Sehwag's World Record!

Today, Danesh Ramdin played an assured, run-a-ball, personal best ODI innings of 96 as the West Indies compiled a useful total of 265. Unfortunately for them, this was in reply to India's mammoth 418-5, and the Trinidadian's efforts were obliterated by the phenomenon that was Virender Sehwag's 219, easily surpassing Sachin Tendulkar's previous world record set last year.

Sehwag's ability to strike a ball is well known but he doesn't often convert early blitzes into big innings. The World Cup opener was one of those and now the West Indies were on the receiving end of the greatest of them all at Indore. It wasn't just a T20-style slogfest either. Sure, he swung the bat for some mighty straight sixes but there were some brilliant flicks and audaciously delicate 'upper cuts' to the boundary, too. He survived a couple of run-out attempts and a dropped catch but even Darren Sammy had to applaud a marvellous performance which his batsmen never stood an earthly of matching.

It took 2,962 ODIs before Tendulkar became the first man to hit a double and at one stage it looked as if it would take only another 261 before the 250 barrier was breached. However, it took a rare mistimed slog off the innocuous medium pace of Kieron Pollard to dismiss him.

So where does this innings ran alongside the best of one-day innings? Well, undoubtdly a million miles ahead of the very first ODI century, compiled by Dennis Amiss back in 1972. Kapil Dev's 175 not out blitz against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup was a real eye-opener, especially as he came in at number six with his side reeling at 9 for 4! However, the first truly special innings against a top team came from the majestic Viv Richards. At Old Trafford in 1984 he plundered an unbeaten 189, a record which lasted 13 years before being eclipsed by Saeed Anwar's 194 for Pakistan against India at Chennai.

Two years later, Saurav Ganguly's 183 may not have broken a record but, in tandem with Rahul Dravid he broke Sri Lanka's hearts and possibly some bones and windows around Taunton in the World Cup. That was wonderful to watch. Anyway, Anwar's record stood for another 13 years and, incredibly, 1,753 matches before then 36 year-old Tendulkar notched another cricketing milestone by becoming the first to reach 200 in a single innings, this time against South Africa at Gwalior, just a few hundred miles NE of the location of today's innings.

Apart from Viv Richards' demolition of England and confirmation of his status as the finest one-day batsman of his era, I suppose the only other innings which would compete with Sehwag's knock is Shane Watson's World Cup tour de force against Bangladesh in April. 185 not out in 96 balls, including 15 sixes. That was probably the greatest sustained display of big hitting ever seen in a one-day international, but for majestic strokeplay combined with clever gap-finding, the humble Virender's double-century will take some beating.

India Annihilated!

It seems like a lifetime ago when I wrote in eager anticipation of a tight Test contest between two great sides. Could anyone have predicted that only one of those teams would turn up and play? This morning I thought that maybe at last India would show a bit of fight, some tenacity, a reminder of why they have been such a formidable outfit in recent years. Indeed, Tendulkar and Mishra survived a whole session together and there were some great shots amidst the defence and playing and missing. The surprise was that most of them came from nightwatchman Mishra, and it was he, and not Sachin, who looked most likely to reach three figures: century number one, not one hundred!

Of course, neither reached their respective milestones, and then India capitulated dreadfully, losing their last seven wickets for 21 runs. Says it all, really. Looking at the sequence of results you may be forgiven for thinking England had been playing the series against Bangladesh, not the world champions: 196 runs, 319 runs, an innings and 242 and now an innings and 8. How Dhoni and Fletcher can hold their heads up high, I don't know, but at least they can restore some semblance of pride by winning some ODIs before making the long flight back to Asia.

In four matches, India took only 47 English wickets. That's only one more than the total taken by Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad alone! No fewer than seven England batsmen averaged at least 50 with the bat, compared with just one for India. Probably the easiest decision Andy Flower had to make this series was the Indian Player of the Series: the redoubtable Rahul Dravid. He compiled three centuries and 461 runs, more than Tendulkar and Laxman combined, even 'carrying his bat' in the first innings at The Oval, while all around him seemed keener to throw their willows into their kit bag as quickly as possible.

Stuart Broad may not be the most consistent or the calmest of performers but his all-round play earned him the England Player of the Series award. Almost anyone of those who wore the blue cap deserved massive acclaim. Pietersen and Bell bossed the bowlers completely and utterly and when Cook finally came good, he did so in spades. Prior, Morgan, even Bresnan proved more than a match for the hapless Indian attack and even had Zaheer Khan managed more than the 13 overs he bowled, the result would surely have been the same, though perhaps not quite as emphatic.

