watta catch !! Matthew Tromp !!

 

A brilliant catch in the deep !! - Mitchell Owen - c Matthew Tromp b Sunil Narine 

 

Washington Freedom vs Los Angeles Knight Riders; MLC 2026 – [Major League Cricket]  a franchise Twenty20 cricket league in USA.

 

 

Ireland shuts down India in T20I ...... why Cricketers should not be role-models (says who !?)

 

Another day, another huge disappointment for ardent Indian Cricket lover !  you may identify the person in this pic ! but can you relate her to yesterday’s match.  The second photo may not be related to Indian performance – it is here more because I took it and believe it to be good !!

 

Losses are not new to Indian fan, especially those who watched Indian Team’s ordinary performances in 1980s .. .. but in recent times we are used to IPL extravaganza where 50 or even 60 in last 3 overs were regularly scored !! 

India suffered a historic 2-0 T20I series defeat against Ireland in Belfast, marking their first-ever series loss to the Irish team. Captain Shreyas Iyer's individual performance with the bat was highly disappointing; he managed only 3 runs off 6 balls in his captaincy debut before falling early in the chase.  In the second T20I,    India   got off to the worst start possible as they  lost Sanju Samson (0), Abhishek Sharma (0), Shreyas Iyer (10) and Ishan Kishan (12) inside the powerplay. Tilak Varma & Axar Patel scratched around as hope ran out dry !  yet  20 off the last over off a slow right arm off-spinner gave hopes but !!!    

 

The man on whom our hopes rested was Harshit Rana, who has been the butt of criticism from fans aftersome  rather disappointing display.  After a memorable Indian Premier League season in 2024 for the Kolkata Knight Riders, the pacer made his way up the pecking order and has represented the national team across all three formats. Coincidentally, Rana was a part of the KKR team that won the title with Gautam Gambhir as the mentor.  Harshit Rana was mainly criticized for two reasons: his performances in some matches, and claims of favoritism around his selection.   

Yesterday as India crept, 20 runs were required from the over bowled by H TEctor.  Arshdeep was the batter – 1^st ball was wide outside off; then Arsh scored a single; 18 off 5; a high full toss (wide), Harshit scored 2; off the free-hit, Harshit swung to leg, a thing edge ran through keeper  for a four; [9 off 2 scored – 11 required off 4!]. 19.3 Harshit ran a single; 4^th ball was a wide – then Arshdeep scored a single;  8 required off the last 2 !!  Another high full toss, Harshit hits it neat and straight into the hands at straight shorter boundary ! – taken by brother Tim Tector. Last ball was insignificant – 8 required, debutant Prince Yadav hammered it for a Six as India lost by 1 run !!  

Ireland were brave to pair Tector  up with a left-arm spinner in the death. Matt Humprheys knowing he was at the unfavorable end of the match-up did the only thing he could. He denied the short straight hit.   Ireland have swept the T20 World Champions 2-0. That meant India's unbeaten run which spanned 16 series and nearly three years has been irrevocably broken. The stars of this supreme result were Harry Tector, who scored a determined half-century to help put 154 on the board, and Jai Moondra, who picked up three wickets in the blink of an eye.  

Meantime, the much awaited Super Baby Boss Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the 15-year-old prodigy, was kept cooling in the dressing cardon.  India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said – he  will have to "go through the same process as everyone else and bide his time and wait" for a debut  !!  Sooryavanshi is here after  spectacular IPL 2026 season, where he finished with the Player-of-the-Tournament honours for his 776 runs in 16 innings, scored at 237.30 and a glorious U19 WC. The national selectors said he had forced their hand with his outrageous talent and performances, but the team management has not been as quick to put him into the first XI during their shock series defeat to Ireland.  

Sanju Samson, one of the incumbent openers,   scored golden ducks in both these matches, but the team management is not in any hurry to show him or any of the two other top-three players the door.  "He's absolutely ready to play international cricket, there's no doubt about that," ten Doeschate said when asked how far Sooryavanshi was from making his international debut.   Yesterday there were two other debutants Prince Yadav and Suryansh Shedge !!! As of now, Sooryavanshi is only part of India's T20I side and not the ODIs. He has been named for the five-match series in England, which begins on Wednesday, and then the Asian Games – will have to wait to see whether Team management prefers to use his precocious talent.   

