Playing It My Way: My Autobiography
Page 35
Number one at last
After the hard-fought draw in the first Test, we routed the Sri Lankans in the next Test at Kanpur, which started on 24 November 2009. Our first three batsmen, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid, all got hundreds and the bowlers backed them up with some disciplined bowling, so that we won by an innings and 144 runs. The series had been set up beautifully for a grand finale at the CCI in Mumbai the following week.
At the CCI, Virender Sehwag produced one of the best Test innings I have seen. He played some breathtaking shots and scored 284 not out in a single day of cricket. He fell the next morning for 293, narrowly missing out on the third triple ton of his career. The pace at which he scored also allowed our bowlers plenty of time to bowl out the opposition. In that sort of form, he could demoralize any bowling attack in the world and in a way he helped change approaches to opening the batting in Test cricket. Zaheer did the rest of the job in style, picking up a five-for in the Sri Lankan second innings, and we won the match by an innings and 24 runs. It was a tremendous victory – and it meant that we were now officially the number-one Test team.
A more personal high point in this match was running out Angelo Mathews for 99 in the Sri Lankan first innings. He played the ball to fine leg and turned for a second run in a bid to get to his century. I managed to get to the ball quickly and sent in a flat powerful throw, which landed right on top of the stumps. All Dhoni had to do was knock off the bails. While celebrating the dismissal I joked with my team-mates that the old man could still field even after playing international cricket for twenty long years!
We had played terrific cricket as a team. Each and every player had chipped in and Gary and the support staff – Paddy Upton, our high-performance and mental-conditioning coach; Ramji Srinivasan, our fitness trainer; Nitin Patel, our physio; Ramesh Mane and Amit Shah, our masseurs; and Dhananjay, our computer analyst – had all played important roles in our rise to the top. For me, Test cricket is the format that matters the most and this was undoubtedly a high point in my career. The fact that it coincided with my twentieth anniversary in international cricket had made it even more special.
* * *
England in India 2008
1st Test. Chennai. 11–15 December 2008
England 316 (AJ Strauss 123, MJ Prior 53*, AN Cook 52; H Singh 3–96, A Mishra 3–99) and 311–9 dec (AJ Strauss 108, PD Collingwood 108; Z Khan 3–40, I Sharma 3–57)
India 241 (MS Dhoni 53, H Singh 40, SR Tendulkar 37; A Flintoff 3–49, MS Panesar 3–65) and 387–4 (SR Tendulkar 103*, Y Singh 85, V Sehwag 83, G Gambhir 66)
India won by 6 wickets
2nd Test. Mohali. 19–23 December 2008
India 453 (G Gambhir 179, R Dravid 136, SR Tendulkar 11; A Flintoff 3–54, GP Swann 3–122) and 251–7 dec (G Gambhir 97, Y Singh 86, SR Tendulkar 5)
England 302 (KP Pietersen 144, A Flintoff 62, AN Cook 50; H Singh 4–68, Z Khan 3–76) and 64–1
Match drawn
India won the series 1–0
India in New Zealand 2009
1st Test. Hamilton. 18–21 March 2009
New Zealand 279 (DL Vettori 118, JD Ryder 102; I Sharma 4–73, MM Patel 3–60) and 279 (BB McCullum 84, DR Flynn 67, MJ Guptill 48; H Singh 6–63)
India 520 (SR Tendulkar 160, G Gambhir 72, R Dravid 66, Z Khan 51*; CS Martin 3–98, IE O’Brien 3–103) and 39–0
India won by 10 wickets
2nd Test. Napier. 26–30 March 2009
New Zealand 619–9 dec (JD Ryder 201, LRPL Taylor 151, BB McCullum 115, DL Vettori 55, JEC Franklin 52; I Sharma 3–95, Z Khan 3–129)
India 305 (R Dravid 83, VVS Laxman 76, SR Tendulkar 49; CS Martin 3–89) and 476–4 (f/o) (G Gambhir 137, VVS Laxman 124*, SR Tendulkar 64, R Dravid 62, Y Singh 54*)
Match drawn
3rd Test. Wellington. 3–7 April 2009
