The unknown golfer

I was quite amused to read this feature as one of the top stories on Yahoo! News this evening.
It is strange how I'm checking the PGA leaderboards on a weekly basis (almost) checking to see how Arjun Atwal and Daniel Chopra are doing.
These blokes toil away on the greens, doing unexpectedly well at times, without much by way of coverage back home (agreed, some folks might say Chopra's a Swede!).

The language barrier...

I feel sorry for Bob Woolmer, caught between the devil and the deep blue sea! Managing Pakistan is no mean task, and now that the garbage has hit the ceiling he finds himself in a spot of bother. Strangely I would not be surprised if he quits sooner than expected. It was amusing to read this:

"Inzi and I are absolutely fine. We have had misunderstandings in the past and we had a sort of misunderstanding on Sunday. Until I have a complete grasp of the Urdu language these things may occur but as things stand now, we are fine. We are getting on well and want to do whatever we can for Pakistan cricket."

It reeks of a kiss-and-make-up underlined by a dollop of disgust. It also underlines the language barriers (among other hurdles) guys like John Wright and Woolmer have to deal with day in and day out. I suspect the Indians (despite the bile they sometimes spat back at Wright) had a healthy respect for Wright, which was undoubtedly well-earned. On the other hand, I cannot but believe that the Pakistani cricket team has absolutely no respect for its coaches - be it Intikhab Alam, Richard Pybus or Woolmer.

Inzi being Inzi would not have had something overly parliamentary to say to/about Woolmer during the fiasco that played out on Sunday - I doubt he would have started out in his usual style of praising the lord and invoking his goodwill! In the whole controversy what seems clear is the fact that Woolmer probably wanted to go ahead with the game, while Inzi and gang wanted (rather belatedly) to massage their bruised egos in the dressing room. And good old Shahryar Khan had to spin an unbelievable yarn (attributing the condition of the ball to Kevin Pietersen smashing it so many times into the stands, which all happened after the Paki team was pulled up by Mr. Hair).

And then there are jackasses (including Mr. Shahryar Khan) looking for religious overtones in this whole fiasco!

Cricket and religion don't mix....

According to the venerable Shahryar Khan:

"Cricket is a bridge of peace," he added. "In these days of tension outside the cricket ground, what a wonderful sight it is to see cricket between a Muslim country and Muslim people, and England, the majority Christians."

Since when have we started adding religious overtones to a simple game of cricket?

And so it goes....Quadie Jr. RIP

We argued a lot, over many a lunch.....
I a loyal Loyola-ite, he zesty Xavier-ite...
And then in a flash, it all amounts to just memories...
Anand Paul Quadros....RIP...

Keith Richards does it!

Was extremely amused to read an article this evening with the blurb: "Keith Richards falls out of tree" !

Wonder what on earth he was trying to do up a palm tree for Keith's sakes!

I lost it when I read:

"She [My note: The Stones spokesperson] refused to elaborate further on his condition or explain what Richards was doing up a tree in the first place."

I have a wild guess - maybe it finally proved the missing link in the puzzle as to whether KR was human or simian!

Note: To those who dont know who Keith Richards is...he's a guitarist with the Rolling Stones..much maligned for his drug abuse....and this is a snap of him.

Do you want to get "laid"?!

A seriously funny post from a friend....(relatively) new to blogosphere...I present Ms. Arati, and her travails as an (engineering) student in Bombay!

Brought back very fond memories!

Matthew Engel's tribute to Laurie Engel

I have been a (relatively) regular reader of Matthew Engel's articles on cricket over the last couple of years. I was quite surprised to see a link on Cricinfo that linked to an article which read "Young Engel lives on in the memory".

That article linked on to Mr. Engel's tribute to his son Laurie - an extremely heart-rending one at that. I wonder how one writes about one's private grief in a public forum (read: The Guardian) - but then I guess we all find closure one way or the other! He wrote:

"..........I want a word. But if there is meaning or purpose or logic in this, we can't see it. In the early stages of the illness, I thought - superstitiously, maybe - that I was being punished. I thought of all the shitty things I'd done, the beggars and Big Issue sellers I had walked by. But Laurie never walked by a beggar: he was the softest touch in the world. He was punished with all the pain.........."

It is human nature for us to ask the question "Why......?". Our memories flash back to all the unpleasant stuff we have done (inadvertently or otherwise) and we feel queasy.

