Why I love Test Cricket more than T20 or ODI’s.

The debate has been going around for quite some time now, as to which is the best form of cricket in today’s world. People have already given their verdict out with packed stadiums for T20 matches or you can say franchise cricket. On the other hand you have senior sportsperson and torch bearers of the game who are emphasizing the never say die nature of test cricket. Some how the answer can be seen in the recently concluded IND-ENG and SA-AUS series. Wow what an awesome display of cricket was on platter for all pure cricket lovers like us.

It is the form of cricket, were coaches tell you to give the first hour to the bowler. Fight out the initial tough phase of the session and there after pounce on every offering given to you. A type of cricket were multiple plans need to be placed, were strategies change every session and were the lady luck might just shine on you with that last throw of dice. Still remember Tendulkar being given last over of the day in Multan test (2004) and how he managed to zip the ball between Moin Khan’s legs and knock his wickets.

Oh! You always love a fast bowler running steamily on a fast Perth wicket, bowling his heart out and making the batsman dance on his tunes. Or an elegant batsman making right use of his footwork and diffusing all the tactics of the bowler. The cat and mouse game that goes on between sessions. Surviving those few anxious moments of the last session before the day ends. The night watchman coming to the teams rescue in those moments, just to prevent your premium batsmen being exposed. The type of cricket that separates the men from the boys.

Things with test cricket often become iconic for eg. Shane Warne, showing his ball to the crowd after reaching each of his landmarks. Sachin Tendulkar, obliging the almighty after each of his hundred with arms fully stretched towards heaven.

The crowd equally contributes to the high voltage drama that goes on in the centre. The cheers are definitely higher when you see an Aussie bowler sledging the batsmen just out of sheer frustration. The kind of support that a bowler receives from the crowd in the stands at the boundary line when he has given bodyline treatment to the opposition. The West Indian crowd would in fact yell it out “Hey Mickey (Michael Holding), knock his head off man”. The Eden Gardens crowd is what many cricketers admire, just for the love and passion with which they support their game. Indeed they even bring goose bumps on those watching the action from their backyard.

With test cricket, come the moments that last forever. Receiving that national cap, for which millions sweat it out under the sun, from your seniors in the team on the first day of your debut test match or escorting your team off the park at the end of the day’s play, after a sensational batting display or after wrecking the backbone of opponents batting order. Or the guards of honour that a legend gets in his last appearence as a player from the opposition team. Moments like these are always special. You don’t forget them ever. That’s why probably Baggy green (Australia’s national cap) is given so much importance.

More than any thing, what Test cricket gives you is the chance to be a part of the legacy. You get compared with the greats of the game on reaching landmarks. No one remembers a T20 hundred scored for some franchise. But centuries made at Lords, SCG are always recorded at their gallery.

More often that not what we see in T20 cricket is that the ground conditions remain same everywhere, in whichever continent you play. Flat belter tracks that give more sixes and fours and make bowlers feel “Why the hell did I choose to become a Bowler”. But that is not the case with Test cricket. You have seaming tracks in England, turning ones in the subcontinent and bouncy tracks in SA and Australia. More importantly over the period of five days, the wicket itself changes its nature and with that changes the fortunes of the two teams. That makes test cricket, the most challenging format of the game and a more intriguing one for die hard cricket lovers.

To me T20 cricket is like Fast food cricket, at least that’s what I would like to call it. Have that little bit of burger or pizza and you are done for the day. But test cricket is not like that. It is like our well cooked biryani or a vintage wine. And we all know that biryani would always ‘test’ better than a chicken puff.

The coming year also stores in some lavish feast of test cricket for all of us. The up coming series against the Aussies in Feb and then the age old rivals lock horns again with the Ashes being scheduled in the later half of the year.

Let the fighting spirits be high and hope for some grueling on field contest.

                                                                                                      OMKAR JUVEKAR.