It was a series for the seamers, not the spinners. First Harbajhan, then Mishra disappointed, and it wasn't until the final day of the last Test that Graeme Swann found the right line, length and drift to bag six wickets. India may claim tough luck with injuries and Zaheer Khan and Sehwag were badly missed, and poor Gambhir was in la-la land after being hit on the head early in the 4th Test. However, the rest of the team, Dravid apart, also seemed to be play as if concussed!

Maybe I'm being too hard on India. Perhaps they didn't play badly after all. In the end, cricket is a contest between bat and ball. Side A's bowlers can be brilliant but if Side B batsmen are better, they can win. Any line-up featuring Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Raina and Dhoni should be good enough to top 300 at least once in a four-match rubber but they didn't.

So why not? Two reasons, I think. Firstly, they put far too much stall on limited-overs cricket. Too many players put the IPL first and were nowhere near match-fit for five-day fixtures, batting, bowling or fielding. The other half had just returned from a tough tour of the West Indies. Even in the Taunton warm-up they looked jaded, and the jet lag seemed to last six weeks.

The other reason, of course, is that England were just magnificent. I can't recall an England side playing with such purpose, confidence and determination in my lifetime. There are few real stars in the Sachin/Dravid/Ponting/Afridi/Steyn mould but they all do their bit and deserve their claim to the 'Mace' that goes to the ICC number one nation. Credit must also go to captain Strauss, Andy Flower and the other backroom staff like Graham Gooch and David Saker. The latter must have truly earned his salary by forging a world-beating pace unit out of temperamental Broad, in-and-out Anderson, forgotten Tremlett and 'one-day specialist' Bresnan to accompany the mercurial Swann. I reckon the Aussie must be the real man of the series.

Now for the T20 and one-dayers. I just hope to see some genuinely thrilling contests. A whitewash is great in the short-term for England fans but it's a disappointment for sport. And please, Mr Tendulkar, just score that blasted hundredth hundred!!

2000 Tests - My All-time Test Team

I noticed with interest the ICC People's Dream XI to commemorate the 2000th Test Match which starts this week. I must say I approve of many of the choices. After all, they are clearly giants of the sport, but all bar the incomparable Sir Don Bradman have been playing within the past thirty years. Hardly surprising since few of us could possibly remember the superstars of the pre-War years. All we can go on are statistics and a few minutes of grainy newsreel or photos of stripy blazers and trousers so starched they could stand at the crease on their own!

Of course I simply have to join in the exercise and was tempted to make my selection based purely on those I have grown up with, so basically players from the past 40-50 years. But that doesn't fit squarely with the occasion, namely the marking of 2000 Tests over a period of 134 years. So how do you compare the past and present? WG Grace vs RT Ponting? Sir Jack Hobbs vs Sir Ian Botham? They lived and played in different eras with different equipment and on very different pitches. WG would not have been seen dead chasing a ball to the boundary and even Virender Sehwag would have struggled to clump to mid-wicket a turning ball from a 'sticky dog' pitch left open to the elements as used to be the case.

And so to my own Dream Team, which clearly has to be drawn from memory as well as the aforementioned facts, figures and monochrome footage on TV. For openers, Jack Hobbs, Sir Len Hutton, Matthew Hayden, Barry Richards and Sunil Gavaskar all come into consideration. If it was for anything other than to celebrate Test history, I'd have gone for Richards but with his international career cruelly cut short by South African politics, I will pick the great Indian star and the England colossus Hutton, who dominated bowlers from the 1930s until the 1950s. What might he have achieved had WW2 not intervened? Both Hutton and Gavaskar held world records for many years and I reckon both would have prospered in each others' eras.

In the middle-order, there are so many more to choose from. Bradman is an automatic choice and so is Sachin Tendulkar. That leaves me with a couple of others. Oh, dear. Steve Waugh, Denis Compton, Graeme Pollock, Sir Garry Sobers, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and Viv Richards are all in the running. My heart says Viv, but I fear he is in too distinguished a company when it comes to Test cricket. Pollock's Test career, like that of fellow South African Richards, is perhaps too short, although if he had maintained his average 0f 60+ for another ten years, he would be a shoo-in. Compton was a legend and remarkable personality and just about edges out Lara, but the West Indies will be represented by Sobers, whose record Test innings of 365 beat Hutton's and lasted until Lara. Sir Garry averaged about 57 with the bat but also took more than 200 Test wickets. Always useful to have a left-hander, too.