We live a few thousand miles away from our near and dear ones - atleast I do. A number from back home flashing on your cellphone display sets your heart racing - especially when it is unexpected. I cannot fathom what M went through last week, but it was one big blur for us. We did whatever we could, but still came in for a bit of criticism from some quarters (rather one!). Agreed, they might have been through a similar situation, but I dont think it gives them a license to pass judgement on the way someone else handles the situation. But then, that is the way the dice rolls I guess.

It got us thinking....
The memories from our childhood.....
The first day of school....
The fevers and hospital visits we have gotten through....
The cricket bat which we got as a gift when we were in 4th standard....
School prize days.....
Sunday evenings.....
Cricket 'matches' in the living room....
Late night snacks.....
Fights over the television remote....
Discussions about the 'facts of life'....
Arguments over our sartorial tastes....
Creative differences with regard to musical tastes...

There are so many memories we have....each and every one a photograph/video clip of a moment that slipped away in time.....

In our pursuits of goals we often 'lose track' of the small things which make us what we are. We feel invincible....the fire beneath our skin and in our heart....But every time we feel down, there will always be some folks who will always provide good counsel and a shoulder....

Hiccups from Hick

Some of you might remember my reference to one Graeme Hick and his stellar performance at the Wankhede in 1993, a few days ago.

Rightly described by some as a flawed genius, I remember reading about his exploits way back in the late 80s. I think at that time his decision to play for England instead of Zimbabwe was a hotly debated - a very sensible decision in my opinion.

One of the few modern day cricketers to have scored a hundred first-class centuries, Hick never really got going in either form of cricket. There was a time he did well against the Aussies, Windies and Proteas, but apparently Mr. Ray Illingworth thought otherwise and pretty much put paid to his cricketing career.

I guess his problems were also compounded by the emergence of Vaughan, Butcher (and Freddie Flintoff) coupled with the resurgence of Thorpe and Hussain.

If only he got more chances...

A chain of unfortunate events...

First this....
And then this....

It has been a weird week. Least expected to return to Clemson and find a new apartment! What was worse was cleaning out the old place - filled with smokey stuff and damp cotton from the roof!

Good to see that some folks have taken it in their stride....

The question of a blue plaque

It was interesting to read Mike Selvey's article in today's Guardian. Although he mainly dealt with the burgeoning run rates in ODIs today, there was something at the end which caught my eye.

Writing about the attempts by a gentleman named Christopher Douglas to put up a plaque at 21 Bentinck Street in Marylebone commemorating a certain Douglas Jardine.

"The Panel felt that Jardine was not equal standing to those already commemorated under the scheme (WG Grace, Jack Hobbs, CB Fry) and that there are figures not yet suggested by the public such as Len Hutton, Peter May and Dennis Compton who might be considered more worthy of plaques. Just for your interest, Learie Constantine and K S Ranjitsimhji [sic] have recently been shortlisted."

It is indeed amusing to learn that the panel is actually considering Learie Constantine, who (with all due respect to him) did not do much for English cricket - nothing at all if I can remember right! Agreed, he broke a lot of barriers in cricket - much like Jackie Robinson did in baseball in America.

Douglas Jardine evoked a sense of respectful fear in me back in the late 80s when the Bodyline TV-series was shown on Doordarshan. Back then I liked the Aussies (they had just won the World Cup in 1987), and the sheer 'brutality' of the Bodyline series made me gnash my teeth whenever I heard the words Jardine or Larwood.

But over the years I have read so much more into the whole series and the characters behind it. It reads a bit like a soap opera, but yet, I guess the Englishmen never forgave Jardine (nor Larwood) for whatever happened. It is indeed ironic that Larwood settled in Australia, where he was warmly received. Agreed, he probably was a pawn in the whole scheme planned out by a 'thinking' captain and he unfortunately paid a heavy price for 'obeying orders'. But I would say he did it with honour.

Today, we deal with bowlers who bowl intentional beamers (rather hurl) and the intolerance of spectators who resort to a variety of tactics to thrown the opposition off balance. I'd say the Indian crowds whch throw bottles and a variety of other garbage (verbal too) at opposing teams are on par with the Aussie larrikins who heap the opposition with racist abuse. It is sad to see the game degenerate to this level.

