India loses T20 at Dharamshala ~ something on the Special toss

3 T2os; 5 One dayers and 4 Tests …… ….before that have you heard of an Indian suburb named ‘ McLeod Ganj’ – if so, where is that ?

At the picturesque Dharamsala, 200 was the target with that big six off the last ball by Dhoni – India lost as SA chased the target successfully.  The highest score they have chased is 206, against West Indies in the 2007 World T20.  Only one Indian had made a century in T20 before-  Suresh Raina had made 101 against the same opposition in a league match during the 2010 World T20. Rohit became  just the 9th batsman and 2nd Indian to score a century in all 3 formats.  Rohit Sharma was so fluent that runs came so easily especially after he reached his 50 and he reached his ton without fuss.  -  as we saw Duminy battle 14 off 15 at one stage with 5 overs left, there looked only one winner – off the next 13 he made 35 [68 off 34] – an  innings that took the match away from Indians – he has a liking for left arm spinners and Axar Patel was the just fodder replacing Ravi Jadeja.

22 leaked off that Axar over – then in the 17^th with 43 required off 23, a Yorker of Bhuvneshwar Kumar caught Duminy right in front – it could not have missed the middle – yet the Umpire chose to rule him not out !!

Dharamsala is a city and a municipal council in Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh. It is the district headquarters. It was formerly known as Bhagsu. From the earliest times until the British Raj, Dharamshala and its surrounding area was ruled by the Katoch Dynasty of Kangra. The Katoch Dynasty is said to be the oldest serving Royal Family in the world.  The indigenous people of the Dharamshala area are the Gaddis, a predominantly Hindu group – over the recent past,  Gaddis lost their seasonal pastures and farmland when the British and the Gurkhas arrived to settle. The Tibetan settlement of Dharamshala began in 1959, when His Holiness the Dalai Lama had to flee Tibet and the Prime Minister of India allowed him and his followers to settle in McLeodGanj (in Upper Dharmshala), a former colonial British summer picnic spot. There they established the "government-in-exile" in 1960 and the Namgyal Monastery.

At Dharamshala, India lost the first game of the three-match T20I series to South Africa by seven wickets. Batting first in the series opener, Rohit Sharma powered India to 199 with a whirlwind 106 to set up the match. His 138-run partnership with Virat Kohli had batted India to a position of strength. However, with the middle-order batsmen failing to make substantial contributions India couldn’t cross the 200-run mark after the platform was set by the second-wicket partnership. Chasing the competitive total, the visitors lost their way in the middle after a 77-run opening stand between Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers, but JP Duminy (68*) took the team to the finish line. His 105-run unbroken stand with Farhaan Behardien won the cliffhanger for the Proteas to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Faf won the toss and put India in.  The toss was something special.  Designed exclusively for the Paytm Freedom Series, the 20 grams gold plated sterling silver coin will be used by India and South Africa for all the formats of the game played with each other in India or South Africa for perpetuity.

The coin has the photographs of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela laser engraved on it as Heads and freedom series on the other side as Tails. "This is our small way to pay homage to Gandhiji as we celebrate his 146th birth anniversary. Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela proved to the world that freedom could be achieved through the path of non-violence - a true symbol of peace, truth and harmony,"  BCCI press release states. [photo credit : bcci.tv]

McLeod Ganj  is a suburb of Dharamsala in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. It is known as "Little Lhasa" or "Dhasa" because of its large population of Tibetans. The Tibetan government-in-exile is headquartered in McLeod Ganj.  It is named after  Sir Donald Friell McLeod CB KCSI who was  Lieutenant Governor of British Punjab. He was one of the founders of Punjab University (the Lahore Oriental University)

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

3^rd Oct 2015.