ICC T20 WC 2026 is on ........ and Kiwis are here !!

 

Photos do make people happy and today as I walked my way in Marina beach – I took a selfie and then a photo of someone who is a famous photographer !!

 

Around 5 pm – a luxury bus passed by with siren on – it was carrying NZ Cricket team, returning to hotel after a session – practice for their next match tomorrow.  ICC Cricket T20 World Cup is on .. .. and  at the time of posting this – 8 matches already over. 

Tomorrow Kiwis play their second match at - Chepauk stadium …  MA Chidambaram stadium to be precise.  We have seen so many first division matches, local tournaments, Buchibabu, Ranji, Duleep, Deodhar trophy matches and then Tests (Pongal Tests !) here .. 

In 1859, Madras Presidency acquired Chepauk palace in an auction – a few years later obtained Govt permission to build pavilion at the palace grounds to Madras Cricket Club. The pavilion was reconstructed in 1892 and was utilized till 1982 when it was demolished as part of the stadium renovation.   In recent years, it has undergone major renovation  and is new for today’s match to be played under flood lights. The  stadium thus has existed for century +  and the first match of the Ranji Trophy was held on 4 November 1934 between Madras and Mysore at Chepauk. MJ Gopalan  bowled the first ball to N Curtis.  

Remember seeing a Test match at Chepauk in Dec 1976 having read about the exploits of their captain Glenn Turner – in 1975 WC when India lost so badly to England on day 1, Turner made 171* against easy opponents East Africa (the highest for quite some time, till Kapil Dev made that epic 175* in 1983) – a few days later Turner made 114* against us.   

Remember adoring our own Srinivasan Venkatraghavan   in Dec 1976   Test at Chepauk. Bishan singh Bedi was the captain.  Glenn Turner was the Captain for the visitors, Sir Richard Hadlee was not that famous but we spoke about Peter Petheric who had taken a hat-trick in his debut test, including the wicket of Javed Miandad.  It was Test no. 787 – a 6 day match -  On the first day, no play was possible due to rain and 29th Nov was the scheduled rest day.   Indians were off to a bad start as Sunil Gavaskar and Anshuman Gaekwad were out with only 3 on board, both out to big burly Lance Cairns.  From 181/7  India went on to make 298 thanks to a fluent 64 by Venkat who hit 4 boundaries and a six off Petherick.   Gundappa Vishwanath made 87 like the many good innings he had played at Chepauk and Kirmani made 44.  India won that test by 216 runs. 

Tomorrow in the 11^th match of T20WC,  New Zealand are to play unfamiliar opponent United Arab Emirates at Chepauk at 3:00 pm. 

UAE beat Bangladesh recently in a bilateral T20I series and gave Pakistan a scare in the Asia Cup.  But they are unlikely to test Black Caps who started their campaign with a good win over Afghanistan, though chasing 184 and having lost first 2 wickets in successive deliveries to Mujeeb Ur Rahman.  Tim Seifert's  half-century and good innings from  Glenn Phillips took them to victory.  NZ perhaps had some memory of their June 2024 WC match when they lost badly to Afghan by 84 runs.  

 

Photo from FB page of Blackcaps

 

Now to the photo at the start …   this gentleman greeted with a friendly smile – he is Hamish Johns.  New Zealand's cricket team (BLACKCAPS)   uses official organizational social media channels and are on Twitter, Insta & FB

•          Twitter/X: @BLACKCAPS

•          Instagram: @blackcapsnz

•          Facebook: facebook.com/blackcapsfan

The team’s Support roles include head coach, batting/bowling coaches, physiotherapist, and strength coach, and the man who runs their social media campaign - Hamish Johns, a Videographer & Content Producer.   Based in Auckland, he creates, films, and edits video content, including projects for the NZC Hall of Fame. He previously worked as a freelance filmmaker in Wellington after graduating from Massey University with a degree in creative media production.

 

Hi and welcome to Chennai, Hamish .. … 
 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
9.2.2026