But someday I'd like to see Jardine get the respect that is due to him. As a shrewd tactician, as an English captain (a list that also includes a gent called Monkey Hornby and the 3rd Baron Tennyson, among more illustrious names), and (in this day and age) as a man who brought the all-conquering Aussies to their feet. Let's face it, Bodyline was a bit of an annihilation compared to the nail biting stuff that was dished out last summer!

Panther Patterson

Was quite amused to see who topped the list of the most successful bowlers in ODIs in India - Mr. Balfour Patrick Patterson!
He featured in the Windies tour of India in 1987-88 and literally terrorized the Indian batsmen - not to forget a couple of second standard kids.
I shall leave it to Mike Selvey (he of the latest Chappell interview) to describe the man (courtesy Cricinfo):

"...Patterson hurtled his inelegant bow-legged way up the hill, thrust his leading leg high, studs at the batsman, stamped down hard enough to measure on the Richter Scale, and, bowling like the devil..."

What Mr. Selvey forgot was the way Patterson started his run up, crouching low, like a panther....ready for the kill...

I dont think we the kids of the mid-80s who saw the Windies at their prime will forget what a force they were! Just imagine what it must have looked like, for the batsman, watching the bowler's left leg go at 60 degrees and then find the ball hurtling towards you at close to 95mph. Must have surely accounted for a momentary distraction leading to timber being rattled! And those were the days of Walsh, Ambrose, Malcolm Marshall (RIP) and Ian Bishop!

I can only sigh thinking of those days, and what a huge collective sigh it must be...

Words of wisdom (?) from "Shantaram"..

Shantaram is an amazing book. To say anything more about it and wax eloquent would be 'unfair'.

The book got me into its grip slowly, but steadily. Only in the last few pages does the whole picture hit you - right in the face, bang in the gut. Some of the words he uses are simply mind-numbing.

"And I loved her. I loved her still so much, so hard, but with no heat or heart at all........And suddenly I knew in those seconds of ... cold adoration, I suppose ... that the power she'd once held over me was also gone. Or, more than that, her power had moved into me, and had become mine."

"I felt empty: the kind of emptiness that's sad but not distressed, pitying but not broken-hearted, and damaged, somehow, but clearer and cleaner for it. And then I knew what it was, that emptiness: there's a name for it, a word we use often, without realising the universe of peace that's enfolded in it. The word is free."

And finally...

"For this is what we do. Put one foot forward and then the other. Lift our eyes to the snarl and smile of the world once more. Think. Act. Feel. Add our little consequence to the tides of good and evil that flood and drain the world. Drag our shadowed crosses into the hope of another night. Push our brave hearts into the promises of a new day. With love: the passionate search for a truth other than our own. With longing: the pure, ineffable yearning to be saved. For so long as fate keeps waiting, we live on. God help us. God forgive us. We live on."

THIS is some of the best writing I have read in a long time. Easily one of the best end-games, the only other one which flashes readily in my mind was the end of John Grisham's "The Partner". There are some endings which give you the 'feel-good' air, and then there are endings like the one in Shantaram. There is not much by way of drama. But the sheer play of words takes your breath away. You feel well....'suffocated' (maybe because all the oxygen is going to the brain while you digest the force of the words).

Yes, 'cold adoration' couldn't have been put better. Very apt!

10 years gone by...

It's been ten years since the batch of 1996 left the hallowed portals of Campion. So much has changed, but yet some things have remained the same. The 37 of us might be spread all over the world, but then we try and stay close and keep in touch with each other.
Some are married...Dont think any have become dads yet....
Some work in exotic locales....one bloke on the island of Aruba...
Some are still academia's guinea-pigs....
We all have had pain, suffering, love, loss and longing...some more than others...
We all reminesce a lot...
We still buzz each other off and on quiet Saturday afternoons to hear the latest on the Cuffe Parade gossip or Malabar Hill masala....
Some meet every weekend at Geoffreys and down martinis with Marine Drive buzzing with activity...Others stand on a balcony 60 odd floors above sea level, overlooking the Hudson, contemplating on life and what googlies we have negotiated....
Some walk shoulder to shoulder with the hotshots...while others have to be rather content trying not to rub the local redneck the wrong way....
All said and done the Campion-Cathedral 'rivalry' is still very much a load of bulls**t....
Everyone remembers their secret (and not-so-secret) crushes...and share a good laugh when her name pops out of nowhere...
Some crushes have become commitments...others have been consigned to the trash-can of life...
We still shake our heads in disbelief when we think of Ms. Goswami...HOW?!!!!!!!!
Mindu is gone.....somewhere in Elysian Fields he's giving plus 3 to all souls...sometimes plus six...
Mr. Nash Karanjia....a perfect gentleman....a diamond in the crown of Campion...
Goosie....he's gone now...probably hunting bears in the forests of Heaven....
Nannu.....a strict disciplinarian, but a man with a heart of gold.....
ILP....the man for all seasons at Campion....a friend, philosopher and guide to me and so many other Campionites....
JS Lewis....a man with a vision...who made a huge difference through the 90s...
Callu......the gentleman who kindled my interest in chemistry....a man who could never bring himself to raise his voice against a student, but would instead quietly go to the blackboard and give the bloke's house minus points....
Gomes, the master who threatened to chew the marrow of everyone's bones, but deep down a simple straightforward man....
I get goose-pimples when I see:
this
this
this
this
and....this used to be my playground....
this...(though I cant figure out for the life of me why/how the PTA found its way into that snap!)
this was totally kick-ass (oops..excuse my language)...
This gentleman made quite a few Campionites tremble in their shoes...
Babe Bakshi and gang...

