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CF Feature : The
Three Kings of Indian Cricket! |
A Feature by Syed Ahsan Ali
on July 20, 2007
India will rely heavily on its three kings,
Dravid, Ganguly and Sachin in the middle order
to take scores on the board somewhere around 400
plus whenever they take guard against the
formidable English bowling attack. We all know
what they can do when they get in, but here we
try to look at their achievements and magical
moments in the land of pioneers of the game
where two of the three big names, Dravid and
Ganguly made their debut in Test cricket.
 Reliable
Dravid: Rahul
Dravid played six tests in England before
this current tour which yielded one victory, one
loss and four draws. But numbers show that
England has been a good hunting ground for “The
Wall”. Average of 87.66 in 6 Tests with three
hundreds and one of which is big double hundred
at the Oval in 2002 shows that he likes the cold
and calm ambience of English cricket.
Personally, 148 at Leeds in 2002 series must
have been the most fulfilling knock for the
great man because his 148 in that match set the
foundation of a big Indian total and of Indian
victory as well. It was the same match in which
the other two kings of Indian cricket - Sachin
and Ganguly made 193 and 128 respectively and
took India to colossal 628 which left England
hopeless and clueless. The ongoing 2007 series
will be another big test for an arguably
greatest Test batsman in Indian line-up because
this time he has another responsibility of
leading his team into the ground.
 Modern
Master Sachin: There is hardly any Test
ground in the world where Sachin went and failed
to register some big knocks there, so it is
futile to talk about what he had done in the
past in English conditions. Obviously, he
flagged the Indian flag amidst his usual
thrilling run-making on past tours. Sachin
represented India in 10 Tests in England before
the Lord's one in 2007 which gave him more than
1000 runs (1074 to be exact) with sterling
average of 71.60 with 4 hundreds and 4 fifties.
His four scores in excess of hundred were all
big - 119 in 1990, 122 and 177 in 1996, and
finally the most crucial century of his
excursions to England of 193 in 2002 which was
the only match-winning century amongst his four
in total in England. It came in the same match
where Dravid and Ganguly got together to nail
England up. Tendulkar has nothing to prove
except his current vein of form which he has
already displayed in tour match. Hopefully, he
will get his act right to win Test series abroad
which is becoming a jinx for Indian cricket.
 Fighter
Ganguly: There have been many moments in
Dada’s cricketing career where circumstances
tried to pushed him aside and tried to tell that
he is not a good enough Test batsman on the
basis of his inability to face the short-pitch
stuff. But Dada is usually a title for the man
who has seen all of this and still gets ready to
see the storms of life again with the same
attitude. In the recent past, Ganguly was
treated as a forgotten lion of Indian cricket
but his persistence paid off and he is again in
the forefront of match-winners for the English
tour. His six outings in England yielded him 666
runs (ominous number) with three hundreds and
three fifties. His only match winning knock of
128 came in the same match where Dravid and
Sachin also helped immensely in amassing the
only victory of their Test career in England.
His reflexes would have come under strict
scrutiny against the bouncy stuff against the
likes of Harmison but then the hernia injury to
Harmy has ruled out any battle.
If these three big names punch a combined effort
then things will be difficult to retrieve for
the English camp definitely. Utility of these
three kings can be gauged that when they made
runs, Indian won at the Leeds in 2002, so all we
can ask is that they deliver and deliver it at
the same time in the same inning and in the same
match to encore 2002.
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