Saurav
Ganguly’s First ODI as Captain Today!
Ind vs S. Africa @ Kochi
9th March 2000
[This Day - 24 years ago]
The first sensational feature about this match was that –
Saurav Ganguly – considered the 'God of off-side' of Indian cricket, was chosen to lead Team India, at a time when Indian cricket was going through a very bad phase, or rather one of the toughest phases ever, with a lot of match fixing allegations against a few top notch players!
In fact, the mantle fell on Saurav, also because Sachin had resigned as Captain of the Indian side quite recently, after a dismal show in the World Cup, - as the little master wasn’t comfortable playing his inimitable mesmerising shots, under the weight of captaincy on his shoulders.
As the Bridge Chronicle rightly observes,
‘The turn of the century saw tumultuous times in Indian cricket. The match-fixing saga made the fans move away from the sport that they considered their life’.
Yes! And I’m one among them. Up until the year 2000, my diary entries were always a kinda cricketing almanac of sorts! 😊
However, after this year, for the past 24 years, I have never watched a single cricket match anywhere anytime on TV or otherwise! 😊
Such was the huge letdown that some of us die-hard fans of the game felt, when we saw some of our favourite cricketers like Ajay Jadeja (one of the finest fielders we’ve ever had), Azharuddin (one of our finest batsmen), Hansie Cronje (one of the most successful allrounders and captains as well), were accused of having been involved in the match fixing scandal.
Coming back –
On this particular day, we had the first ODI between India and South Africa, at the Nehru Stadium, Kochi.
South Africa won the toss and elected to bat. They amassed a pretty score of 301 – 3!
This was a sensational match of sorts!
The second sensational feature about this particular match was –
Faced with a huge burden up his sleeves, the Bengal tiger, [who is known for displaying his prowess under pressure], elegantly lifted the Indian side to its winning knock of 302 – 7 in 49.4 overs. Ajay Jadeja top scored for India with 92 runs.
[And interestingly, India had won this five-match series 3-2, and Sachin Tendulkar was adjudged the Player of the Series].
The third sensational feature of this particular match was that, Rahul Dravid, considered ‘The Wall’ of Indian Cricket, bowled in this match at Kochi. He bowled some magnificent spells with 2 – 43 in nine overs! This disciplined spell by ‘The Wall’ was instrumental in ‘curtailing’ the South African juggernaut!
The fourth sensational feature about this particular match was that, India had celebrated the same victory twice for this particular match! 😊
Well, the match was heading towards a nail-biting finish!
And with four runs needed off four balls, Robin Singh and Kumble were busy spear-heading the Indian defence!
It was at this time, that, Kumble top-edged Shaun Pollock over the keeper’s head towards the boundary. Kallis, a very good fielder himself, dived to get at the ball! And it so appeared that, the ball had hit the boundary rope!
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| Courtesy: AFP |
Eventually, this led to impulsive celebrations on the Indian front, and all the batsmen rushed merrily to join their team mates, for their customary celebratory hugs!
After they had almost left the field, the umpires discovered that the ball had been stopped and the batsmen had run three. So one more run was needed from three balls. 😊
This move by the umpires shocked the entire cricketing world! However, Robin Singh gave that elegant winning knock, and India really won!
So it was a double win for India for this match! And how! 😊
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