Sobers is one brilliant all-rounder and would bat at six, which leaves room for another all-rounder at least. Botham? No. But Kapil Dev, Imran Khan and Wasim Akram all have genuine claims, as does Wilf Rhodes, who was born in the same year as Test cricket. However, I'll pick the Australian Keith Miller who was a brilliant fast bowler as well as elegant batsman spanning a Test career of ten years.

Wicket-keeper? Well, with batting so important as well as skills wearing the big gloves, Adam Gilchrist gets my vote. A shrewd reader of the game and nice guy, too. Nobody else comes close.

Lots of spin options, but for sheer volume of wickets at the top level, it comes down to the old contest between friendly rivals Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. The Sri Lankan has the most wickets, the most unreadable deliveries, the smallest average and the biggest smile but the Aussie leg-spinner makes my team. If a spinner's wicket he'd be joined by Murali but a traditional 4 seamers + 1 spinner track leaves space for just two more fast men. Lindwall, McGrath, Donald, Ambrose, Lillee, Walsh, Waqar Younis, Marshall, Holding..... My mind is exploding just thinking how to take two from this shortlist. Glenn McGrath's superb accuracy and longevity wins him a place (at number eleven!) and for pace, guile and a wicked bouncer, Malcolm Marshall just about nudges Denis Lillee out of the team.

So my own Dream XI reads: Hutton, Gavaskar, Bradman (*), Compton, Tendulkar, Sobers, Miller, Gilchrist (+), Marshall, Warne, McGrath.

Here's to the next 2000 Tests....!

India in England - a Recent History

The forthcoming Test series is billed as the battle for the position of World number one, and rightly so. India have the global superstars but England seem to have the superior all-round package. In the past thirty years of so, the two nations have enjoyed some close encounters with neither side truly dominant in a series.

In 1979, the four-match rubber was decided by England's innings victory in the 1st Test, when David Gower scored an unbeaten 200. However, the series is perhaps best remembered for India's gallant chasing of a world record 438 and missing it by just nine runs. Sunil Gavaskar's 221 was a supreme effort and one of the great 'losing' innings in history. In 1982, it was Ian Botham's turn to hit a 'double' at The Oval but it was at Lord's where England won the only match of the series, thanks to a Derek Randall century and fine bowling by Botham.

Four years later, India exacted revenge in a low-scoring series. They won two of the three Tests, given the edge by Dilip Vengsarkar's runs and the bowling of Chetan Sharma and the spinners. No Bedi, Venkat or Chandrasekhar, as in their 1971 triumph, but Kapil Dev's team deserved to beat Mike Gatting's men.

The 1990 series is famed for Graham Gooch's 333 and 123 at Lord's in the First Test which England won comfortably. However, India's batsmen also accumulated plenty of runs that summer, including a young Sachin Tendulkar at Old Trafford. Ravi Shastri and Sidhu had the roles of replacing the great Gavaskar, and Ravi struck 187 at The Oval, with Kapil Dev weighing in with 110 as they forced the home side to follow on.

Another one-nil to England, and so it again proved in 1996, once more getting off to a winning start, this time at Edgbaston. Azharuddin's tourists welcomed some fresh faces in Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid in the 2nd game, the former making a debut Test century, then again reaching three figures during a 255 third wicket partnership with Tendulkar in a drawn climax at Trent Bridge.

Six years later, England again triumphed in the 1st Test, thanks to hundreds from skipper Hussain, Vaughan and Crawley. By now, Ganguly was captain of India, and had both Sehwag and Laxman in the batting line-up, plus Zaheer Khan bowling with Nehra, Anil Kumble and Ajit Agarkar. Michael Vaughan twice narrowly missed reaching 200 in the final two games and it was in the Third at Headingley where India squared the series with a demolition of England by an innings and 46 runs. Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly helped themselves to hefty hundreds, while Kumble and Harbhajan Singh tightened the screw on England.

