Anbe Vaa, the movie starring M. G. Ramachandran and Saroja Devi released in 1966 had the Q ‘Test match puriyuma ?’ ~ do you understand Test match, which at that time was considered to be understood only by elites.
Do you know or remember a Cricketer by name Ijaz Faqih who played just 5 test matches but is part of a World record !!
Couple of days back, when Joe Root clipped Tim Southee for a couple in the 77th over of England's chase at Lord's, not only did he reach his 26th Test hundred, he also became only the 14th player to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket. The 10k milestone came in his 218th innings, which means there are nine others who have got there in fewer innings. The quickest is 195 innings - by three batters - while Steve Waugh's 244 is the slowest.
The fact that he made his debut early - when he was a couple of weeks short of his 22nd birthday - coupled with the amount of Test cricket England play, means that while others have reached the landmark in fewer innings, Root is the quickest to 10,000 runs in terms of time, and is the joint-youngest too. Alastair Cook, the only other Englishman on the list, was also 31 years and 157 days old when he reached the mark (though in terms of days, he was one day older).
There was another interesting bizarre moment involving the batter,
or the bat to be more precise, which went viral on social media.
It was perhaps fitting Root did most to deliver the result with an outstanding knock of 115 not out forming the spine of the chase as England hunted down a target of 277 with five wickets to spare. The one referred to here is an interesting moment that occurred during the chase. During Kyle Jamieson's run-up before a delivery, viewers noticed Root wasn't holding his bat. The bat was standing upright, without assistance, next to him. While Root was conjuring some magic on the pitch, many joked he had produced some magic off it to help his bat stay upright. The best explanation for the unusual moment is Root's bat has a flatter edge than most other bats. Regardless, the moment of the day was Root reaching the 10,000 Test run feat with a legendary batting display. New England captain Ben Stokes saved some special praise for Root, following his maiden win after taking over the team.
There was mutual appreciation from Root, whose 26th career century saw him join Sir Alastair Cook in an exclusive group of just two Englishman to pass 10,000 Test runs.
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.
Gavaskar was a supreme accumulator of runs and would wait patiently when things were not easy – he scored 63 in that match. He was certainly one Indian batsmen who redefined the art of run scoring and accumulating runs, putting a value tag to the wicket.
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.
The elite club is getting slightly crowded – going by most runs scored in Test Cricket (scale above 10000) it is Sachin Tendulkar (200M 15921 runs 51 tons); Ricky Ponting (168 / 13378/ 41); Jacques Kallis (166/ 13289/ 45); Rahul Dravid (164/12472/ 36); Alistair Cook (161/ 12472/ 33); Kumara Sangakkara (134/ 12400 / 38); Brian Lara (131 / 11953/ 34) Shivnaraine Chanderpaul (164/ 11867 / 30); Mahela Jayawardene (149/ 11814 /34); Alan Border (156/ 11174/ 27) Steve Waugh (168/ 10927/ 32); Sunil Manohar Gavaskar (125 / 10122/ 34) Younis Khan (118 / 10099/34) and now Joe Root in 118 matches.
Records are meant to be broken but irrespective of those who
conquer Mt. Everest the names of Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay would
remain etched.
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
8th June 2022.
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