India 379 (SR Tendulkar 62, H Singh 60, MS Dhoni 52; CS Martin 4–98) and 434–7 dec (G Gambhir 167, VVS Laxman 61, R Dravid 60, MS Dhoni 56*, SR Tendulkar 9; CS Martin 3–70)
New Zealand 197 (LRPL Taylor 42; Z Khan 5–65, H Singh 3–43) and 281–8 (LRPL Taylor 107, MJ Guptil 49, JEC Franklin 49; H Singh 4–59, SR Tendulkar 2–45, Z Khan 2–57)
Match drawn
India won the series 1–0
Sri Lanka in India 2009
1st Test. Ahmedabad. 16–20 November 2009
India 426 (R Dravid 177, MS Dhoni 110, Y Singh 68, SR Tendulkar 4; UWMBCA Welegedara 4–87, M Muralitharan 3–97) and 412–4 (G Gambhir 114, SR Tendulkar 100*, V Sehwag 51, VVS Laxman 51*)
Sri Lanka 760–7 dec (DPMD Jayawardene 275, HAPW Jayawardene 154*, TM Dilshan 112)
Match drawn
2nd Test. Kanpur. 24–27 November 2009
India 642 (G Gambhir 167, R Dravid 144, V Sehwag 131, Y Singh 67, VVS Laxman 63, SR Tendulkar 40; HMRKB Herath 5–121)
Sri Lanka 229 (DPMD Jayawardene 47, KC Sangakkara 44; S Sreesanth 5–75) and 269 (f/o) (TT Samaraweera 78*; H Singh 3–98, PP Ojha 2–36)
India won by an innings and 144 runs
3rd Test. Mumbai (BS). 2–6 December 2009
Sri Lanka 393 (TM Dilshan 109, AD Mathews 99, NT Paranavitana 53; H Singh 4–112, PP Ojha 3–101) and 309 (KC Sangakkara 137, NT Paranavitana 54; Z Khan 5–72)
India 726–9 dec (V Sehwag 293, MS Dhoni 100*, M Vijay 87, R Dravid 74, VVS Laxman 62, SR Tendulkar 53; M Muralitharan 4–195)
India won by an innings and 24 runs
India won the series 2–0
22
STAYING AT THE TOP
In 2010, we faced three of the toughest assignments in international cricket and to maintain our number-one position we needed to do well in all of them. We had to play South Africa at home in February–March, Australia at home in October and New Zealand at home in November, before finally travelling to South Africa in December.
Before all these, however, we went to Bangladesh for a two-Test series in January 2010. While many feel Bangladesh are a pushover, they have surprised many a good side in the past and you underestimate them at your peril. This was evident in the first Test at Chittagong, which started on 17 January, where we were reduced to 209–8 in the first innings. The crowd was behind the local team and batting was a serious challenge against an inspired bowling attack, with Shahadat Hossain and Shakib-Al-Hasan both finally taking five wickets. Every wicket was greeted with a loud cheer and every boundary with pin-drop silence.
It was interesting to bat in front of such a partisan crowd. I scored 105 not out and we somehow managed to post a score of 243. Our bowlers did well to restrict Bangladesh in their first innings to one run less than our total, then Gambhir scored a century in our second innings, helping us to 413. Despite a century from Mushfiqur Rahim, the 415-run target proved too much for Bangladesh and we ended up winning by 113 runs.
In the second Test at Dhaka a few days later, where it was hot and sultry after the haze and chill in Chittagong, our fast bowlers again delivered in difficult conditions, with Zaheer bowling at his best in the second innings, getting an incredible amount of reverse swing to take seven wickets. We had batted well in our first and only innings, making 544, and Rahul and I scored centuries, setting the match up for Zaheer.
South Africa in India, February 2010
We reassembled to take on the South Africans in the first of two Tests at Nagpur on 6 February. The points situation meant that whoever won the series would be the number-one Test team.
In the first Test, Dale Steyn bowled brilliantly, ending up with ten wickets, and we were comprehensively beaten. Hashim Amla, with 253, and Jacques Kallis, with 173, batted superbly for South Africa and Amla was in extraordinary batting form right through the series. Kallis has always been a champion performer and is undoubtedly the best all-round cricketer of our generation. It has been a pleasure competing with players like these, who will surely be remembered as all-time gre
ats.