And yes...admit it...Bakshi looked haaaaaaaat ;-)!

Those were the days my friends!

A jaffa from Jaffer

Although the cricketing term 'jaffa' is supposed to refer to an unplayable delivery, I couldn't but help using it to describe the innings Wasim Jaffer played yesterday. Here was a guy returning to the team after almost 4 years in the wilderness - times which were probably much darker than one could imagine. The crown of being an Indian opener has lain uneasy on the heads of those who have been fortunate/unfortunate to wear it. Where are Aakash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar today? But from whatever little I have read about his innings, he seems to be in sublime touch.

I have seen Jaffer just once, and that was during the Ranji pre-quarterfinal against TN at the Guru Nanak ground in Chennai. Saarang 2002 was on, and to liven up the relatively boring afternoon I decided to cycle down to Guru Nanak from IIT. For better or for worse, I happened to be the only bloke there cheering for a rather hapless Mumbai team (not that the TN team was much better)!

The Guru Nanak ground is bang in the middle of the college of the same name. The pavilion was just about shady enough to keep the players cool (I dont know if the place has changed a lot in the past four years), and people could choose their vantage points from where they could watch the game. A makeshift shamiana sheltered a few TNCA officials who had taken the trouble to attend the game. From another tent adjoining the pavilion, the characteristic fragrance of mutton biriyani wafted over the ground - lulling a few Mumbai batsmen into a soporific end to their innings and a slow waltz back to the pavilion.

Both teams had their share of former Indian players. Bombay had Sameer Dighe, Nilesh Kulkarni, Sairaj Bahutule, Vinod Kambli and Paras Mhambrey; while the TN team had the famous warhorse Robin Singh, Thiru Kumaran, Sadagopan Ramesh, Aashish Kapoor and S. Sriram.

Post-lunch, while a bloke called Balaji gave the Bombay batsmen a ton of trouble under the searing Chennai sun, a single figure emerged from the pavilion and went towards the nets. Padded up, he began knocking the ball around. He started out slow, but then began to play his shots. It was sheer ecstasy to watch him, and I pretty much lost interest in the happenings out in the middle. For a full two hours, he did nothing but play some of the most brilliant shots in the book. He reminded me of one Mohd. Azharuddin and another wristy bloke by the name of VVS Laxman. But this guy was Wasim Jaffer. Agreed, he did not do too well in that game, but it seems like he obviously was committed enough to his game to go out there in the hot sun and practise his game. I do hope that during the dark years away from the test arena, Jaffer did not lose his appetite for the game.

Balaji on the other hand went on to play a few games for India, where he did fairly well but today is one of the proverbial sacrificial lambs at the altar of the selection committee. The emergence of Sreesanth and RP Singh (not to forget VRV Singh) has also played a major role in Balaji's comeback grinding to a halt. Will he make a comeback? I personally have my misgivings about it, especially with the sudden surge in the 'pace attack' the team fields nowadays.

[While writing this, the Indians decided it was time to make things a little more exciting. The score reads 149-4, Jaffer out without scoring the much awaited century Laxman expected him to score!]

Women in science...

Disclaimer: This might be controversial, and might get me into a soup...

A minor discussion with N this evening got me thinking of the role of women in science. Off the top of their head, most people think of Marie Curie and her daughter. I guess most Indians would go for Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, some probably for Kalpana Chawla.

