Wills World Cup 1996
But let me here talk about Indian cricket in the last 15 years beginning from the Wills World Cup of 1996 in the sub continent. Lead by Azharuddin, India were one of the fancied teams in the competition being the main hosts. The league phases were breezy with the exception of a blip against Australia where a poor finish cost us the match and of course when Jayasuriya took the game away from us while chasing 271. The quarter final against Pakistan still remains one of the most talked about games in ODI cricket. India out did Pakistan to book a place in the last 4 where Sri Lanka had the last laugh on a slow turner. Sachin Tendulkar announced himself as THE MAN to watch out for in the future scoring 523 runs aided by two centuries. Anil Kumble snapped 15 wickets and was the highest wicket taker of the competition.
1996
Soon after the World Cup we toured England in the series where Dravid & Ganguly made their test debuts. English bowlers had Indians in a web early in the swinging conditions. Tendulkar was the lone ranger scoring a counter attacking hundred against the like of Peter Marin, Dominic Cork, Chris Lewis & Min Patel. Dravid & Ganguly made their debuts in the Second Test at Lords and thus was the beginning of one of the most ruthless middle orders in Test Cricket. Singer Cup in Sri Lanka participated by India, Australia, Zimbabwe & the hosts Sri Lanka was won by the hosts as they continued their fine form from the World Cup. India then beat Australia on a belter in Delhi in the one off test where Nayan Mongia scored a patient 152. India had South Africa on the mat on slow turners at Ahmedabad and Kanpur. Srinath was the star in Ahmedabad where he snared 6 for 21 to skittle out the Proteas for 90 odd in their chase of 110. Azhar was the star of the series, with two centuries, one in Calcutta and one in Kanpur. His ton in Calcutta was complemented by a fine 88 by Kumble but wasnt enough against the efforts of Hudson, Kirsten, Cullinan and Klusener who took 8 for 64 on debut. The three-pronged spin attack lead by Kumble and supported by Srinath were too hot to handle for SA and India went on to win the series 2-1. India had earlier also won the Titan Cup against Australia & South Africa. The series is remembered as the first time when the Ganguly-Tendulkar opening pair was forged.
1997
India's successes were to be short lived. Early next year in 1997 when India toured South Africa for a three test series, India bowled out SA for 235 at Durban on the first day and in return got shot out for 66 & 100. Indian batsmen were exposed to raw pace and some fine use of conditions by the African attack led by Donald, supported by Pollock, McMillan & Klusener. The second test had two heroic performances by Tendulkar & Azhar who scored a ton each but their efforts werent enough for India to avoid another defeat at Cape Town. In the third test at Johannesburg, Dravid century in both innings almost took India to the post. Cullinan's stubborn stand with Klusener & Symcox and rains saved the day for the Proteas. Indian bowling looked partially strong with Srinath & Prasad showing ability to fire on pitches abroad. Kumble was always the potent force we needed at home. But we lacked a back up seamer to support Prasad-Srinath. The Standard Bank Tri Series with Zimbabwe as the third team took place. India as expected reached the finals and in a riveting contest between bat & ball where a meek Dravid clubbed Donald for a mighty six, India lost to SA.
India had yet again in South Africa lost the first match of the series, a trend which was just beginning to set in after their loss to England at Birmingham in the first test.
India then toured the "not so very mighty" West Indies. India was expected to do really well in the Caribbean. Their batting line up looked ominous. But they lost Srinath right before the 5 match series and he was replaced by Abbey Kuruvilla to lead the attack with Prasad. In an otherwise drab series India was in a position to win in the third test at Barbados with 120 to win on the last day. India fell short by 38 runs and was a big blow to their confidence. This series is also remembered for the one where Sidhu scored his only double century at Port of Spain. India also lost the 4 match ODI series 3-1.
Pepsi Independence Cup was held in India participated by India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. India beat New Zealand in a game where Tendulkar scored a fine hundred but lost to Sri Lanka and Pakistan and did not even make it to the final. The India-Pakistan encounter at Chennai was the one where Anwar took Indian bowlers to the cleaners and scored the world record individual score of 194. India replied strongly with Dravid scoring his maiden ODI ton but eventually lost.
This was followed by a drab test series against Sri Lanka, where the pitches decided the games' fate. India declared at 537/8. Sri Lanka replied with a record 952/6. Mahanama (215) and Jayasuriya (340) made merry while Rajesh Chauhan, Kumble and Nilesh Kulkarni toiled. Chauhan ended up conceding 278 runs, the maximum by a bowler in a test match. The pitch for the second test was a tad better but the test meandered to a draw. Every top order batsman in either teams scored a century in the series. The ODI series that followed was very keenly competed by both teams but India lost all three matches.
Between two very monotonous India vs Sri Lanka series, India went to Toronto to play Pakistan in the 2nd edition of Sahara Cup. India thrashed Pakistan 4-1 with Sourav Ganguly playing a stellar role in almost every game in the series.