In India Cine actors and Crickters are sensational stars !!  but do not look up to Cricketers as moral guide says who !!  (first read the excerpts of the article)

There is a strange and growing delusion in the modern world that a talent for playing a sport qualifies an individual to be a moral guide. Modern cricketers are no longer merely athletes - they are expected to be virtuous, unblemished citizens and pillars of community standards.   

This expectation is as unrealistic as it is unfair. Cricketers should not be held to a higher standard than the general population. To demand otherwise is to misunderstand both the nature of elite sport and human nature. The most obvious question is simple: why have cricketers become role models? They did not ask for it. A young girl or boy picks up a cricket bat because they love the thrill of the contest, the satisfaction of a perfectly timed cover drive, or the exhilaration of rattling a batter's off stump. They do not sign up to become guardians of community morals.   

A cricketer's contract is an agreement to perform on the field - not a vow of abstinence, sobriety and perpetual politeness. When we force them onto a moral pedestal, we set them up for a fall, judging them by standards the general public could never hope to maintain.   

Cricketers are human beings with normal frailties. They suffer from the same insecurities, temptations, lapses in judgement, and emotional pressures as the butcher, the baker, and the corporate executive. The only difference is that the local accountant does not have their private life dissected by millions on social media.  

Cricketers should be admired primarily for their cricket. If a player performs on the field and respects the laws of the land, their private life should remain just that: private. Cricket boards, chief executives and integrity units are not shadow judiciaries. It is not their job to pass moral judgement on lifestyles, late nights, or personal indiscretions that violate no actual laws. When sporting bodies try to act as arbiters of private morality, they inevitably end up mired in hypocrisy. If a cricketer breaks the law, let the legal system handle them like any other citizen. If they are not punished, let them play. Selection, not curfews, should be the ultimate arbiter.  

It is time to dismantle the pedestal. Let us appreciate cricketers for the joy and drama they provide between the boundary ropes. Let us accept that they are beautifully, entirely human - complete with the same flaws and frailties as the rest of us.  

Cricket is not a church. It is a magnificent, unpredictable contest played by brilliant, imperfect people. Let's enjoy it as such.- highlighted portion that of Greg Chappel !!!  

H Tector bowled a messy final over and still ensured Ireland victory.  The one pictured at the start is Alice Tector who is now playing Women T20I WC for Ireland.  Born into a cricketing family - his brothers Jack and Tim also captained Ireland at U19 World Cups - Harry Tector has quietly amassed an impressive record in the senior side since cementing a spot in the post-Covid era.  After former Ireland captain Laura Delany was ruled out of   Women's T20 World Cup 2026 in the UK with an injury,  Eighteen-year-old allrounder Alice Tector  replaced her in the squad.  Tector made her ODI debut in 2024 and has played five matches for Ireland now is playing  T20I.  

 
Another disappointment for the die-hard Cricket fan
 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
29.6.2026

 

Cow corner !!

 

allikkeni cows meet !   ~   taken a few years ago.  Cow Corner (in fact they are in the middle) !!

 

In cricket, cow corner is an informal deep fielding area on the leg side (the batsman's side), stretching between deep mid-wicket and wide long-on.  The term originated from the early days of English village cricket, which was often played in open farm fields. This specific boundary area was considered "safe" because cows would graze there during the match.   Shots hit into this area were considered rustic, ungainly, or unsophisticated swings of the bat rather than textbook strokes, leading to the name. While the name began as a way to mock unorthodox or rustic slogging, modern limited-overs formats  and innovative hitting  have transformed cow corner into a highly strategic & high  scoring zone.

Conway moving story !!!

 

Are you feeling stressed and feel like giving up in life !! ~ life lessons are interesting !! 

IPL is not only a big money spinner but also more than ray of hope to every budding Cricketer.  A few decades ago, when India would play around 8 Test matches or less an year and ODI was at its nascent stage, not many got chance to represent the Nation.  Many a good Cricketers somehow could not break into the National arena and ended up with exploits in Ranji. 