But much before Ms. Shaw or Ms. Chawla graced the face of this earth, there was a lady called Kamala Sohonie. I remember reading this article about how she 'overcame the Raman effect'.

"When Sohonie applied for postgraduate degree, after completing her graduation from Bombay University in 1933, Raman summarily dismissed her application despite her having topped the university merit list that year. And the reason: Sohonie happened to be a woman!"

Thankfully the great man changed his mind about women in science after she graduated from Cambridge! She became the first Indian woman to receive a doctoral degree in the sciences, a stellar achievement undoubtedly considering the roadblocks she must have faced in those days (the 1930s).

How much the world has changed since then. But I wonder how many folks have heard of Dr. Sohonie. All rise and pay tribute to the grand old lady of Indian science - if I might call her so.

Pops, crackles...and Prabhu Deva....

Was reading Zatta's (also known as Rahul Bhattacharya, a contributing editor of Cricinfo Magazine and author of Pundits from Pakistan: On Tour with India, 2003-04) report on the first day's play at Nagpur and burst out laughing reading this:

"Breakdance! If you look hard enough, you can see it in his action: all jerks and pops and crackles. And he's now introduced brown tints to his hair, so that if he adds a beard he could indeed pass off as Prabhudeva."

Yes, it's all there in Sreeshanth's action! But the resemblance to PrabhuDeva is far from the truth. PrabhuDeva looks like he POSITIVELY swung off a tree, while Sreeshanth looks less simian. [I say less simian thanks to a cousin who tells me Sreeshanth reminds her of a kutty
(small) chimp!]. But then, we know where we came from....

Adios Hirwani

I was reading a copy of Sportstar the other day, and read that Narendra Hirwani had retired from first-class cricket. It brought back memories of the late 80s when he castled the Windies on debut at Madras - which is what most people remember when the name Hirwani is mentioned.
It was probably the first time I was hearing about a single bowler claiming such a huge haul, and that too on debut. Little had I heard of Jim Laker, and it would be another 5-6 years before Murali/Warne came into the international limelight. The other name in the papers was Bob Massie (another one-Test wonder) whose record of 16 wickets on debut was emulated by Hirwani.
What has slipped past in tributes to Hirwani was his role in ODIs, and his stellar role in India winning the Sharjah Cup in 1987-88 - one of India's few successes in the desert storms it has had to weather at Sharjah. Agreed, the other teams were NZ and SL, but he had them flummoxed with 4-wicket hauls against both.
Sadly, he just faded away into relative oblivion after that. He picked up wickets by the bucketful every season in the Ranji Trophy and made a couple of comebacks into the test side, but did nothing of note.
But yes, ask any cricket-crazy bloke in his mid-20s or 30s and they will tell you how this bespectacled bloke who bamboozled the mighty Windies at the Chepauk all those years ago. Jasu Patel who wreaked havoc on the Aussies at Kanpur in the 1959-60 series with a 14-wicket haul (9-69 in the first innings, something probably unheard of during those days in Indian cricket) passed on quietly, largely forgotten. Hirwani's place in Indian cricketing lore is safe - I hope.

The hunt for a good sports-magazine!

When my father and uncle were in school, the pre-eminent sports magazine of those days was called "Sport and Pastime". I remember an old issue lying around in Achamma's house which had Conrad Hunte on it's cover, and it took me to an era I had not even imagined back then - the late 50s and 60s when the Windies dominated under the great Sir Frank Worrell, and Gary Sobers was taking his first steps enroute to future greatness.

My love affair with Sportstar began sometime in the mid 80s (yes, that early) around the time the Indians won the B&H World Championship of Cricket in Australia. This lasted more than a decade and a half into the next millenium. Some time in the late 80s they added a poster instead of their normal centrefold, and their popularity rose unbelievably. Many a poster graced the walls of our flat in Bombay, not to forget the "cousins room" in Coimbatore (Today I can only think of that room as Achan's pooja room). Everyone had to get their copy of Sportstar, and even in class we'd wonder who would feature next on the poster. I cannot forget how the Sportstar would be hidden away from my prying eyes during exam-time, only for me to hunt (or rather smell) it out from a variety of places ranging from the kitchen to the store-room!