India moved into the ascendancy four years go, securing the Pataudi Trophy one-nil. However, they had to cling on for dear life to save the First Test, achieving it thanks to a patient 76 not out by MS Dhoni. Perhaps shocked by their failure to take an instant lead, England faltered at Trent Bridge, bowled out for under 200 in their first innings. Five Indians scored half-centuries in their reply and, although Vaughan made a captain's innings second time around, it wasn't enough to stop Dravid's team winning by seven wickets. At The Oval, India won the toss and amassed 664 all out, ending any hopes of England avoiding a series defeat. Once more, all the Indian batsmen made useful contributions, led perhaps surprisingly by Kumble's one and only Test century. They didn't enforce the follow-on, presumably in the hope that their chief spinner could wreak havoc on the last day. He didn't, but his side took the trophy and went on to dominate the world - but will they still be on top come September?!

Sachin Tendulkar has a reasonable chance of overtaking Gavaskar as the leading scorer in contests between the two teams. His average so far of 61.4 is vastly superior to his predecessor's 38.2. Helped by that record-breaking game in 1990, Graham Gooch is the leading England run-maker against India, with 1725, more than 700 behind Gavaskar. However, of the leading players, it's Englishmen Botham and Vaughan who enjoyed the highest career batting averages, both above 70.

Unsurprisingly, India's ace spinners have taken more wickets than anybody else in India-England Tests. Chandra (95), Kumble (92) and Bedi (85), plus Kapil Dev, are way ahead of England's challengers, led by Bob Willis (62). Of those still playing, Harbhajan Singh has 41 and James Anderson a mere 24. However, the latter must surely boost that total this summer, especially if India's famed batting line-up struggles as it has done, Raina apart, at Taunton last weekend. Roll on, Lord's. If Dhoni's team can only thwart England at the first hurdle, history suggests it could be another triumph for India.

Somerset show India how it's done....

Having bought my ticket for Somerset vs Indians six months ago in eager anticipation, the weather forecast had dampened my mood somewhat this week. However, once the showers stopped by 2pm and the outfield dried in the long-awaited sunshine, Taunton sparkled and all was well with the world. It's 25 years since India last played at the ground and I'd never seen them play in the flesh anywhere. Of course, there was the added attraction of a world record holder, but more of Arul Suppiah later...!

Somerset had closed on 329-2 overnight and, after a circumspect start and the departure of Suppiah for a career-best 156, the scoring rate picked up. Young Chris Jones struck some lovely shots off Zaheer Khan and the hapless Yuvraj Singh, while James Hildreth dispatched one Mishra delivery way over the long-on boundary and into the staff car park. They declared on 425-3 once Jones made his half-century.

After the ten-minute break, skipper Gautam Gambhir looked like a man on a mission, after several months away from first-class cricket. He took Charl Willoughby apart in the first over but the veteran South African got his revenge in the fifth, inducing an edge to Joss Buttler who took a good catch. Fellow opener Mukund looked furious at being adjudged lbw with the score on 51, but that brought in the unmistakeable figure of Sachin Tendulkar. So for about six overs we all had the pleasure of watching the Little Master partnering Rahul Dravid, before the latter fell to an airy shot, prompting a frustrated swish of the bat before the long trudge back to the dressing room. Sachin played some crisp shots before becoming Craig Meschede's maiden first class victim. That's one to tell the grandchildren!

Wickets continued to tumble, and Yuvraj Singh, all smiles on arriving at the ground, followed his humiliation with the ball with a five-ball duck. Thomas and Trego weighed in with a wicket apiece from the River End, but it was Willoughby who starred. He ended the day at about 7.15 with 5-50, and India were wilting on 138-8, only Suresh Raina holding the innings together. The follow-on looks odds-on, although rain could guarantee the draw tomorrow. Andrew Strauss, an incongruous figure at first slip in a Somerset sweater, may have had his last batting practice before Lord's.

As for the fan's experience, putting the rain delay aside, it was an entertaining afternoon. Sitting in the sun-kissed Family Stand with some keen Indian supporters was great. There were frequent rumbles and dashes down to the stand near the players' entrance, mini-bats waving for autographs and cameras flashing ("over here, MS, MS, over here, here"...) but that was just the Dads! The kids were far more relaxed about it. It was also heartening to see top professionals willing to spend time signing programmes and bats, even nudging aside security staff to do so. For attention to their fans, special mention should go to Dhoni and Sreesanth. Willoughby also must have written his name dozens of times while fielding on the boundary. It wasn't the beery atmosphere of a T20 and maybe the crowds were reduced by the loss of the morning's play, but everyone seemed to enjoy it, and I for one will never forget the day when I finally got to watch Tendulkar and co in action.