 

How would you describe this shot – perfect balance, complete commitment, exquisite timing, great command and confidence – poetry in motion –the Art of Drive !!!  -  thrashing the cherry to boundary.  .. …  

Well, life was not all  that easy for this man -  He grew up on a huge plot of land just outside Johannesburg where he was born. The family reared horses, chickens, rabbits, sheep and cows. His father was a football coach at a local club, and was passionate about motorsports.  In Mar 2016, he   brought up his maiden first-class double-century for Gauteng at the provincial level and roared in jubilation. It was the first in eight years of professional cricket for the left-hand batsman. The innings should have heralded a new beginning. Instead, it marked closure. That was the last innings he  played as a South African domestic cricketer. That August, he left South Africa for his new home - New Zealand. 

The man, the Cricketer – Devon Conway  left Johannesburg in Sept 2017, at the age of 26, to try and forge a cricket career in New Zealand. He had played extensively at provincial level, the second tier of South African domestic cricket, but had struggled to make an impression in his sporadic appearances in top-tier franchise cricket.  He shifted to New Zealand and  in 2020  became eligible.  He started scoring runs but was ageing !!!!

More impressive yet was his start in Tests - his debut 200 against England at Lords which was the first of five fifties in consecutive Tests, two of them hundreds. In 2022, he became the fastest New Zealand batter to 1000 Test runs, getting there in 19 innings. That year, he kicked New Zealand's T20 World Cup campaign off with an unbeaten 92 in a thrashing of Australia, though his side stumbled in the semi-final.

So eight years after he hit    his maiden first-class double hundred for Gauteng in a three-day match in South Africa in 2017. Four years later he'd score another double, but this time for New Zealand on his Test debut, becoming only the second - but also the oldest - player to do so in the side, where he quickly established himself as an attacking but composed top-order batter with the ability to shift gears quickly to adapt to match situations.

Now Devon Conway is in news for different reasons – a very long travel.  New Zealand expect Devon Conway to be available for the second Test of their series in England at The Oval next week, despite him undertaking a 23,000-mile round trip to Wellington to be at the birth of his second child between Tests.  Conway made 1 and 41 in New Zealand's 115-run defeat in a low-scoring first Test at Lord's and has since taken the long journey home for the birth of his second child with his wife Kim.   

New Zealand's players have been given time off in the UK after their defeat in the first Test. The squad are due to train at The Oval on Friday, before another day off on Saturday, and then three further training days before the second Test starts on Wednesday.   The build-up to the second Test has been dominated by the off-field chaos that has engulfed the England team this week, with Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson not considered for selection at The Oval after their involvement in a late-night incident at a London nightclub and Joe Root stepping up as interim captain

Before concluding Devon Conway was a CSK player too.   Devon Conway made his IPL debut for Chennai Super Kings in 2022. He played seven matches that season, scoring 252 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of just over 145.  In 2023, he was a more regular presence for CSK at the top, helping them win their fifth title with a Player-of-the-Match performance in the rain-hit final in Ahmedabad.

Interesting !

Regards – S Sampathkumar

11.6.2026

Manav Suthar's day out ! an impressive debut !

 

India’s latest Cricketer – debutant – Cap no. 319 – moments of glory at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium at Chandigarh. 

Test match no. 2621 – India has thrashed  Afghanisthan by  an Innings & 300 runs defeat.   

In recent decade,  Spin was all Ravichandran Ashwin & Ravindra Jadeja – spinning out opponents, especially on home wickets.  When Ashwin suddenly retired,  Tanush Karunakar  Kotian, the Mumbai offspin-bowling allrounder, was  picked as R Ashwin's replacement in India's squad for the fourth and fifth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Tests.  

 

The man of this post is MJ Suthar.  Even without Ashwin, there was no place for a fourth spinner   behind Jadeja, Kuldeep and Washington, if India continue to leave out Axar Patel.   With Ashwin now retired, Jadeja rested, and Axar Patel dropped for the one-off Test against Afghanistan in New Chandigarh, there was a rare opportunity for an India spinner to earn a Test cap. Remarkably, the last spinner to make his red-ball debut for India was Axar himself, back in 2021. 

