half side, that included the wicket of the master sir AB Devilliers. 43 runs in 297 balls..

India won the test. But South African batsmen won hearts... A test that shall always be a memorable one for a long time to come. 

India vs South Africa: Memories from the past.

South Africa, after being re-inducted into international cricket, played its first One Day series against India in India.
1991 - 92 season
India won the series 2 -1. It was more about the inexperienced proteas team rather than a strong Indian performance.
A season later, India went on its first full tour to South Africa comprising of 7 ODIs and a full test series.
Mohd. Azharuddin was the Indian skipper, while Proteas were led by Kepler Wessels, who had also represented Australia early in his career.
The pacy and bouncy SouthAfrican pitches were a mystery for Indian batsmen as Indians were reduced to totals of 140 and 180 odd in the first two games after winning the toss. South Arica took an early 2 -0 lead.
The third game, Azhar won the toss and opted to field first and rightly so. India chased down South Africas total courtesy a fine 113 by W V Raman. South Africa won the next 3 games and India managed to restore some pride by winning the last game courtesy Pravin Amre. South Africa won 5-2. India lost the test series as well 1-0
India again toured SA in the 1996 -97 season. This time they had the wall. India lost this time as well but there some amazing stellar performances as well. Sachins 169 , Azhar scored a ton as well, so did Dravid. Kumble was the leading wicket taker.
In between, there came the Motera test. It was South African tour to India.  Sachin Tendulkar was the skipper. South Africa were given a modest target to chase and they were well prepared to play spin. But Sachin and A certain Javagal Srinath had some other plans. Srinath gave a career best haul to help India win the game which was almost lost.
Then came arrival of Sehwag in the test team. He signalled his arrival with a bang. A century at Blomfomtein. The same series witnessed the Mark Dennes controversy. And one test was given an unofficial status.
Though South Africans most of the times dominated India in the longer format of the game, India had reasonably good success against them in the limited overs game. One might never forget the last over in the hero cup semi final bowled by Sachin against a hard hitting Brian McMillan. Even the best of the bowlers could not have defended 4 runs required of the last over. India beat them again in the Titan cup.
India have pulled off some games from the jaws of defeat. While most of the games have seen a complete South African domination. South Africa and Australia were the only teams having beaten India in a test series in India for almost 2 decades, until the Brits beat India a couple of seasons ago with Panesar and Swann as wrecker in chief.
I am not putting the numbers and scores here. Thats all available on so many search engines and cricket sites. My purpose of writting this page is just reminding the incredible matches played between the two top cricketing nations and also to acknowledge the top performers for the both sides against each other.
With a long full series coming up in Oct 2015. Its only apt to recollect those names who made cricket matches interesting between the two sides.
For India
Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid, Azharuddin, Kumble, Ganguly, Sehwag, Sreesanth (yes you got it right.he won India a rare test match on SA soil), Laxman, Zaheer, Javagal Srinath, Harbhajan Singh.
For South Africa
Allan Donald, Gary Kirsten, Shaun Pollock, Jonty Rhodes, McMillan, Lance Klusener, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Pat Symcox, Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith, Kepler Wessels.

Hope we get to witness another great series and India triumph under the leadership of Kohli and mentorship of Ravi Shashtri.
ciao.

Opposition Tail Enders- Nightmares for India

THE INABILITY OF INDIAN BOWLING TO WIPE OUT OPPOSITION TAILS.



There were days in the nineties and also before when Indian team had the ammunition to wipe out the remainder of the opposition tail quickly in a matter of overs.
Anil Kumble being the leading destroyer most of the times. Kapil did it a few times.
The way Anil Kumble used to run into the tail and wipe them out, almost put India in a comfortable zone.
I can remember the infamous Sydney test of 2007. Australians were 5 or 6 down for a little over 150. A few umpiring errors , a few missed moments , and a gigantic innings from Andrew Symonds saw Australia not only post a huge total, but also register a thrilling win.
Many a times In the games versus England, India managed to get the first 5 or 6 wickets very quickly, and just when you think its gonna be India all the way , you have people like Ian Bell forming a huge partnership with someone like Butler, Moeen Ali or Broad who come in at no.7 , no.8 and no.9. the last 2 or 3 wicket partnerships pile up double than what the top 6 have got.. and there you have, India chasing the score all throughout the test match with the likes of Anderson, Broad and others challenging the Indian T20 specialists with genuine pace , swing and spin.
It is for the BCCI and the Indian think tank to think and plan and put in place a way for  a future that has to be promising.
Zaheer Khan and Ishant probably have been the last top quality fast bowlers that India has managed to produce. And how often Ishant has been off colour, giving the opposition a massive advantage on the first morning of the test match.
When can India have a pace bowler , bowling at 140-145kmph regularly on every corner of the planet, bowling in that corridor of uncertainity, bowling good challenging short stuff..? Without this important factor, looks highly unlikely India can win a few games in the near future whilst relying on the most inconsistent  batting line up ever , which has a habit of collapsing in a hurry, in a matter of few overs. (remember India's 2014 tour to England 1-2). Abject surrender has often been the word used.
We have had the most wonderful brains and huge legends of the game. Yet , the future doesn't look so bright. Its high time the BCCI , the coach and the captain think about a strategy to counter these dark clouds that loom over the greatest cricketing nation in the world.
We need bowlers who can clean up the likes of Ab DeVilliers, Williamson, Root, Steve Smith,Cook, Bell , Amla et all.. and We need batsmen who can face and stand tall against bowlers like Anderson- Broad, Morkel-Styen-Philander, Hazelwood-Johnson-Starc-Pattinson.. not on batting friendly wickets like Nagpur, but seaming and pacy conditions in Perth or Cape Town.
Certainly, there can never be another fab 5 , who have stood tall against the best of the bowlers of their time, and the Master Sir Sachin Tendulkar, who has faced Generations of fast bowlers!
Take a bow Sachin - Dravid-VVS-Sehwag-Ganguly in that order!