Many an eminent writer contributed his columns, including Gavaskar and Harsha Bhogle - Bobby Simpson still is a regular. The lenswork of Indian sport (mainly the cricket/cricketers by VV Krishnan) was amazing, while the photos from abroad were generally by AllSport. I think Stan Smith's Tennis lessons and Jack Nicklaus' golf tips (comic-style) are still going strong! Those were the days before the internet came along and we depended on our loyal Sportstar for sports news from foreign lands.

The special countdowns to the Olympics, World Cup soccer and the cricket World Cup were read from cover to cover and then bound for future reminescences. They brought alive the magic of Pele, the Windies cricketers in the 70s and 80s, Jesse Owens, the rivalry between the Kaiser and the Flying Dutchman, and so many flashbacks from the past!

However, with the advent of the internet, as they say, we have the world at our fingers and I guess I've become more net-dependent for all news and articles. Sportstar (like jap-cakes and jilebis) is now a memory of days-gone-by, savoured with zest when the opportunity comes along (like in India this winter!).

Cricinfo's new magazine (I just read their inaugural issue) comes as a breath of fresh air. I have realized I am addicted to good cricket journalism. Achan and Amma were quite amused by my innumerable trips to the local magazine vendor to check whether he had received the magazines! Couldnt believe that Zatta wrote the cover story on Dravid - but then he's hot on the cricket-writing scene with his chronicle of the Indian tour of Pakistan in 2004.

Cant get enough of this stuff! That's all I can say! I'm even tempted to request A-A to subscribe and keep the issues for me when I go home next!

MCC/Chepauk memories...

Been a regular at the Madras Cricket Club (MCC) over the years - thanks to R & S. When I was younger, a summer vacation trip to Madras would be incomplete without a lunch/dinner at the MCC; much like the trip to see KMama and KMayi (which I'll save for another blog-post). Went there for a lazy lunch last week, and it brought back fond memories.

My first impressions of the Chepauk were formed during the 1987 World Cup match, which India narrowly lost to Australia. One of the lasting memories of that game had the Aussies walking off after winning the match, their whites/off-whites caked with the brownish black mud. Made me wonder if they played on grass or in what I then used to call (in typical Mumbaiya Hindi) keechad!

The club used to be filled with snaps of various cricketers who had graced many a party hosted there. I do remember seeing photographs of the various Windies touring teams, but sadly they seem to have disappeared (along with the Calypso kings). The odd photo of a Viv Richards and Sobers partying away in the club are still to be seen though.

One of the most unforgettable matches I witnessed was the 2001 test against Australia, where the Indians just about scraped home to win the series. Tendulkar has always had a decent run at the Chepauk, and the collective gasp around the ground when he mistimed the ball in the air in the direction of Michael Slater, followed by the sigh of relief when Slater put the chance down still rings clear in my head. The end of the test was however watched safely ensconed in the safety of my drawing room!

The other match I watched at the Chepauk was largely forgettable - the ODI between India and England in 2002. It was nice to sit in the Clubhouse, right next to the players and watch the game. Ganguly sat out the match (nothing new about that, isnt it!), and I dont think I'll see him in action ever! And oh yes, Gower gave me the royal miss again! Did manage to snag an autograph from one Ian Terence Botham though.

It's been interesting to see folks like Venkat, Robin Singh, WV Raman, Badani and few others relaxing in the club in the evenings. But what's been a much more joyous experience is imagining the innings/games that have been played here.

Sachin vs. Warne, thats how the series was built up in the spring of 1998 when the Aussies toured India. Despite college being a stone's throw from the Brabourne Stadium, I had to give the match between the Aussies and Bombay a miss - and thats where ST scored his first double century in first-class cricket. It was a precursor to what lay in store at the Chepauk, where he bludgeoned the Aussies into submission. Warney bowling outside the leg-stump only to be swatted away for a boundary by ST - that's one of the memories I have of that innings!

An innings I havent seen (not even on TV), but something everyone raves about was the 97* GRViswanath made against the Windies in 1974-75. For its sheer brilliance (and people still rave about it) it was also ranked #3 among the top 10 innings played by an Indian batsmen ever.

The tied test will forever be remembered in 2 snapshots - one of Greg Matthews absolutely cock-a-hoop after trapping Maninder Singh lbw, and the other of a very dehydrated Dean Jones enroute to his double century! But just imagine the guts Deano displayed, and who can forget the valiant attempt the Indians made chasing down 348 in a day's play!

And last but not the least, a silent tribute to the television tower keeping a watchful eye over the Chepauk!