At the time when I started watching Test  matches it was magic of Bishan Singh Bedi – read that there were Vinoo Mankad, Babu Nadkarni earlier.  Bedi was magical - Padmakar Shivalkar, Rajender Goel, Rajinder Singh Hans, B Vijayakrishna, S Vasudevan were unable to break into the National Team.   After him, so many left arm spinners have played for India - Dhiraj Parsanna,  Dilip Doshi, Raghuram Bhat, Maninder Singh, Ravi Shastri, WV Raman, Venkatapathi Raju, Sunil Joshi, Nilesh Kulkarni, Rahul Sanghvi, Murali Karthik, Pragyan Ojha, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadhav, Shabhaz Nadeem, Axar Patel   .. … 

So it was a toss between Vidarbha's Harsh Dubey &  Rajasthan's Manav Suthar  !  At this stage of their careers, they are as alike as two cricketers can probably be. Both  are 23-year-old left-arm spin-bowling allrounders, born within 11 days of each other. Dubey has played 27 first-class matches; Suthar 29. Dubey has 133 wickets, Suthar 129. Dubey has scored 1026 runs at 25.65; Suthar 945 at 25.54.   and both bat left-handed. 

Manav Suthar got his chance this time and grabbed it with both bands.  For Afghan, there was a debutant too - left-arm orthodox spinner, Nangeyalia Kharote.    

Manav Jagdusakumar Suthar bowling looked all different  in New Chandigarh. Showing lot of promise last afternoon, he plucked up three wickets, turned into a dream extended spell on day three. He finished with 6 for 33 as India bundled out Afghanistan for 152 and enforced the follow-on.   

Manav Suthar has etched his name in the history books by becoming the 10th Indian to take a five-wicket haul on his Test debut. After performing consistently in domestic cricket and adding wickets to his tally, the spin all-rounder had  outstanding figures of 6/33 from his 22 overs, which included 10 maidens.  In the second innings, he took one wicket only

 
Well done Manav Suthar
 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
8.6.2026

Jewel of Triplicane ~ International Cricket Umpire Mr KBR

 

On the concluding day of Vasanthothsavam Sri Parthasarathi Emperuman has purappadu to Besant Road – Vasudevapuram and Nammalwar Street !!

 

My favourite Srinivasan Venkatraghavan scored a 50 and hoisted Peter Petherick for a Six.  Petherick had just taken a hat-trick on debut at Pakistan and sixers were rare to come by in any test – 50 years ago !! 

Life has changed – yesterday at Mullanpur - Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, a 15 year old kid was the cynosure of all  eyes – in almost a week – he has missed century 3 times and a knock of 96 off 47 with 8 fours and 7 sixers was perhaps his slower one.  Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is a free-spirited prodigy, yet  curbed some of his natural instincts, dug deep, and problem-solved, waiting to hit  his slowest half-century, though it still only took him 31 balls. He spent almost 18 overs at the crease, the deepest he has gone into a T20 innings.  His season ended with 776 runs at a strike rate of 237.30.

 

This is a post about a Nonagenarian who is closing on a Century  - the Six hit of Venkat referred to the 3^rd Test at Chennai in Nov 1976 against the visiting New Zealand and this respectable Triplicanite who lived early in Thavana Uthsav bungalow and now in Nammalwar Street, off Besant Road, Triplicane made his debut.    

Sri KB Ramaswamy was born on 20^th Feb 1929, started his International Umpiring career at Chepauk in 1976 – stood in 8 Test matches between 1976-1983 and also officiated in two ODI games in 1982 (incidentally India winning both – Krishnamachari Srikkanth hitting 92 in one !)   

Like most Triplicanites, he studied in the famous ‘The Hindu High School’ and Loyola college and naturally attracted to Cricket climbed the ladder becoming a Ranji Umpire and later an International Umpire. He officiated in the high profile Delhi v Bombay (Bedi v Gavaskar) Ranji final, the Irani Trophy and 8 test matches  at a time when matches were to less and being at the centre was very tough.    

