Of
the many formats in World Cup, the 1983 version was different – India, West
Indies, Australia and Zimbabwe were in one group – they played each other twice. India and WI moved to Semis to meet England
and Pak respectively. On 25th
June 1983, at Lords – Kapil’s Devils,
the underdogs successfully defended 183 to create history. That Prudential World Cup victory changed
the way, India and its Cricketers were treated internationally.
2nd April 2011
turned another cherished day notwithstanding the bizarre start of a retoss,
when Sanga claimed otherwise. Lankans
batting first put up 274. Immediately after lunch break, at around 0650
pm – a hush descended at Wankhede. The
slinga Malinga had Virender Sehwag ~ he went for a review but still was
out. First wicket gone without score on
board. The first ball of the seventh over silenced the Nation. The noise Wankhede went in to a huddle. The ball moved got the outside of Sachin and
thudded into the gloves of Sanga. A very
well phased innings by Gambhir, who unfortunately missed his century and his
century partnership with Dhoni enabled Indians pull off a great win. Dhoni wrapped it in style with 10 balls to go,
he sent the ball flying over long on for a huge six.
How
many die-hard cricket fans will be willing to sacrifice their income for a
couple of days if India wins the World Cup? Today’s The Hindu
carries an article on 30 year old auto
driver ‘Speed Murugesh’ who operates from a stand on Greams Road. A huge
poster, with pictures of Virat Kohli and M.S. Dhoni, announcing the offer is
stuck on his vehicle - he has offered
free rides for two days.
It is stated that
his youngster earns around Rs.1000 a day on an average and saves around
Rs.700/- - with the Indian win in the finals, this man is prepared to forego nearly
Rs.1500/- - as he has announced free rides for 2 days in his auto from 7 a.m.
to 9 p.m., to any destination in the city.
It is stated that in 2011 too, he offered free rides in his rented
vehicle. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association gifted Rs. 1 lakh after learning
about the gift to society. With the money, he purchased a new autorickshaw, he earned the
prefix ‘Speed’ to his name for his athletic skills. The driver also sponsors
cricket bats and balls for children in his locality in Porur and also screens
matches on a big screen.
Way back in 2003,
at Gandhi beach in Chennai, matches were shown on big screen and hundreds of
people spent their evenings at beach watching the match on big screen. We had put up one at Tank Square for the
India Australia finals, which turned sour.
The
photo at the start was taken at Triplicane Vegetable market (Near Gangai Kondan
Mandapam), Thiruvallikkeni, Chennai 600005, on 16th Mar 2012 – the vendor having basketful of chocolates and
happily giving his to his customers for that special ton of Sachin Tendulkar. The same person had given a 1 kilo of tomato free to many people when India won the WC 2011.
photo credit : bcci.tv
Before the start of today’s match WI fast bowling icon –
Curtly Ambrose, their bowling coach had called for discipline from his pace
attack. With a four-wicket win over West Indies at the
Western Australia Cricket Association Ground in Perth, India strengthened their
position at the top of the Group B table in the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. At Perth today, India were given their first
scare of the World Cup when West Indies reduced them to 78 for 4 and 134 for 6
in a chase of 183, but MS Dhoni shepherded them through to an eventually
comfortable win with four wickets in hand and 10.5 overs to spare. The inexperience
of Jason Holder and non-communication from Coach and bowling coach was telling –
when Indians were struggling with 6 wickets down – one expected their best
bowlers Jerome Taylor, Roach and Jason Holder to bowl – any way the match was
not going to last beyond 40 overs – then why try Marlon Samuels and Dwayne
Smith together ?
Interesting
!
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
6th Mar
2015.
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