India v Sri Lanka - 3rd Final in a Year

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's World Cup Final. Who wouldn't be? The first all-Asian contest at this stage of the tournament, with all the Tendulkar-Muralitharan hype and expectations. On paper, India have the best batsmen and Sri Lanka the bowlers. Both sides have injuries but, let's face it, as I wrote yesterday, Murali will surely play despite all his groin, knee, hamstring and whatever other injuries his 38 year-old body has sustained over the past few weeks. That must surely weaken Sangakkara's fielding ability but the great man will still be a dangerous bowler, even on one leg.

It's so difficult to predict the outcome. Of course the two nations are very familiar with each other. As neighbours they have met on the cricket pitch no fewer than 30 times in the past three years. Indeed they played seven ODIs against each other in 2010 alone, mostly in Sri Lanka, it must be said, along with a Triangular tournament in Zimbabwe. The score was 4-3 in Sri Lanka's favour but in the finals of the Asia Cup and the Dambulla Triangular competition, the record stands 1-1.

You can't read too much into last year's clashes, In Zimbabwe, both sides played young sides, especially India. In the Asia Cup Final, India played a stronger team and beat the home side Sri Lanka comprehensively by 81 runs despite the absence of Sehwag, Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, India's most successful players of the World Cup campaign. Sri Lanka's batting tail was even longer than it is now and once Dilshan was out for a second-ball duck, they hadn't a hope of winning.

Two months later, also at the Dambulla stadium, the result was reversed, with Sri Lanka batting first and winning by 74. Still no Tendulkar, nor Zaheer Khan, but then Murali was also missing but this time Dilshan was in sparkling form, striking 110 in 115 balls, ably supported by his captain Sangakkara who thumped 71 in 66.

So the World Cup, the Big One, will really decide who is the fairest of them all. What a fabulous occasion! Let's hope for a classic. I just hope Murali doesn't get Tendulkar out for 99 on a referral.....

World Cup Semi-Finals - A Fairytale Awaits!

So after five weeks, we finally know who will meet in the Final. New Zealand's tight-knit unit of over-achievers finally met their match in Sri Lanka and today the Mohali showdown ended in a bit of a damp squib, not that the Mohali faithful would have minded!

Of course, the India v Pakistan semi-final was always going to be more than a mere cricket match. With both country's political leaders sitting together in the stands, this was a chance to prove that sport can unite as well as divide and time will tell whether or not this World Cup fixture brought the nations closer together in more ways than one. An end to the cricketing ban on Pakistan from India would be a start.

Anyway, for the neutral, an Indian victory was probably the preferred outcome, although I for one was pleased to see this new look Pakistan team emerge from the dismal debacle of last summer, when they were tainted with the dark stain of corruption. Their surprisingly straightforward progress to the last four had been built on the strength of their bowling, and spinners in particular. None of their batsmen scored anything approaching 300 runs for the tournament, and so to reach the final they had to silence the home crowd by making swift inroads into the famed Indian batting line-up. That they failed to do, yet they had only themselves to blame. With another bright, breezy but brief cameo from Sehwag, the fielders contrived to drop no fewer than four catches from Sachin Tendulkar. Giving that genius one chance is one too many, but four?! By the time Shahid Afridi showed his men how to hold a ball without dropping it, Tendulkar had scored 85 and a decent score was very much on the cards.

Credit to the bowlers; they managed to put the brakes on the Indian middle-order, with Yuvraj Singh bowled first ball, Dhoni looking lost and the tail - Raina apart - failing to wag. No wickets for Afridi this time but Wahab Riaz proved he deserved his place ahead of the now-retired Shoaib Akhtar by taking five. Still, 260-9 was a decent score, even if there had been not one six in the innings.

The first three batsmen made reasonable progress towards the target, but Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq were too slow in the middle section, and despite the latter's defiant blows near the end, the required run rate rose steadily. Umar Akmal made a quick 29 but when Pakistan needed their big-hitting all-rounders Afridi and Razzaq to up the tempo they yet again failed to deliver. Each of the Indian attack snared two wickets and it was Nehra, not Zaheer Khan, who proved the most economical as Pakistan fell 29 short.