Kondathur Bashyam Ramaswamy’s forefathers hailed from a small village near Chengalpattu, joined British firm Best & Crompton Engineering in the accounts division as an assistant clerk in the late 1940s. While he played a bit of league cricket for Crombest, he did not make a big mark as a player and hence moved into Umpiring and passed the examination in the 1950s.  At a fee of Rs. 2 per day, he began umpiring lower division league matches in Madras and then over a period of time graduated to the first division.   

Mr Prabhu (himself an Umpire and regular blogger) [https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/12/kb-ramaswamy-test-umpire.html] records that it was an emergency call in 19786.  Umpire Sharma could not make it from Delhi. After the first day’s play was washed out, Gothaskar fell ill on the 2nd morning and KBR was called to officiate in a match that had Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Vishwanath, Bishan Bedi, Venkat, Chandra among others in Indian side – the big names in Kiwi being Glenn Turner, John Parker, Geoff Howarth, Lance Cairns and .. Richard Hadlee.    In 1978 he officiated in couple of matches when West Indies under Alwin Kalicharran toured India.    

In a test at Bengalure he no balled fiery Rodney Hogg for overstepping multiple times and an annoyed Hogg kicked the stumps – KBR stood firm, and at his insistence Captain Kim Hughes made the bowler rearrange.  In 1983 at Ahmedabad test – Clive Lloyd fearing a loss abused Umpires KBR and Hanumatha Rao. 

 

On May 25, 2026 – day 7 of Vasanthothsavam – Sri Parthasarathi Perumal had purappadu in kuthirai vahanam, after Vasantha uthsava bungalow, had purappadu through Besant road, visiting Vasudevapuram and Nammalwar street – and this man at 97 physically strong prayed Emperuman and received honours.  Spoke a couple of words to him at that time and next day saw him at temple too  - a man who had officiated in matches involving biggest of International players – Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, Malcolm Marshall,  Imran Khan, Kim Hughes and more !!

 

Statistically,   Bishansingh Bedi was the captain at Chepauk.  Glenn Turner was the Captain for the visitors.  It was Test no. 787 – a 6 day match between 26th Nov to 2nd Dec 1976.   On the first day, no play was possible due to rain and 29th Nov was the scheduled rest day.  That match is well remembered for the good performance by gentleman and most intelligent - Srinivasan Venkatraghavan.   From 181/7  India went on to make 298 thanks to a fluent 64 by Venkat who hit 4 boundaries and a six.   Gundappa Vishwanath made 87 like the many good innings he had played at Chepauk and Kirmani made 44. 

There was some resistance from Glenn Turner and Mark Burgess but Kiwis were bundled for 140 with Bedi taking 5 for 48; Chandra 3 for 28 & Karsan Ghavri 2 for 32.  India batted on the 5th day scored slowly making 201 for 5 with contributions from Gavaskar, Mohinder and Brijesh Patel.  Richard Hadlee who summitted greater heights later in his career was involved in an unsavoury incident  of throwing the ball at the square-leg umpire after heated argument when an appeal for hit wicket against Gaekwad was turned down. Bedi declared overnight and NZ succumbed without much fight scoring 143 with Bedi taking 4 for 22 and Chandra 3 for 64. 

Interesting !  my respects to Triplicane jewel Mr KB Ramaswamy – wish we are able to attend and celebrate his 100 in a grand manner sooner. 

Regards – S Sampathkumar
30.5.2026

 

 

Will CSK qualify !!

 

IPL 2026 is really hotting up – in the 59^th match at Lucknow, CSK has real possibility of leaping into the top 4 – qualifying… .. Will Pigeon beat Squirrel and others ??

 

What a match yesterday – chasing 201 against PBKS – MI won dramatically.  After 15, in 30 balls it was improbable 72.  Chahal bowled a big over giving 20 runs, making it 52 off 24.  Azmatullah bowled a dream over shackling Rutherford and Will Jacks, giving only 2 runs, making it 50 of 3 overs.

 

Then Tilak VErma unleashed some big strokes hitting 22 runs of Marco Jansel – it was 28 from 2; Arshdeep bowled a decent over giving 13 and it was 15 off 6.  Xavier Barlett was laundered by Will Jacks and Tilak Verma, winning with a ball to spare !