Though we lost the game, I did manage to make a hundred in the second innings and I liked to think that my plan against Dale Steyn had started to work. He is an exceptional fast bowler and we knew we would need to play him well to make a comeback in the second Test, so the second-innings batting effort gave us a little hope in this regard. On the other hand, we had to accept that we had made it difficult for ourselves and were going to have to play out of our skins to retain our number-one Test ranking.
We were surprised to see a green top awaiting us at Eden Gardens. It had all but nullified the concept of home advantage, but there was nothing we could do about the pitch at that stage.
Again South Africa started well, but then we staged a miraculous comeback towards the end of the first day. From a position of strength at 218–1, South Africa collapsed to a modest 296 all out thanks to some terrific bowling from Zaheer and Harbhajan. We sensed we were in with a chance and put together a big first-innings total, with as many as four of us – Sehwag, Laxman, Dhoni and myself – getting hundreds. Sehwag and I had a terrific partnership of 249 after losing two quick wickets and we also scored at a phenomenal pace, unsettling the South Africans. Anything on middle-and-leg was flicked to the on side, while anything outside off stump was cut or driven. It was a dominant partnership and swung the pendulum in our favour.
Laxman and Dhoni built on the platform and we finally declared at a whopping 643–6, leaving the South Africans two whole days to bat to save the game. Unfortunately for us, the weather intervened on day four and a lot of overs were lost. By the end of the day South Africa had lost three wickets and we still needed seven wickets to close out the match.
The final day at Eden Gardens was Test cricket at its very best. Bhajji, who has a phenomenal record in Kolkata, bowled superbly, finishing with eight wickets in the match, and we took the final South African wicket with just a few overs remaining. The Eden Gardens crowd was behind us and the last wicket, Morne Morkel lbw to Bhajji, was greeted with a deafening roar. Bhajji ran almost half the length of the ground in delight and we were thrilled to have pulled off a stunning victory. We had retained our number-one ranking in the process and I felt all the more satisfied to think that, although my first hundred didn’t save the first Test, my second one did contribute to our win in the second Test.
In the three-match one-day series that followed I was run out for four in the first game at Jaipur on 21 February. I was disappointed with the dismissal but was pleased that I managed to make a contribution in the last over of the game, when the South Africans needed just ten runs to win. Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell had staged a fantastic fightback after being reduced to 225–8 chasing 299, and though Praveen Kumar picked up Steyn with the first ball of his final over, the South Africans were within striking distance of the total. The last man, Charl Langeveldt, hit the third ball of the over past short fine leg and at long leg I dived full length to save what was a certain boundary. The umpires consulted the third umpire before finally ruling it a legal save. This made the difference in the end, with India winning the match by one run.
By the time of the second match, in Gwalior on 24 February, I was starting to feel really tired. It had been a long season and my body was beginning to raise some objections. I had aches and pains everywhere; my back was stiff, my ankles felt tight and my knees hurt. The physio Nitin Patel had to treat me for an hour and a half on the morning of the match and I told him that I wanted to finish the series off at Gwalior so that I could ask to be rested for the third and final game of the series.
When I got to the ground, all the pains and aches had just disappeared! I don’t know how it happened but it was one of those days when everything seemed to go my way. We batted first and I barely pushed at a ball from Wayne Parnell in the second over and was amazed to see it racing to the boundary. After that the balls consistently hit the middle of my bat and the run rate didn’t drop for the entire innings.
I had some good partnerships, first with Dinesh Karthik, then with Yusuf Pathan and finally with MS Dhoni, and they all batted well to take the pressure off me. It was only after I had passed 175 that I started to think about a double hundred. I had lost a bit of strength by then and, unable to play big shots, switched to finding the gaps and running hard. I was still running even when I was in the 190s, while Dhoni was pounding the bowling at the other end.
The moment finally arrived in the fiftieth over of our innings, when I steered the ball behind point for a single, becoming the first in the history of cricket to score an ODI double century. I was particularly glad I had been able to achieve the landmark in front of a home crowd. The team total had reached 400 and the sensation could not have been any better. In the changing room, Sehwag said to me, ‘Aakhir aapne 200 bana hi diya!’ (So you finally did score the ODI double ton!)