Sachin Tendulkar was named Man of the Match and now he moves on to Mumbai perhaps to reach his destiny. Will he win the World Cup? Will he score his hundredth international century in the process? Of course, Sri Lanka face their own fairytale finale, with Muttiah Muralitharan set to play his last game for his country, and he surely will take part, even if on crutches. The world's best batsman of his generation against the world's best bowler. What a climax it should be! Let's hope the Final delivers...

Sunil Gavaskar - the First 'Little Master'

Sachin Tendulkar is a living legend, no question. He's the most complete run-maker of the modern era and holds almost every batting record there is. His haul of 51 Test centuries so far may never be beaten but the man whose achievement Tendulkar surpassed in 2005 held that record for 19 years. Quite astonishing given the explosion in Test series that happened in that intervening period. That man was not a Boycott, Richards, Border, Miandad or Lara, but another Indian, Sunil Gavaskar.

Next week sees the 40th anniversary of his Test debut in the West Indies. In that series, he scored an amazing 774 runs in only four Tests, a record for a debutant that still stands today. His average in the series was a mammoth 154.80, not bad for an opening batsman brought up on the sticky wickets of Mumbai!

At 5 feet 5 inches, he was (and presumably still is!) the same height of his illustrious successor and had the same range of strokes, especially at the beginning of his career. His first international opportunity came on the Indians' tour of the Caribbean in early 1971, opening the batting towards close of play of the Second Test on 6th March in Port of Spain. I'm not sure why he missed the first game but he was rarely if ever dropped thereafter in a 16-year career at the very top.

In that debut he scored 65 and 67 not out, followed in the next match by 116 and 64. He failed in the 4th Test, scoring just 1, but more than compensated by compiling centuries in each of the next three innings, climaxing with a 220. The West Indies opposition at that time were not the formidable outfit they were to become a few years later, especially in the bowling department, but Gavaskar was to be the first real Indian superstar. At that time, they were usually easy meat on away territory but relied on spinners like Bedi, Venkat, Chandrasehkar and Prasanna to give them a sniff of victory on their home wickets. World-class batsmen from the sub-continent were rare in those days, but 'Sunny' Gavaskar changed all that and was to become possibly the finest opening batsman of all time.

His achievements were all the more special because he had to bear the brunt of so many superb but aggressive fast bowlers throughout the 1970s and early '80s. Roberts, Holding, Croft, Lillee, Thomson, Imran, Marshall, Sarfraz, Snow, they all did their best to unsettle him. Indeed, the fiery English paceman at Lord's in 1971 even resorted to barging him when going for a single but Gavaskar simply carried on regardless, his half-century ensuring India saved the match. Indeed, that was largely Sunny's role for India: staving off defeat. His natural elegance and flair was often sacrificed in favour of carefully constructing big innings to occupy the crease for as long as possible. It didn't always win him fans, and his infamous 36 not out against England in the inaugural 60-over World Cup has gone down in history as one of the most bizarre one-day innings ever! ODIs were not Gavaskar's bag. Indeed, in more than 100 matches, he scored just one century, and he left that until his penultimate game at Nagpur against New Zealand, struck in only 88 balls. I'm sure he would have relished playing alongside the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly. With licence to play his shots, he'd have made a fabulous World Cup opening partner for Sehwag!

However, it was in the five-day format that he was such a formidable batsman. More than half his 125 Tests were played in India, yet his best average came against West Indies. The most frequent of his opponents were England, but against them his average was a moderate 38. It was undoubtedly his playing of fast bowling which singled him out for such praise. His footwork and swift reactions could get him out of trouble and he wasn't afraid to hook bouncers. His biggest score was 236 not out, achieved in Madras (as was) against an attack consisting of Marshall, Holding, Roberts and Davis. However, probably Gavaskar's finest moment of many came at The Oval in 1979.

As usual, India were losing the Test series against England and, set a daunting 438 to win in just over a day's play, another certain defeat loomed. However, the talismanic opener put on a double-century partnership with Chauhan and, with Dilip Vengsarkar, progressed the score to 366-2. I remember watching this match and thinking, blimey, they might actually do this! Vengsarkar fell for 53, followed quickly by the young Kapil Dev for a duck. However, while Gavaskar remained at the crease, an amazing fifth day victory looked possible, but time was running out. Then with 49 still needed, Sunny was caught by Gower off Botham and England sensed blood. nevertheless, India still had six wickets in hand and went for the win. Wickets began to tumble but they held on for the draw, just nine runs short of what would have been a world-record fourth innings for a victory. Without Gavaskar's fabulous innings, India would surely have crumbled. Even as an English teenager, he became a bit of a hero of mine that day and he rightly remains revered in his own nation, probably more so than Kapil Dev but perhaps overshadowed by the second Little Master. Tendulkar may be the focal point of India's rise to become the finest cricketing nation in the world in 2011, but it was Sunil Gavaskar who really first put them on the map, all starting 40 years ago in Trinidad.