 

14.5.2026

 

Sunil Narine night out !!! - Super over anti-climax !!

 

What a drama !  the match went past midnight.   LSG requiring 17 – Karthik Tyagi bowls two chest high no balls !! Impact Himmat Singh out caught by Rinku – Mohammad Shami slams a six off the last – and a Super over.

 

Then came the anti-climax !!! m the Super Over - effectively four balls across both innings. Sunil Narine bowled Nicholas Pooran first ball and had Aiden Markram caught off the third, with Rishabh Pant managing a single in between.  Earlier Rinku hit 83* - Mohsin Khan took a fifer.  26.4.2026

 

IPL Q ~ will MSD appear today !!

 

There innately is something wrong – some deliberate  imbalance in  IPL T20  between number of wickets and overs – could be the impact player, flatter pitches, bludgeoning bats, frenetic strategies – tall scores that once were considered sure wins in ODIs now becoming chaseable with -    " match-losing hundred". 

Yday there were two -   KL Rahul's 152 off 67 in Delhi & the sensation  Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's 103 off 37.  Sooryavanshi continues to add records – this time a 36 ball 100  

 

Today at the halfway stage of IPL 2026, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Gujarat Titans (GT) have an identical record: seven matches, three wins, four losses.  .. .. and some will ask for sure – will MS Dhoni make an appearance today ??

 

26.4.2026

Chepauk turning yellow hour before CSK DC match

 

Yelloweee fans of CSK that has won title 5 times seeking their first win in 2026

: https://youtu.be/w2c7LfWTqiM

brain fade ! - man from Jhunjhunnu ... .. man from Texas !!

 

Talent scouting ! – strategizing the last over !!  - a few decades ago, in a limited overs match at Marina ground (30 overs a side - Hindu Trophy) – with 11 required off the last over (a very tough task those days!); someone shouted ____ to bowl – Captain in a confused mind, handed over the ball to that not so regular bowler and was thrashed the required runs in the 5^th ball !! 

These days, especially in IPL with so many brains strategizing every team – almost everything is planned, schemed, rehearsed and still at the final stroke there are brain-fades.  Was not able to immediately understand Ravi Shastri calling an Umpire – Man from Texas !! – yesterday there were so many web searches about Jhunjhunu !  

                                                    Jhunjhunu is a city and municipal council in the state of Rajasthan.  It is  the biggest city of the Shekhawati region. Shekhawati derives its name from Maha Rao Shekha, a prominent Kachwaha Rajput chieftain who founded the region in the 15th century. The name is derived from the combination of "Shekha" (the name of the founder) and "wati," meaning "garden". 

IPL is very entertaining providing many nail baiting thrillers with results decided in the last delivery !!  yesterday match between KKR & LSG was another.

 

The score read 128 for 7, the target was 182, - there was an young batter, whom I had not heard of –  he had Avesh Khan and potentially two more bowlers left as partners.  Mukul Choudhary a wicket keeper batsman from Jhunjhunu – could not read Sunil Narine - three misses in four balls  meant Choudhary had scored just two off six deliveries. The jumbotron in the stadium flashed "54 needed off 24". 

Web searches revealed that he had impressive U23 level and had scored well in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 at a strike rate of 198.85, following which he was picked by Lucknow Super Giants at the IPL 2026 auction for INR 2.60 crore.  In a match against Delhi, he hit  62* off just 26 balls with seven sixes for Rajasthan   taking his side home in a chase of 176.   

Mukul made some lusty hits of Green and every other bowler and farmed the strike literally not allowing Avesh to bat at all.  Still it  was anybody's game when LSG required 14 off the final over, with three wickets in hand.   Avesh Khan got a single off the first ball, perhaps some loose fielding strategy by Ajinkya Rahane.  Mukul monstered Vaibhav Arora over square leg for six. Arora responded with two dots, then with 7 required off 2 – a classic great shot for six over deep cover leveled the scores.  The final delivery, Mukul moved, swung, missed – Avesh was already sprinting, Angrish Raghuvanshi with gloves could hit the stumps.  A run – LSG had won and another new hero Mukul Choudhary  was born ! 