The job, however, was only half done and we knew South Africa had successfully chased 434 in 2006 – against Australia, no less – so it wasn’t a time to relax. History was not repeated in Gwalior, though, and in the end we managed to win the match convincingly by a 153-run margin.
Back in the hotel, I was feeling really tired but, because of all the excitement, was unable to sleep. Lying awake in bed, I decided to check my phone and found that it was flooded with messages congratulating me and I spent two hours responding to them, a task that eventually took me two days to complete. I was up early the next morning, too, but it didn’t really matter, as I was heading home for a much-needed break after one of my best ever seasons in international cricket.
I have to admit that there was another reason I could not sleep in Gwalior. The hotel authorities had very kindly given both Dhoni and me a suite each and these were located at a fair distance from the rooms of the rest of the team. My suite was enormous and even had a private swimming pool. The bathroom was gigantic and was separated from the main living room by a glass door. Outside there were huge trees and at night, with the silk curtains fluttering in the breeze, I didn’t find it the most comfortable room to sleep in. It was pitch dark outside and the size of the room, together with the unfamiliar sights and sounds around, made me seriously uneasy and I had to keep the bathroom lights on all night!
Australia in India, October 2010
We started the 2010–11 season with a two-Test series against Australia. In the first match in Mohali at the beginning of October, VVS Laxman played one of his best ever innings for the team. Needing 216 to win, we had lost our eighth wicket with 92 runs still to get and Laxman, nursing a sore back, was our only hope. He batted like a man possessed, supported by Ishant Sharma, who showed exemplary grit for his 31. Though Ishant fell with 11 runs still to get, Laxman batted on and took us over the line, to win by one wicket. Laxman tormented the Australians throughout his career and this was another occasion when they threw everything at him but still couldn’t dislodge him. Laxman is one of the few batsmen capable of playing two different shots off every ball and his supple wrists made him a joy to watch from the other end.
Having beaten Australia at Mohali, we had already retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy when we arrived at Bangalore for the second and final Test of the series on 9 October. At the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Australia batted first, scoring a healthy 478, helped by a career-best 128 from Marcus North. I felt in good form from the very start of my innings. Not out on 44 at the end of day two, I batted through the whole of the next day and remained unbeaten on 191. I reached my forty-ninth Test hundred with consecutive sixes off Nathan Hauritz. It was my sixth Test century of the year and I had amassed more than 1000 Test runs in a calendar year for the sixth time in my career.
I eventually fell for 214 and, with the help of Murali Vijay’s 139, we managed a slender first-innings lead of seven runs before our bowlers got in on the act and dismissed Australia for just 223 in their second innings. We needed 207 to win the series 2–0 and I had the privilege of taking the team to victory with young Cheteshwar Pujara, who, on debut, scored a
valiant 72 not out batting at number three, a position he has now made his own for India. I am convinced he has a great future ahead of him as a Test player.
An unwelcome distraction
Next up was a three-Test home series against New Zealand in November 2010. Though we won the series 1–0, my own form took a dip. Everyone had started talking about my fiftieth Test hundred and it became hard to concentrate. The crowds were trying to get behind me and in Hyderabad, during the second Test, people kept waving at me even when I was batting. My usual routine was to walk away towards the square-leg umpire after playing each ball, but the crowd at square leg went up every time I looked at them, which unsettled me. I know they meant well, but I couldn’t help thinking to myself, ‘They should let me bat in peace,’ and it wasn’t long before I was out.
When you are batting well, it’s good to have the crowd behind you like that. When you are struggling, it can make things doubly difficult. After the Hyderabad Test I said to Gary and Paddy that I was looking forward to the South Africa series because at least the crowds there wouldn’t obsess about it so much.
I actually had a good chance to get the century out of the way in Nagpur in the third Test, which started on 20 November. I was 57 not out overnight in our only innings and went in on the third day feeling pretty confident. It didn’t work out, however, as I lost my wicket after adding only four runs to my score, getting an edge off the left-arm seamer Andy McKay to the wicketkeeper. It was a ball that kicked up from short of a good length – the only one to do so all morning.
India in South Africa, December 2010–January 2011
Playing South Africa in South Africa was always a difficult proposition. The nature of the pitches, an excellent fast-bowling attack and a good batting unit combined to make them a formidable opponent at home.