Bright and sunny days of indian cricket gone or lost!

Over the last two to three decades , Indian cricket followers and fans have witnessed some of the greatest cricketing moments in test match history, some great battles, nail biting finishes, spectacular individual brilliance that changes the game on its head, and some very very emotional moments of joy which have given a lump in the throat of many of us...
It was the England on its tour to India in 1992 -93 , An English team which had the likes of Graham Gooch , Mike Gatting , Alex Stewart, Graeme Hick and a few more.. India led by Mohd. Azharuddin had a young and inexperienced side that had Sachin Tendulkar,Anil Kumble , Venkatpathy Raju, Vinod Kambli, Rajesh Chauhan , kiran More .. That was the series INDIA whitewashed the British 3-0 , Kumble the wrecker in chief with 21 wickets in the series. That was the beginning of India dominance at home. The ODI series was shared 3-3.
The 1992 Tour to Australia saw the master Sachin Tendulkar scoring centuries at Perth and Sydney against a bowling attack that comprised of McDermott, Merv Hughes & co. Though India lost the series 4-0 and Sydney test drawn, It showed that India are in for a great future with young players stepping up and performing well.
Come 1996-97 and The Prince of Kolkatta signalled his arrival with a bang.. a ton at Lords on test Debut. The 96 runs scored by Rahul Dravid on Debut was overshadowed by the Off side brilliance of Sourav Ganguly.
Tendulkars brilliance at headingley had the british in awe.
Though India also lost the series in South Africa, Tendulkar and Azharuddin did play some magnificient innings to restore some pride.
In the middle of this lovely , fairy tale batting brilliances , there came that Painful test loss at Chennai against Pakistan which also witnessed one of the greatest innings in test match history by none other than the master himself, Sachin Tendulkar 136.
Anil Kumble at Kotla cleaned up the entire Pakistani team by picking 10 wickets in the innings.
A few years later came that sweet , one of its kind , one of the greatest test battles ,one of the greatest turnarounds, the 2001 test at Eden Gardens . The guy who turned the match on its head along with Rahul Dravid, had previously tormented the aussies in Sydney in 1999, by scoring 167 runs in a losing cause. That was just the indication of the things to come in future. At the Eden, while Australia were looking to wrap up things and the test most likely turning into a day 4 finish, Very Very Special Laxman played the innings of his life , turned the match and the series , ending the Australian record breaking juggernaut.
2003 test at Adelaide, another spectacle and a proud moment for Indian cricket. Ponting got a double and Australia piled up 550 plus. VVS and Dravid once again repeated kolkatta ,Ajit Agarkar broke the aussie batting and India chased down the total. Another lump in the throat moment.
Tendulkars brilliance at Sydney almost won India a series in Australia, before Steve Waugh Holded fort and the series was drawn.
 Mr. Virender Sehwag, probably the most destructive batsman India has ever produced, Century on debut against South Africa, almost a double (195) in the boxing day test at MCG, from being called Nawab of Najafgarh, One innings of brilliance and power, saw his coronation as Multan ka Sultan. 309, Indias first triple centurion, having Sachin (194) at the other end, saw India win the test match comfortably. A Rahul Dravid brilliance at Rawalpindi sealed the series for India.2-1
All these gentlemen, All part of one single team, The most feared batting line up in world cricket, Those were the most glorious days of Indian Cricket we have seen in our life.
Sachin, Sehwag, Dravid , Laxman, Ganguly the Fab Five, along with the spin duo of Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble gave India and its cricket crazy people many a smiles to remember.
All good things have to come to an end.. and the end began from 2011.. Indias tour to England.
By now, India had won the WorldCup in 2011, world T20 in 2007 and the extravaganza called IPL had already started.
The beginning of Decline-
2011 tour to England. None of the batsman clicks, None of the bowler seems to clean up the opposition. The English tail wagged in every test match, innings after innings, nothing seemed happening, Batsmen.. apart from Rahul Dravid, failed miserably, India lost 4-0.
Few months later, India Tour Australia .. the nightmares of England are repeated and India lost 4-0.
England visit India, Sehwag's brilliance helps India win the first test, then in the other tests, the best players of spin fall apart to English spinners and a series is Lost. 1-2.
The Phase of transition comes.
Ganguly , Dravid , laxman retire.
Sachin carries on for another season. Then retires.
I would read it as retirements of the master class ,retirement of the temperament , retirement of rock solid defense, Retirement of the technique and ability to stay on the crease for long.
None of the Indian batsman in the recent years has shown any of the following qualities consistently.
Too much of Limited overs cricket and IPL ? Ex- players say its rubbish to blame the IPL for this.
Indian test match scenario has come to the point that, none of the batsmen can survive good quality bowling, swing bowling, spin bowling.. None of the Bowlers have the ability to wipe out the opposition tail.
Todays Loss at Galle against Sri Lanka , confirms all our fears.. India as a test playing country is no longer a threat it used to be.
matches that should have been won.. are Lost... all in the name of positive cricket.
Gone are the days when we had VVS - Dravid who could bat all day , Gone are the days when we had Sehwag who could turn the game in one session, Gone are the days when we had Anil kumble wiping out the tail in a matter of few overs.
Hope Indian Cricket authorities realise before it is too late... We don't want to see an Indian team now losing a test match to Bangladesh.. probably that would be the last nail in the coffin...
- An Indian Cricket follower, mourning todays loss at Galle.