In the last five overs, Mukul his seven sixers – each one an improvement than the previous.   Choudhary finished unbeaten on 54 off 27 and LSG completed a win that had all but slipped away from them.  In that  unbroken 54-run partnership with Avesh Khan,  Avesh faced just 3 balls and took that all important single off the first ball of 20^th over and the final bye !!  LSG scouts can take reasonable pride in finding such a player and grabbing him   for INR 2.6 crore. 

Just a day earlier, in the 14^th match at Delhi – it was brain fade.  GT made 210 and DC made a great chase.   In over no. 19, Mohammad Siraj leaked 23 and 13 were required off the last.   Gill tasked Prasidh Krishna to bowl the final over. He had leaked 41 in earlier 3.   Vipraj Nigam was on strike – 1^st ball was swung clean for a 4 but got out in the 2^nd.  DC now needed nine off four, Kuldeep deflected the first ball he faced for a single, bringing David Miller on strike.  Then a length delivery was clobbered long long way by Miller.  Now just 2 required off 2 !!!  Miller hit the ball  long but inexplicably refused a single to take it all upon himself to finish the deal.  Prasidh bowled a slower one, Miller swiped and missed, Butler collecting could hit the stumps and Kuldeep was run out.   If that single had been taken – scores would have tied and Kuldeep would have been free to swing the bat in whatever manner !! – poor thinking by Miller – a brain fade. 

Recall that 1999 Cricket World Cup semi-final, Allan Donald   involved in an infamous run-out against Australia.  That day at Edgbaston, South Africa needed nine to win in the last over. Lance Klusener,  was on strike against Damien Fleming. Klusener picked up boundaries off the first two balls of the over, the scores were now level but in the event of a tie, Australia would go through to the final on account of their higher finish in the Super Six. Steve Waugh brought the field in. Klusener hit the third ball of the over to Darren Lehmann but stayed put, while Donald set off. He survived as  Lehmann’s direct hit missed the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Klusener hit the next ball to mid-on and set off. This time Donald did not run. Mark Waugh picked up the ball, but his throw missed the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Fleming gathered the ball and rolled it along the ground towards Adam Gilchrist.  It beat Donald, who had finally started to run but had lost his bat in the process, by a considerable margin. Australia qualified. That earned SA the chokers tag !!    

Remember that historic Tied test at Chepauk in Sept 1986.  Despite scoring a mammoth 574/7 dec in the first innings, thanks  to a double hundred by Dean Jones and centuries by David Boon and skipper Allan Border, Australia was on the brink of defeat in a contest where there was no love lost between the sides. India conceded a 177-run lead at the end of the first innings, with captain Kapil Dev contributing with a hundred. Set a target of 348 in the final innings, India looked to be cruising at the midway point with the top order providing excellent support to veteran opener Sunil Gavaskar. After Gavaskar fell, with the score at 204, the visitor clawed its way back, sweeping through the lower order.   At one point of time India needed to score 40 with 5 wickets in hand.   Then wickets fell in a heap – when last man Maninder Singh came to bat – India needed 4 to win.  Ravi Shastri took two of the first ball, then one off the second.  Was he right in exposing Maninder and not closing the match by himself would remain a moot debate.  Maninder had to score a solitary run !!   he had 3 balls, with all fielders getting closer – he was adjudged LBW to Graig Matthews and it was a historic tie.    

 

Years later, Ravi Shastri in a show, talking to Sunil Gavaskar said it was a well-thought decision, Maninder had actually played the ball but the Umpire had lifted his finger so swift as if he was ‘the man from Texas’ -  referring a Western film    starring James Craig as Tobias Simms, a notorious outlaw (often called "the El Paso Kid") who attempts to abandon his criminal life to live peacefully with his wife, Zee.  But while the match made many a career, it ended that of Indian umpire V. Vikramraju, who had given Maninder out leg before.  

Mukul does not look big and very powerful but, but, read his comment :  "My body is a little powerful, and that has come to me naturally," he said of his six-hitting ability. "I also practise hitting 100-150 sixes every day, so the bat speed develops if you keep doing it. I have been practicing a lot for the last five to six months, so it has come into my game." 

