It was that time of Indian cricket when Team India entered the series without a coach. India were on their tour of England, 2007.
Rahul Dravid sailed the Indian clan along with the Blue Brigade consisting of Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, S Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Ramesh Powar, Ranadeb Bose, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Sreesanth.
The tour however didn’t start on a great note for the visiting Indian team. With a stumbling start, India had almost lost the first match, 9 wickets down on day 5 & over 100 runs to score. But bad weather stroked! The match was called off resulting in a draw. In the meanwhile, we did get another reason to smile. Anil Kumble – Jumbo had over-taken Shane Warne’s record of maximum LBW’s of 138 wickets.
As records say, India always had a slow start. But keeping aside the bygones, team India entered the match 2 – this time more prepared, more cautious and even more, dedicated. This second match will always be remembered for the famous “JellyBeangate” incidence. From jelly beans on the pitch to beamers, the match had it all. But team India had bounced back and how! Leaving no stone unturned, India played the finest form of cricket.
It went in India’s favor. We marked the 5th win in 47 matches in 75 years of England tour. It was young Zak who swung the ball on both sides and surprised them all. And as the efficiency paid, he bagged the Man of the match for his brilliant 4/59 and 5/75 bowling figures. On the international front, this was India’s 29th win for 200 test matches played.
India was at the thrust now. We were just a step away from writing a new history. India went on to score 664 runs in the first innings of test 3. For the 11th time, in the history of Cricket, 11 batsmen scored a double digit figure.
The third match also observed a couple of interesting records. For the first time in history, both teams remain unchanged for the entire test series of 3 matches. And talking about the Indian team: A dream of every bowler to turn batsman came true when Anil “Jumbo” Kumble scored his maiden century at 110*/180 balls. He became the oldest Indian to score a maiden Test century (36 years) and won the MoM award for the match.
Highlights of the series:
A 1-0 Series win on the English Soil marked the beginning of the storm.
Indian bowling won accolades thanks to wonderful spells by Z Khan – 18 wickets, Kumble – 14 and Singh - 12. Zak was chosen as the player of the series for his finest bowling tactics and taking highest number of wickets. It was the rise of Zaheer Khan who went on to became the Spearhead of Indian bowling.
The occasion is back! This time, the world no. 1 team will tour England to repeat the history.
Rahul Dravid sailed the Indian clan along with the Blue Brigade consisting of Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, S Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Ramesh Powar, Ranadeb Bose, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Sreesanth.
The tour however didn’t start on a great note for the visiting Indian team. With a stumbling start, India had almost lost the first match, 9 wickets down on day 5 & over 100 runs to score. But bad weather stroked! The match was called off resulting in a draw. In the meanwhile, we did get another reason to smile. Anil Kumble – Jumbo had over-taken Shane Warne’s record of maximum LBW’s of 138 wickets.
As records say, India always had a slow start. But keeping aside the bygones, team India entered the match 2 – this time more prepared, more cautious and even more, dedicated. This second match will always be remembered for the famous “JellyBeangate” incidence. From jelly beans on the pitch to beamers, the match had it all. But team India had bounced back and how! Leaving no stone unturned, India played the finest form of cricket.
It went in India’s favor. We marked the 5th win in 47 matches in 75 years of England tour. It was young Zak who swung the ball on both sides and surprised them all. And as the efficiency paid, he bagged the Man of the match for his brilliant 4/59 and 5/75 bowling figures. On the international front, this was India’s 29th win for 200 test matches played.
India was at the thrust now. We were just a step away from writing a new history. India went on to score 664 runs in the first innings of test 3. For the 11th time, in the history of Cricket, 11 batsmen scored a double digit figure.
The third match also observed a couple of interesting records. For the first time in history, both teams remain unchanged for the entire test series of 3 matches. And talking about the Indian team: A dream of every bowler to turn batsman came true when Anil “Jumbo” Kumble scored his maiden century at 110*/180 balls. He became the oldest Indian to score a maiden Test century (36 years) and won the MoM award for the match.
Highlights of the series:
A 1-0 Series win on the English Soil marked the beginning of the storm.
Indian bowling won accolades thanks to wonderful spells by Z Khan – 18 wickets, Kumble – 14 and Singh - 12. Zak was chosen as the player of the series for his finest bowling tactics and taking highest number of wickets. It was the rise of Zaheer Khan who went on to became the Spearhead of Indian bowling.
The occasion is back! This time, the world no. 1 team will tour England to repeat the history.
Z Khan wasn't really a young man back then in 2007. He'd bowl with injuries and niggles then as he does now. It was a Jumbo series that, yes.
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