England and India bring World Cup to life!

Months ago, when the 2011 World Cup schedule was announced, the India V England fixture was billed as the one to watch. Even when transferred from Eden Gardens to Chinnaswamy, this was surely the game to bring the tournament to life and - boy! - it didn't disappoint!

Later on, this blog will bring you the view from someone who witnessed this epic from the stands in Bangalore. Am I jealous? Too right, I am! As for the perspective from England, it must be one of the all-time great World Cup matches, up there with the Australia-South Africa semi-final of 1999. In statistical terms, it was only the fourth tie and boasted the very highest match aggregate of runs in World Cup history: 676. What it must have been like to experience at first hand I can barely imagine.

Even the first over was dramatic. India having won the toss and elected to bat, Sehwag's first ball was spilled by Swann at second slip and rolled on to the boundary. Indeed James Anderson was looking back to his best in the first spell, although he would take a real pounding later on. The stage was left for Sachin Tendulkar to post a 47th ODI hundred. Supported by the ever-willing Gambhir, the Little Master not only produced his usual wristy shots but also some massive sixes, five in all. Two came off Collingwood then in the 27th over, a further brace off successive Graeme Swann deliveries. At 236-2, things were looking ominous for England but when Anderson induced a leading edge from Tendulkar, they at last had something to celebrate. Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni took a while to get going but together carried India above the 300 mark. Both went in successive balls and Tim Bresnan somehow bagged a 'five-for' as the tail failed to wag and then Chawla and Zaheer Khan were run out in the final over charge. They should have scored a run with their last ball but Munaf Patel failed to ground his bat. Oh, how that cost India dear!!

England were by no means daunted by the task facing them. Strauss and Pietersen plundered 68 from the opening Powerplay before KP fell to a fortuitous caught-and-bowled. Chawla trapped Trott LBW fairly cheaply but then it was a case of anything Tendulkar and Gambhir could do, Strauss and Bell could do better. Their third wicket partnership was worth 170 runs, maintaining the required run rate but when Zaheer Khan dismissed both batsmen in consecutive balls in the 43rd over, you felt the match had swung decisively in the home side's favour. Collingwood and Prior failed to pick up the momentum and when they fell, England still needed 50 from only 28 balls. Yardy tried his best in a cameo innings but Patel's slower ball deceived him. Two overs left, 28 behind, three wickets in hand.

Chawla bowled the penultimate over. Swann missed a slog sweep but second ball connected and it went for six. Three deliveries later, Bresnan did the same before missing the next, flatter ball and was bowled. Fourteen needed from the final over. Zaheer Khan would have been the ideal man to bowl it but his allotment was up and it had to be Patel. A brace and single from Swann brought Shahzad to the strike for the first time. Bam! A half-volley straight over the bowler's head for six! A scrambled bye and a streaky inside edge and it was two to win, a single to tie and a dot ball to lose. Who'd be in Munaf Patel's shoes?! He bowled a good line, Swann struck it to mid-off and the scores were equal. Incredible stuff!

In a game which saw a typically brilliant century from Tendulkar, the Man of the Match award nevertheless went deservedly to Andrew Strauss. To score 158 in 145 balls in such a pressure-cooker environment, especially when captain, must have taken nerves of steel, bolstered by chunks of granite and maybe Kryptonite for good measure! After all the moaning about the tournament being devalued by the inclusion of less-talented teams, this was a game to prove the World Cup, and entire 50-over format is very much alive and kicking. Cricket is not just about fours, sixes and wickets. As Pakistan and Sri Lanka also demonstrated this weekend, it's the nervy middle-innings overs, the clever variation of length and pace by bowlers, skilful nudges and flicks that are essential ingredients of the sport. Mind you, to make a match truly memorable, it certainly helps to have a climax as exciting as the one India and England produced today. I thank them both!