Well done … .. when it comes to the moment, not all brains remain agile.

 

Regards – S Sampathkumar
10.4.2026

former Test Cricketer - CD Gopinath is no more !!

In the melee of IPL 2026 – how much of Cricket do you follow, do you watch matches daily.  Did you follow Ranji trophy -2025-26 – Jammu & Kashmir made history winning their maiden Ranji title defeating eight times champions Karnataka in the 91^st edition of the Indian (once) premier tournament   

Sadly,  Tamil Nadu concluded the 2025–26 Ranji Trophy season with a sixth-place finish in Elite Group A, failing to qualify for the knockout stages. After a difficult start that included an innings defeat to Jharkhand in their opening match, the team recorded its first victory of the season in the penultimate round by defeating Odisha.   

Long ago, when Test matches were telecast live in Doordarshan, there would be Commentators and one Expert Commentator !!      C: the ball has been hit to boundary and now the score is … .. .. – what do you think of that shot Sir ?  EC (Lala Amarnath, CD Gopinath .. … ) – it was a good shot, shot in length, went on backfoot, square cut for four ! –   

In the annals of Indian Cricket that Chennai test in Feb 1952 would remain a much remembered one.  India recorded their first victory defeating England by an innings and 8 runs. 

 

The sad news is :  Former India cricketer C.D. Gopinath passed away peacefully in Chennai today.  He was 96. Gopinath had been the last surviving member of India’s maiden Test win against England in 1952. He and his wife Comala, a former champion golfer, lived in Coonoor in the Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu. 

 

In that Test India made five changes from their previous side. Manjrekar, Nayudu, Shinde, Joshi and Adhikari stood down for Mushtaq Ali, Amarnath, Gopinath, Divecha and Sen. As originally chosen the side included Adhikari and omitted Umrigar, but a wrist injury due to a fall gave Umrigar another opportunity which he seized splendidly. Carr led England for the first time, Howard standing down with pleurisy, this being the one change from the Kanpur side. 

Born on March 1, 1930, Gopinath played eight Tests and 83 first-class matches for India and Madras. He made his Test debut against England at the Brabourne Stadium in 1951 and played his last match against Australia at Eden Gardens in 1960.  The right handed batsman scored 50* and 42 on his Test debut against the England cricket team in 1951–52, batting at No.8 in both innings.  He contributed a quick 35 in the final Test of that series when India recorded its first Test victory. 

He toured England in 1952 but could not shine much. At home he played Tests against Pakistan in 1952–53 and Australia in 1959–60, and toured Pakistan in 1954–55. He was chosen in the team to the West Indies in 1952–53 but turned down the invitation. Gopinath captained Madras from 1955–56 to 1962–63, as well as South Zone in the Duleep Trophy.  Later, he served as a national selector under Vijay Merchant and  as the chairman, and managed the 1979 tour to England. 

Tamil Nadu, then playing as Madras won Ranji Trophy for the 1st time in 1954-55.  They beat Holkar by 46 runs in the finals.  RB Alagannan was the Captain, Dl Chakravarthy (wk)- rest being S Balakrishna, M Suryanarayanan, AG Kripal Singh, CD Gopinath, MK Balakrishnan, J Ramakrishnan, BC Alva, AK Sarangapani & MK Murugesh.  Holkar put Madras in and Madras made 478 with CD Gopinath making 133.  Holkar were bowled out for 417.  Madras made 311 in its second innings with Kripal Singh scoring 91.   The victory margin was 46 runs. 

A right-handed batter, Gopinath featured in eight Tests for India in the 1950s and scored 242 runs with a highest score of 50 not out. In an accomplished First-Class career, Gopinath played 83 games for Madras and accumulated 4259 runs at a healthy average of 42.16, including nine centuries and 23 half-centuries.

 

Back in 22^nd Nov 2023, Kapil Dev had been invited for a book launch at Hotel Savera, CD Gopinath walked into the function hall – Kapil spoke very respectfully to him - @ 93 he walked steadily with pride.  Was fortunate to greet him, talk to him and took a couple of photos with him.

 

Rest in peace – CD Gopinath Sir

 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
9.4.2026