In Loving Memory of Sir Garfield Sobers: The Ultimate Genius of Cricket

The passing of Sir Garfield "Gary" Sobers marks one of the most poignant moments in the history of cricket—a loss as profound to the sporting world as the departures of Sir Donald Bradman and Richie Benaud. To speak of Gary Sobers is to speak of an archetype: a cricketer so uniquely gifted, so supremely versatile, and a human being of such boundless warmth that conventional language buckles under the weight of his genius.

He was not merely an all-rounder; he was a force of nature who redefined what a single player could contribute to a team. It was often said, with equal parts awe and resignation from opponents, that playing against the West Indies in his era was a lost cause before the first ball was bowled. Why? Because while the opposition brought 11 men to the field, the Caribbean side effectively fielded 15—such was Sobers’ capacity to dominate as a world-class batsman, a triple-threat bowler (fast-medium, orthodox spin, and wrist-spin), and a legendary close-in fielder.

On the field, he was pure electricity. There was never a dull session, let alone a dull match, when Gary was out in the middle. His zeal, unbridled enthusiasm, and sheer, intoxicating passion for the game radiated off the pitch and captivated crowds around the world. Long before the advent of One Day Internationals or T20 cricket, Sobers was playing the game with the

The Gandhian Cricket Story

The Lucknow pitch was mourning on the eve of Martyr's day. It had decided not to allow violence. Hence no batsman was able to "hit" the ball for a six, not even Surya Kumar Yadav. It was a night of near total nonviolence. As hard as they tried, nobody could send the ball over the ropes in 239 attempts.

Only batter who looked comfortable and capable of big hitting was Washington. No wonder, with that American name, he seems to have no reverence for Gandhi. Fortunately, SKY ran Washington out to ensure there won't be any blasphemous violence. 

Hardik Pandya hails from the home state of Gandhi. But the New Zealand Captain Mitchell Santner proved to be more aware of the occasion than Hardik. Hardik had 3 overs of spin left in his kitty but he chose to unleash violence through pace. Santner on the other hand got everyone to bowl spin and even tried to coax his fastest bowler to "spin". It was truly magical that New Zealanders were more Gandhian than Indians as they chose to "Spin" in honor of the Saint of Sabarmati.

Finally, it was a tight finish with the hosts choosing not to hurt the sentiments of visitors in an exhibition of true Gandhian ethos. Lucknow, the city famous for its Ganga - Jamuni Tehzeeb of Nawabs combined Gandhi with Modi and declared, "Na Maaroonga, Na Maarne Doonga !".

Newer generation unfamiliar with Gandhi and his values called it boring Cricket. But it was truly Gandhian Cricket where T20 was played in Test Match mode. No, not the Bazball type but the 1947 mode. Perhaps we can call it Gandzball. Finally, as Shastri (Ravi, not Lal Bahadur) would say, "The game of Cricket was the winner !" because New Zealand couldn't believe they lost it and India couldn't believe they won.

PS: Hope the ICC slaps some demerit points on Lucknow pitch. It wasn't a pitch. It was Mirpur in slow motion.

Govind Raj Shenoy for DieHard Cricket Fans

Shubman Gill : Enormity of That Double Hundred

It's a special, very special knock by Shubman Gill, a lot more special than the very recent and much quicker Double hundred by Ishan Kishan. Here are some tidbits that tell the story of enormity.

Shubman: 208 of 149 balls

All others: 128 of 151 balls

Shubman: 19 fours, 9 sixers

All others: 12 fours, 2 sixers

Both sixers were hit by Rohit and no other batsman cleared the boundary after Rohit got out.

Second highest score: 34 (of 38 balls) by Captain Rohit as no other batter came anywhere near 50.

SKY with 31 of 26 was the only other batter to strike at above 100% (SR: 119.23) while Shubman scored at 139.59 strike rate.

Collective strike rate of all other batters was 84.77% compared to Shubman's 139.59%.

Shubman scored 61.9% of the runs coming of the bat and 59.6% of the team total, playing just under half of the 300 balls.

Shubman had a reprieve, thanks to missed catch by Latham. But that's always part of the game. The way he plated from 48th over is testimony to his ability to switch gears.

This was indeed a very special knock and in the process, Shubman Gill became the "Fastest Indian" to 1000 ODI runs.

The Shubman Gill era has officially begun !

Govind Raj Shenoy for DieHard Cricket Fans

All reac 

The Elephant in the Room

Disclaimer: This is about Test Cricket. Hence keeping Rishabh Pant, white ball Cricket and Sanju Samson fans out of the debate.

Rahul, Pujara and Rahane have faced a lot of flak for non performance and fitness issues over the past 3 years. Both Purane were dropped and Pujara has come back through some gritty performances thanks to a fruitful English county season. Rahane continues to strive in domestic Cricket. Rahul at least has two overseas hundreds in two test wins in England and South Africa, though his overall performance in non century knocks has been pathetic. 

But as far as red ball cricket is concerned, the Elephant in the room is Virat Kohli. He has had absolutely horrible three years.

2020: 116 runs at 19.33 

2021: 536 runs at 28.21

2022: 265 runs at 26.5 

A total of 917 runs with 5 scores of 50+ in 36 innings in three years. Overall, his average was 26.2 in the last 3 years.

An Ode to Cricket

In the green fields of summer

The cricketers play,

With bat and ball they battle

For victory each day.

The bowlers run and hurl

Their pitches with all their might,

While the batsmen stand and wait

To give their best a fight.

The wicket falls, the fielding team cheers,

Another batsman takes the crease,

Determined to score runs

And bring his team to victory with grace.

Diarrhea of Runs

First day of Rawalpindi test between hosts Pakistan and England became the first ever test where Umpires offered bad light to bowling team to save them from English batters.

On a day when England scored at 6.74 RPO, Joe Root with 23 of 31 balls was the miserable failure for England with a pathetic strike rate of 74.19.

Pakistan's most economical bowler conceded 5.64 RPO in 17 overs.

England had 4 centurions, with Zak Crawley scoring 4th fastest ton (86 balls) for England. That record lasted a session and a half as Harry Brook did better in 80 balls.

Ben Ducket's hundred was really pedestrian with a strike rate of just 97.27.

4 centuries and 504 runs in a day are new records for Bazballing.

If England were to bat full 90 overs for the day, they could have had a fifth centurion in Ben Stokes and a total in excess of 600.

England players were leaking till yesterday. But once the game began, only Pakistan bowlers were leaking.

England hit 73 fours and 3 sixers in 75 overs, making it at least one boundary every over and 310 runs through boundaries.

Pakistanis taught the English how to wash their arses during diarrhea. English players did a great job of it on ground. Dho Daala !

Finally, the Umpires saved Pakistan from English WMD.

Govind Raj Shenoy for DieHard Cricket Fans