Some History and Some World Cup Misery

15th January, 1894: It was Western Australia playing against Victoria in an Australian First Class match. There was a tree just inside the boundary. According to rules prevailing in those days, batsmen can run "any number of runs" before the ball crosses the boundary.

A ball hit by one of the batsmen got stuck between two tiny branches on that really huge tree. Since the ball was within the boundary, the batsmen started running. They kept running as the fielding team tried routine methods like throwing stones to retrieve the ball. The ball was not going to budge, like Rahul Gandhi refusing to take back his resignation.

Some tried climbing the tree with futility. It was like defeating Modi in an election, impossible. Finally they called the fire engine ladder to reclaim the ball. Over an hour had lapsed by this time and the batsmen had completed 286 runs. Batsmen too were on the verge of exhaustion, having run close to three and a three quarter miles between those 22 yards. That is the highest runs scored of a single ball in the history of Cricket.

Now, what has this tiny bit of history got to do with the ongoing World Cup ? Well, big brother Pakistan play little brother Bangladesh on "Friday" the 5th July, hoping to qualify for the CWC 2019 Semifinals. They have pretty simple equations before them.

For Pakistan to qualify, they must beat Bangladesh by...
311 runs after scoring 350 Runs
316 runs after scoring 400 Runs
321 runs after scoring 450 Runs

A Tribute To Bumrah: 30 Years Before He Was Born

A confident Saifuddin gestured to Rubel to play out the last 2 balls of Bumrah's last over, the 5th and 6th balls of 48th over of Bangladesh innings. Saif believed he had his chances to get those 29 runs of the remaining 2 overs of Shami and Bhuvan, especially Shami being his target. It was a reasonable hope but Bumrah had other plans and we know what he did to Rubel and Mustafizur of exactly those 2 balls. He left Saif deflated at the non-striker's end and that was the end !

When Bumrah bowls at death, he must be played out. Don't try to hit him. Just stay there because these are balls of fire. These are not my words. These were beautifully expressed in a song from the 1964 Hindi movie "Dooj Ka Chand". Manna Dey made this fervent request to lower order batsmen in lyrics written by Sahir Ludhianvi. Music was composed by Roshan.

Manna Dey repeatedly tells tail end batters "Don't hit, don't hit - Na Maaro Na Maaro". The song goes thus.

Full Gendwa Na Maaro, Na Maaro,
Lagat Karejwa me Chot

It pleads, "Please don't hit the full ball. It will hurt inside the chest." Sahir clearly expresses the desperation of Coaches and well settled batsmen like Saifuddin at the non striker's end. As the ball demolishes the heart of the timber behind the batsman, hit hurts the hearts of the Coach, partner and all the supporters.

The Last Ball Six

Everyone who has played any form of cricket has had this dream. Playing for your country. Hitting a six off the very last ball to win the match. Heck, we have even made a movie of it. Bhuvan hitting the last ball over the boundary to save 3 years’ worth of tax for his village in the climactic scene of Lagaan. Cricket could never have had greater context, an increasingly elusive commodity in modern times. But I digress. 

18th March, 2018. India vs Bangladesh. Dinesh Karthik lofts the last ball over covers to win tournament for India. Bringing a sensational end for what had been a pretty insipid tournament. 

It was one of the moments to cherish. And a reminder to myself why I love this game so much. Don’t remember when I was last jumping up and down during or after a game. And I had only watched the last 3 overs of this game.

In an age of cricketing overdose and no “context” to keep the fans engaged, there came a T20 tri-series (!), in Sri Lanka (!!), with Bangladesh (!!!), where India rested their stars (!!!!) and still sailed through comfortably. At the start, the most interesting bit of the tournament was finding the channel telecasting the tournament– Discovery Sport & Rishtey Cineplex!!! 

But things got a bit spicy as the tournament progressed, mainly due to the antics of the Bangladeshi players during and after their last game with Sri Lanka. Their “naagin dance” celebrations managed to piss off the Sri Lankan fans to such an extent that they came out in vociferous support of India (!) in the Final. Indian teams over the years have had vocal support in all parts of the world, mainly from our expat population. (Benefits of having over 1.3 Billion of us!!!). But never ever have we had the local crowds supporting us in such a manner!

This could be the defining innings for Karthik in an era of abundant wicket-keeping talent. Having made his debut in 2004, has been in and around the Indian team for all this time. Many a times playing as a pure batsman and only on occasion getting to keep wickets in Dhoni’s absence. No one has ever doubted Karthik’s keeping talents. Good to see this unsung performer finally getting his share of the limelight. 

World Cup 2015 - Quarter-Final Predictions

The battle-lines are drawn. The Quarter-finalists identified. 7 games remaining, 7 teams to be knocked out. 1 winner. On the eve of the first of the 4 Quarter-finals, its Divination time – the time to predict the teams still left standing after four days of hopefully intense battle.

Quarter-Final 1 – South Africa vs Sri Lanka

The foremost question - Will South Africa choke again? AB de Villiers has said they won’t. History suggests otherwise.

It’s an intriguing clash between two teams with very evenly matched records against each other. Both are coming in with 4 wins each. South Africa have a suspect record while chasing and a tendency to not make through to the knock-outs. Sri Lanka on the other hand have regularly been reaching the last stages of ICC events. They also have been losing players through the tournament and have a question mark on their bowling.

The toss will be crucial. Both would want to bat first and avoid the scoreboard pressure while chasing.

Prediction – Sri Lanka to win toss, bat first, put up a fairly decent total. South Africa would begin the chase in earnest, then falter, and asphyxiate, resulting in a Sri Lankan victory.

The most expensive over ever !

Alauddin Babu of Bangladesh is now the unfortunate owner of the record for the most runs conceded in a single over in List A cricket. Playing for Abahani Limited against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Limited in the Dhaka Premier League, he conceded 39 runs in a single over, thus shattering Daan Van Bunge's record of 36 runs (which still is the record for ODIs).

Sequence of events, as follows

Ball 1 - No Ball, Boundary [Total - 5 runs, 0 Balls]

Ball 2 - Wide [Total - 6 runs, 0 Balls]

Ball 3 - Six [Total - 12 runs, 1 Ball]

Ball 4 - Boundary [Total - 16 runs, 2 Balls]

Ball 5 - Six [Total - 22 runs, 3 Balls]

Ball 6 - Boundary [Total - 26 runs, 4 Balls]

Ball 7 - Six [Total - 32 runs, 5 Balls]

Ball 8 - Wide [Total - 33 runs, 5 Balls]

Ball 9 - Six [Total - 39 runs, Over Complete]

And the batsman who was at the receiving end of these pleasantries - Elton Chigumbura, the former Zimbabwean captain.

Enough information for any trivia contest.

Nishant Kumar for DieHard Cricket Fans

Follow Nishant on Twitter @NishantSKumar