India loss at Rajkot lingers ! - poor batting by Hardik, Axar, Washington !!

 

For those of us watching Indian Cricket in mid 1970s & 1980s – losses are not new ! – those days, India lost more than Winning yet the defeat at Rajkot was hard to digest.  Partly because watching IPL many a seasons, we believe that 50 in last 3 is achievable but Hardik & Washington played as if there was no chance and only a draw could be achieved !!  

There is no place for Yashaswi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad but team is playing Dhrun Jurel as a pure batsman and making him come at no. 8 – incomprehensible ! 

Do you know or remember a Cricketer by name Ijaz Faqih who played just 5 test matches but is part of a World record !! 

England kept the T20I series alive with a 26-run win in Rajkot, Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse and Jamie Overton sharing seven wickets alongside a masterful spell from Adil Rashid to help break India's ten-match run without defeat in home conditions. 

With too many mixed combinations, India rested Arshdeep Singh, making way for Mohammad Shami comeback.  Shami's last outing for India was in November 2023: the ODI World Cup final against Australia in Ahmedabad. He was nursing his ankle throughout the tournament and underwent surgery in Feb 2024.  His previous T20I was way back in 2022: the World Cup semi-final against England in Adelaide. Since then, India's approach to T20 cricket has shifted tectonically – at Rajkot, he did bowl reasonably well but did not take any wicket. 

It was spin orientation yet Washington Sundar was given a solitary over – went for 15 and Abhishek Sharma too bowled one over – it was all about Varun Chakravarthi, who took 5 for 25 -  England making  171/9.  Varun removed Buttler with the final ball of the ninth over,  returned to bowl the 14th and 16th and pick up four more wickets – those of Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer at a cost of 12 runs, putting the seal on England's disastrous slide of 7 for 44 in 7.1 overs of undignified thrashing.

Yet the chase was badly managed.  Indians were never on top.  India only managed to score two boundaries off the bat between the seventh and 15th overs, with Rashid's immaculate analysis of 4-0-15-1 key to suffocating the innings. After battling his way to 23 off 27, Hardik Pandya finally broke the shackles by hitting sixes off Wood and Archer - but when he was dismissed by Overton for 40 off 35, caught at long-off, it was more of a relief as only the die-hard fan was dreaming a win not the playing X1, which folded without a fight. 

Sanju Samson got out early, Abhishek Sharma after a flurry of strokes got out making 24, Suryakumar Yadav walking in with a swagger of Viv Richards failed, Tilak Varma got out after a long time then – it was a pathetic performance especially by the rest. 

Watching Hardik & Washington bat reminded us that innings of Nayan Mongia and Manoj Prabhakar – very clear that they never thought of a win but were playing for a draw.  Pandya made 40 off 35, Washington Sundar’s pain ended at 6 off 15; Axar Patel wasted 16 balls while Dhrun Jurel got out making 2. 

Have seen MS Dhoni denying singles in slog in final and ending up with big sixers to finish off – Hardik Pandya ungainly denied a single off the last over of 18^th over – ensuring Dhruv Jurel the strike   - then got out !! Pathetic it was. 

Elsewhere at neighbouring Galle, Steven Smith joined the elite club of batters to complete 10,000 runs in Test cricket today.   Smith came to Sri Lanka on 9999 runs after just missing the landmark at his home venue, the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground, against India. Sydney had seen two Australians complete their 10,000th run in Test cricket - Allan Border in 1993 and Steve Waugh in 2003. It is the only ground to have seen more than one such milestone. Both Border and Waugh, like Smith, were born in Sydney. Before Smith, only Mahela Jayawardene was dismissed on 9999 Test runs, and Brian Lara was the only one to be dismissed twice in the 9990s.

Getting back to that Q on Ijaz Faqih, he was the bowler, when Sunil Gavaskar created the record, becoming the first man to reach 10000 runs in Test cricket.   It was  on 7th March 1987, Sunil Gavaskar nudged through the slips off Ijaz Faqih moving on to 58 runs at  Motera – Sardar Patel Stadium which sent the crowd erupting.  It was the first time ever a batsman had scored 10,000 runs in Test Cricket.   Indian Wicket Keeper Kiran More was the non-striker and he was reported as saying that Gavaskar celebrated it as he never did earlier – Sprinting, waving the bat and enjoying the moment.  Gavaskar raised his bat in triumph even as he was mid way completing the run. To the millions watching the TV, that was a feat which nobody else can ever acquire…. Records are meant to be broken, first by Alan Border and happily we have Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar perched on top.  

Ijaz Faqih was born in a Konkan family that had migrated to Pakistan; his  career did not flourish much and  was related to Mohd Zainuddin Ghazali.   Mohammad Ebrahim Ghazali was born in Konkan, played for Pakistan and was   a Pakistan Air Force officer – he played 2 tests.  Ghazali was the son-in-law of Feroze Khan who won a gold in the 1928 Olympics for Indian field hockey team and whose son Farooq Feroze Khan served as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee in Pakistan Air Force . His sister was the mother-in-law of Ijaz Faqih.

 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
29.1.2025