“SPORTS_MANIA”:THE_SPORTS_COLUMN

How can we forget the days we fought with our moms to put cricket on the TV, when the entire family was yelling at every ball bowled, when we prayed with utmost sincerity for Sachin not to get out, the endless chatter with our friends, colleagues and strangers the day after the match, and the day after, and even after many a days later.

The game which made us happy, which made us cry and even angry, Cricket in its purest form for every fanatic in this cricket crazy country has another milestone to cherish. As Indian men's team becomes only the fourth team to complete 500 tests, after having around 290 players to represent it in tests, including 32 captains, and earning arguably the largest fan base in world cricket, let us take this moment to reminisce some historic moments of this roller coaster.

Baby steps :-)

The ride isn't all glamorous when it began, as it took 20 years after its first test match at the Lords in 1932 to register its maiden victory. Led by Vijay Hazare, India tasted victory for the first time at Madras in 1951-52 against England, where Vinoo Mankad stole the limelight with a tally of 12 wickets in all. The same year India registered its maiden series triumph against Pakistan. A contest between these two countries soon turned into one of the most intense sporting rivalries for the world, and the most expletive filled one for us back home (even my grandma wasn't exception to the tirade). 

A high and then a low

We found Sunil Gavaskar and Anil Kumble in the seventies and India in tests found voice in global cricket. India kept going from strength to strength culminating in the famous World Cup triumph of 1983. I used 'culminating' because, though cricket became every child's dream after this, we slumped in the purest form of the game. In October 1986, the India-Australia match was only the second tied match in over 2000 tests played since 1877. Tempers flared throughout the match with some very nasty incidents, Chennai as its witness yet again.

Enter modern day legends

Thank the 90's which gave us the likes of Azharuddin, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Kambli, Javagal Srinath, Ganguly, Kumble among others. We established ourselves into a cricketing superpower with many a golden moments to cherish. Anil Kumble Kannada(the current coach for India) was and still 'is' the only other player to take 10 wickets in a single innings in 1999 against Pakistan. This period laid the platform for us to enter a golden phase later on under Ganguly and then Dhoni. 

Who can forget the Eden Garden Test in 2001, against Australia when Laxman and Dravid championed India to victory after being forced to follow on. As I write about I still get goosebumps and mind you, I only saw it on youtube!! 

Numero Uno

We flourished, even abroad, under the dynamic captaincy of our 'Dada' who was then the most successful test captain for us. The 'Nawab of Najafgarh', Virender Sehwag, hit two triple hundreds, formed one of the most cherished opening partnerships with Tendulkar. We had one of the strongest test batting lineups ever, with Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman. Soon the inevitable happened and India ranked number one in the test rankings for the first time under MS Dhoni's charismatic leadership in 1999.

Gloom

The second major slump in the journey coincided with the farewells of cricketing biggies of the 90's (Sachin's being a particularly emotional one) and India losing consecutively abroad. This later on put pressure on another captain's farewell, when MS Dhoni bid adieu still being the most successful captain for us.

Young guns

Kohli, the brightest star in the current cricketing galaxy started off admirably with India always forcing for wins unlike earlier. With the young blood in the current team and a well established support we are sure to savor many a mouth-watering moment in the years to come. 

In today's era, when cricketers are the new superstars, and their stories the new folklore, this article wouldn't have fit all the glory into it. But just the word 'Cricket' would fill a lot of us with nostalgia and pride, and thus this piece.

Sources: www.espncricinfo.com

www.wikipedia.com

Innumerable cricket fanatics at home, and around me.