India then played Sri Lanka at home and the result was the same 0-0. The honors were shared in the ODIs too.
1998
After a series of boring India-Sri Lanka matches and a disappointing Coca Cola Cup in Sharjah where India failed to win a single game, India went to Dhaka to play the Independence Cup. Tendulkar was not any more the captain, Azharuddin took back the mantle. Sachin duly obliged the fans with a rollicking 67 off 44 in the shortened match against Pakistan. India dominated the league matches and won the first final, thanks to Tendulkar's terrific 95. India lost the second final after being shot out for 195. In the third final, under overcast conditions and gloomy skies Azhar put Pakistan in. Pakistan scored 314 in 48 overs, as Ijaz Ahmed and Saeed Anwar notched up hundreds. The skies were gloomy and so was India's condition in the game. Sachin and Sourav started slowly in the mammonth chase but caught steam with Indians reaching 71 in 8 overs as Sachin looked like he might walk away with the match. With Sachin's eventual dismissal India began to look down the barrel. But, Ganguly(124) and Robin Singh(84) took charge and took India within touching distance of a win. India began losing wickets in a heap and nine were required of the last over. Kanitkar and Srinath rode their luck and brought the equation down to three off two balls. When Kanitkar lofted Saqlain, over mid-wicket for a boundary, the entire nation erupted in unison. India had won yet another famous battle against Pakistan on the cricket field.
The spring of 1998 was when the Mark Taylor lead Australian team came to India looking to conquer its final frontier. Azharuddin lead India with a settled batting line up and Sachin Tendulkar is sublime form. India conceded first innings lead to Australia in the first test match in Chennai following which in the second innings Tendulkar took Shane Warne to the cleaners scoring a fantastic 155 and setting up a win for India. The second match at Calcutta was routine for India. We put up a huge total and let our spinners run amok the Australian batting. India trounced over Australia by an innings. Australia came back to win the 3rd test at Bangalore inspite of a brilliant 177 by Tendulkar. The test series was followed by Pepsi Cup also involving Zimbabwe. Indian batting was in full bloom with each of India's top order batsman scoring a ton in the series. Ajit Agarkar made his debut in the this series and fast proved to be a potent wicket taken. Australia won the ODI series.
Then came an ODI series no cricket fan can easily forget. The series known for two individual knocks by Tendulkar against Australia. His 143* and 134* arent easily erasable from a cricket fan's memory. Sharjah skies were lit up with some glorious fireworks from the champion. His heroics led India to a stunning victory over the Australians and capped a successful summer for India over them.
India made its trophy cabinets richer in 1998 by winning the Coca Cola Cup in India against Kenya & Bangladesh, Singer Akai Nidahas Trophy involving Sri Lanka & New Zealand and the Coca Cola Cup in Sharjah against Sri Lanka & Zimbabwe. India's Sahara Cup campaign hit rock bottom with the selectors trying to send good teams to both Sahara Cup and clashing Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur. India ended up losing both. 1998 was also a year when India lost the one off test in Zimbabwe exposing its weakness playing tests abroad again. It was also one of the best years for Sachin Tendulkar. He became the highest century maker in ODIs obliterating Desmond Haynes' 17 centuries. The year ended with another defeat on foreign soil for India against New Zealand in a test series. Honours were shared in the ODI series both teams winning 2 games each.
1999
1999 was a landmark year for neighbouring rivals India and Pakistan. Pakistan toured India for a test series in over a decade and a half, led by Wasim Akram. The first test played at Chennai was a closely contested one which Pakistan eventually won by 16 runs despite a hardworking 136 by Tendulkar in the fourth innings. Second test played at Delhi is engraved in gold in Indian cricket for Kumble snared a perfect ten in Pakistan's second innings handing them a defeat of more than 200 runs. India thought they finally found a stable opener in Sadagopan Ramesh. He had a great debut series facing the likes of Akram, Waqar, Saqlain & Mushtaq Ahmed. After sharing honours in the two match test series, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka headed for the Asian Test Championship. The India, Pakistan encounter of the ATC at Kolkata was see-saw Test match at its best. India had Pakistan on the mat at 26 for 6 in the first innings. Pakistan came back into the match with some good lower order batting and some fiery pace bowling by Shoaib Akhtar who accounted for Tendulkar and Dravid off beautiful in swinging yorkers. A second innings 188 by Saeed Anwar and some fine bowling by Pakistan made sure India was shut out of the game. The India vs Sri Lanka match at Colombo was a drab draw with Jayawardena scoring a fine double hundred.
Test championship was followed by two ODI series in India and Sharjah with India and Pakistan joined by Sri Lanka & England. India reached the finals of both tournaments only to end up second best to Pakistan. India dearly missed Tendulkar's services in both tournaments as he was nursing a back injury and was fighting against time to be fit for the World Cup due in May.
The next part will begin with the World Cup 1999 that was played in England and will have analysis of India matches till the beginning of the 2003 World Cup at South Africa.
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