The phenomenon called Hundredth Hundred

A person whose name is synonymous with the game, the one who is a symbol of sheer hard work and dedication, who is considered a Demigod in His nation, now sees Himself at the pinnacle of all records. It almost seems impossible for any living person in this universe to even reach near to the landmark. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, for whom life has been nothing but cricket, is now in that kind of a phase.

It’s obviously very tough to choose the best among the best Tendulkar hundreds, that you have watched and in fact lived them throughout your life. But there are some none the less that stand out and define why He is called ‘The God’. The hundreds which he scored at Sharjah definitely top the list. Virat Kohli confessed that those were the awe-inspiring innings that influenced his career decision and he dreamt of repeating some thing like that for the nation one day. It was famously described as ‘The Sandstorm inning’.

Chennai has always been a favorite hunting ground for the God. The night mares of 1998 are still fresh in the minds of Shane Warne and that superlative knock on the last day against England after 26/11, which He dedicated to NSG and Indian Army. Of course, who can forget that epic inning of 136 against Pakistan in 1999, when India lost by 11 runs. Even God could not control His emotions that day and the nation cried along with Him. Emotions have always been an integral part of a Tendulkar hundred, but the century against Kenya in 1999 World Cup had no comparison. He had to take that hard decision between personal loss and national duty.

Apart from Chennai, Tendulkar has loved playing on SCG. Some of the innings that stand out for their special aspect is the 241* at Sydney where He controlled Himself from playing front foot drive which was causing his dismissal most of the times during that period. The hundred in the test match that included the so called monkey gate incident at the same venue 4 yrs later and His hundred in the CWB Tri series final on the same tour, were again an epitome of class and genius. Cricket pundits have lauded His hundred at Perth on tour to Australia in ’92 as a knock that unleashed the fighting spirit in Him which the world was about to see in coming years.

Along with 1998, one more year that would define Tendulkar’s career would be 2010. He was just phenomenal that year. It began with two test hundreds against Bangladesh, two against South Africa, a double against Sri Lanka, a double against Australia and ended with that coveted 50^th Test Hundred against South Africa at Centurion. But in between another landmark happened. A double hundred in ODI. Undoubtedly it was an innings of a lifetime. An interesting fact here can be observed –He had scored 4 double hundreds in His career of 20 years long but scored 3 back to back in a single year. To add to that the orange cap in IPL. Definitely age (38) was just another number for Him in 2010.

Again one inning which I was amazed to see was of 175 against Australia at Hyderabad in 2009. Australia had set a daunting target of 350 runs to chase and from the entire star studded Indian line up, it looked like only Tendulkar had the belief that the target was achievable. If we look at His career graph, we can see that some of His long innings have come in the past few years. Just like an old wine, his taste with success has continued to become richer with years. Even the two hundreds which He hit in 2011 World Cup against England and South Africa were a delight to watch.

Its just amazes me how can a knock of hundred runs capture entire Nation’s attraction and the kind of satisfying feeling which it gives to everyone that day. The fact that in the entire year after the World Cup, the 100^th hundred phenomena became the epicenter of any Indian match just speaks about the adulation that this man gets. Such are the emotions of people attached to each of His inning that Sachin equivalents to a century for them and nothing else. Years down the line a Tendulkar hundred has achieved such a stature that even the result of the match seems inconsequential (as observed in the Asia Cup match and in many more previous instances). People are just too satisfied with a Tendulkar hundred. It makes their day and gives them a peaceful sleep. Although the God, Himself would hate that. It has always been team first for Him.

After the golden moment was achieved by the Master Blaster, Harsha Bhogle in his video blog asked all cricket fans to just sit back, relax and repeat those words “One Hundred Hundreds” and experience the goose bumps that every hardcore Indian cricket fan would feel. Indeed how true is that.

Enjoy the God at work till He is on the field. Who knows you may just won’t love the game any more after He retires.

                                                                                                            OMKAR.D.JUVEKAR.