Most Painful Performances in Cricket Hall of Fame (Contd.)

Somewhere at the back of my mind I had to publish a follow-up to my previous commentary because in all these years of watching cricket there were lot more than just three performances which caused me pain. You might have already noticed that I am using the word ‘performances’ instead of ‘knocks’. This is because even though Cricket is a batsman’s game all the three departments of bowling, batting and fielding need to work in order to make a team go over the line. So here are a few embarrassing moments in the sport of cricket which have well and truly upped my pain levels.

Shastri deadbats:  Ravi Shastri paved the way for many Indian triumphs over the course of his career but the 1992 world cup (which was also his last) came at a time when he was at the nadir of his powers. Shastri started off the world cup with a sluggish 57 (112) against England which India went on to lose by nine runs.  Shastri decelerated further in the next match against Australia where he blocked his way to 25(67) (to be fair to Shastri, he was suffering from a knee injury) and despite some late order heroics from Sanjay Manjrekar and Mohammad Azharuddin, India went onto lose the rain hit match by 1 run (Now can you believe that!).

The Aftermath: Two straight losses sapped India’s momentum from which the team never quite recovered and crashed out of the 1992 world cup. Shastri was dropped for the rest of the tournament but would return later that year for what would be his last series against South Africa. After that series he reinvented himself as a no-nonsense commentator. So All's well that ends well. 

Pain Level: About as painful as biting your own tongue while eating.

 One run was all it took if we couldn't make it we should have at least saved it.

Sujith Soma(saunters): The words India opener and Sujith Somasunder do not instantly ring a bell because Sujith’s stay at the top was briefer than the blink of an eye. Fast tracked into the Indian team (for the Titan Cup (1996)) which was facing an opener crisis, Sujith soon found himself at the deep end when he had to face the barrage of the South African and Australian bowlers in consecutive matches. The latter innings in front of a home crowd returned only 7 runs from 32 deliveries pushing India to the brink and effectively ending his international career.  Sujith’s entry into this hall of fame is unique for the following reasons:

1. His performance featured in a victory rather than in a defeat. 
2. In a hall of fame comprising of mostly veterans (nearing the end of their career or facing mid-career blues) he was a newcomer in his debut series so his two hiccups could be forgiven.
3. I am still not able to decide what was more painful, his struggling innings or his all too brief stay as an Indian opener (trust me nobody likes to see somebody’s boyhood dream being shattered).

The Aftermath: Indian went on to win the match and the Titan Cup but the win would prove to be the only highlight in Sachin Tendulkar’s captaincy resume. After a year at the helm he would vacate the captaincy in favor of former captain Azharuddin to concentrate on his batting. As for Sujith nobody heard of him again until I mentioned him on my blog.

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Pain Level: About as painful as eating a bowl of stale Papaya slices.

 A painless moment on the painful hall of fame: Sachin Tendulkar with the Titan Cup (Courtesy: Times)

The Indian Team Capsizes: Here is another unique entry in the hall of fame my friends. For the first time ever we have an entire team making a mark on this list with their utterly clueless performance. India V/S Sri Lanka scorecards of the mid to late 90's had some amazing similarities. Almost all of them showcased a Sri Lankan win scripted on mauling some inept Indian bowling and nobody feasted more on Indian bowling than the Matara Marauder Sanath Jayasuriya. Jayasuriya’s 189 in the Champions Trophy (triangular series in Sharjah) final traumatized the Indian team to an extent they played like a bunch of amnesiacs who had forgotten the art of batting. Chasing a total of 300, at least a half century is expected from your top order batsmen but the entire team (comprising of modern day greats such as Ganguly, Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh (yes it's him again) and Vinod Kambli (whether Kambli is great or not could be an entire commentary in itself)) capsized to the infinitesimally paltry total of 54 (India's lowest one day score). I have a feeling that none of the above players were in a team which scored so badly even at the school level. In fact this is one event which will never be featured in any of the above player's autobiographies.

The Aftermath: The deplorable result gave a thunderous jolt to the Indian cricket fan who was already reeling under the match fixing controversy. The Indian Team had a makeover with several name players being shown the door but the downward spiral continued until a wristy magician’s knock of 281 turned the tide and laid the foundation for India’s most successful decade in cricket. 

Pain Level: About as painful as being run over by a road roller.

Tendulkar on a night that he would like to forget

 Irate Indian fans giving a piece of their mind to the Indian Team

So there you are my friends, lo-behold our fresh set of inductees into the “Most Painful Performances Hall Of Fame” class.  My good friend Tteja who had read my previous commentary pointed out that such a hall of fame could be avoided if only people who didn’t know how to push on the accelerator knew when to throw their own wicket. While throwing away one’s wicket brings with it the potential danger of triggering a collapse (see the Indian team example above), an educated sacrifice might well give a chance to a more talented player who can come in and step on the gas. So let’s all hope in the future there will be:

1. Coaching for players as to how to throw their wickets when they are stuck in a rut.
2. Coaching for batsmen at the bowler’s end as to how to run their incompetent partners out.
3. Coaching for captains as to how to issue threats to players who refuse to leave even though they are not scoring.

Will these tactics be ever implemented in the game of Cricket? If they are, you will hear about them right here on Life Etc Etc.

Until Next Time,

Yours Sarcastically,

J.J. Chaitanya