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Saturday, 2 August 2008

INDIA IN TEST CRICKET - WADEKAR – AZHAR – GAEKWAD PERIOD

Actually this period should be called Sachin and Kumble period but the philosophies of Wadekar and Gaekwad greatly influenced the success of the team. They got the pitches they wanted and the team combination they wanted, especially Wadekar. Both had good rapport with the players.

Duration: 1993 England series to 2000 South Africa series

Main Actors: Sachin, Kumble

Supporting Actors: Azhar, Sidhu, Srinath & Other Spinners

Guest Role: Vinod Kambli

Captains: Azhar & Sachin                                                                              

Coaches: Wadekar, Sandeep Patil, Madan Lal, Gaekwad & Kapil Dev

Highs: Series win in Srilanka (1993). Series win against England (1993), South Africa (1996) and Australia (1998) at home.

Lows: 3-0 whitewash in Australia (1999-2000). Series loss against South Africa (2000) at home.

Indians were tigers at home and paper tigers abroad. India used to play 3 spinners and two pacers at home. India used to post huge first innings totals and use the 3 spinners to bowl out the opposition twice. Venkatapathy Raju and Rajesh Chauhan were the prominent support spinners to Kumble.

One of the openers would be a makeshift opener. Manoj Prabhakar or Nayan Mongia would be the makeshift opener. That gave India the opportunity to play 5 bowlers. Sidhu would be the regular opener. After Sidhu’s retirement India struggled to have even one good opener. Sadagopan Ramesh briefly gave a hope but disappointed. 

While touring abroad they often struggle with lone fight from Sachin with occasional support from Azhar. With Kapil and Prabhakar retiring one by one, Srinath and Prasad were the main pace bowlers during this period. India lacked the third pace bowler. It hurt them a lot.

Vinod Kambli was once more popular than Sachin. He had a great record in Test match which was mainly boosted by his double tons in successive Test matches. But he lost his way down the road. Arrival of Dravid and Ganguly reduced the burden on Sachin.

  

Captains 

Played 

Won 

Lost 

Draw 

Win/Loss 

Azhar

30

13

7

10

1.85

Sachin

25

4

9

12

0.44

Overall

55

17

16

22

1.06

 

  

Opposition 

H/A 

Played 

Won 

Lost 

Draw 

Result 

All (Series)

 

22

9

8

5

 

Eng (93)

Home

3

3

0

0

Won

Zim (93)

Home

1

1

0

0

Won

SL (93)

Abroad

3

1

0

2

Won

SL (94)

Home

3

3

0

0

Won

NZ (94)

Abroad

1

0

0

1

Drawn

WI (94)

Home

3

1

1

1

Drawn

NZ (95)

Home

3

1

0

2

Won

Eng (96)

Abroad

3

0

1

2

Lost

Aus (96)

Home

1

1

0

0

Won

SA (96)

Home

3

2

1

0

Won

SA (96-97)

Abroad

3

0

2

1

Lost

WI (97)

Abroad

5

0

1

4

Lost

SL (97)

Abroad

2

0

0

2

Drawn

SL (97)

Home

3

0

0

3

Drawn

Aus (98)

Home

3

2

1

0

Won

Zim (98)

Abroad

1

0

1

0

Lost

NZ (98-99)

Abroad

2

0

1

1

Lost

Pak (99)

Home

2

1

1

0

Drawn

Pak (Asia-99) 

Home 

Lost 

SL (Asia-99) 

Abroad 

Drawn 

NZ (99)

Home

3

1

0

2

Won

Aus (99-00)

Abroad

3

0

3

0

Lost

SA (00)

Home

2

0

2

0

Lost


  

 






















Batsmen 

Mat 

Inn 

No 

Runs 

Ave 

HS 

100 

50 

Sachin

55

89

10

4878

61.74

217

18

19

Azhar

48

70

6

2918

45.59

182

11

10

Dravid

37

64

4

2821

47.01

190

6

16

Ganguly

35

60

5

2505

45.54

173

7

12

Sidhu

31

45

0

2308

51.28

201

7

11

 

Bowlers

Mat

Wkts

S/R 

Eco 

Ave 

Best/I

Best/M

5/I

10/M

Kumble

55

252

67.3

2.47

27.76

10/74

14/149

15

3

Srinath

35

140

58.3

2.99

29.09

8/86

13/132

6

1

Prasad

29

85

73.6

2.82

34.70

6/33

10/153

6

1

V Raju

17

68

69.1

2.31

26.69

6/87

11/125

4

1

Chauhan

21

47

101.0

2.34

39.51

4/48

7/107

0

0

 

Most MOM: Sachin -7, Azhar-5, Srinath-5, Kumble-3, Sidhu-1, Dravid-2, Ganguly-2

Most MOS Sachin-2, Azhar-2, Kumble-2, Ganguly-2

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