Best innings in a bad pitch.

[abmk]

There's a few Dravid innings which were AWESOME in the early 2000's, i cant remember which one in the 2002 England series but one was no good on day 1 in unreal swinging conditions, he was a rock. Insane series that one for Dravid, the best series batting by an Indian ive ever seen, in very tough conditions for SC players. Dravid is a genius in my book, him and Steve Waugh are the two I would back to make runs in any tough conditions regularly.

That was at Headingly, day one ......That series was a huge race b/w Dravid and Vaughan for runs !

Regarding Dravid, I'd back him against a decent attack ( but not more than that ) on a tough pitch. But against real quality bowling , I have my own doubts .... failed in Aus in 99 , has a poor record in SA , wasn't that successful against Murali in SL either .....I'd rather take Sachin/Lara/Steve over him on a tough track against a real good attack

 

[abmk]

The only bad Perth pitch in the 90's was in 1997 vs WI, and maybe 1993 vs WI. The India pitch in 1992 was fine, the weak techniques of the Indians were exposed by some bounce rather the cracks, or a bad pitch. Matthew Hayden played one of his best test innings in that 1997 test, MASSIVE extreme cracks that day, he only got 47 or something but balls were pitching outside off stump and going for 4 wides down the leg side, massive movement off cracks, the 1992 pitch did nothing like that, was actually pretty flat. Tom Moody made a nice ton the day after Sachin's ton, no cracks yet on that day. When Sachin came out to bat in the 2nd innings there still wasnt too many cracks, that innings was good in the context of his fellow batsmen failing and for being so young, but thats about it.

Somehow doubt this - that it was an easy pitch to bat on. From all accounts ( including from Sachin, Aussie players etc ) that was a fantastic knock on a track that wasn't easy to play on

 

[abmk]

And yeah, agree with the general consensus that the Headingly 148 in 2002 and twin fifties at Jamaica in 2006 were Dravid's finest efforts in terms of display of batting skill ....

Ironically , (sadly ) his batting went rapidly downhill after those twin fifties in Jamaica !

 

[abmk]

Tendulkar's knock in this match is one of his better ones. Not sure about the state of the pitch though. This one as well.

The one at Birmingham was made when the ball was swinging around on a greentop

The one at Jo'burg was with the pitch being slightly on the slower side, with some uneven bounce

 

[vcs]

Yeah, the Birmingham game was one where all the other Indian batsmen certainly struggled. Wish Ganguly and Dravid had debuted one game earlier. Our unbeaten Test series record against England might have stretched back all the way to '91.

Dravid's hundreds against Pakistan at Eden Gardens in 2005 are also underrated. Not in the context of this thread, but generally speaking. That was the time when virtually every time he made big scores, India used to win Test matches. He was in great touch around then.

 

[robelinda]

Somehow doubt this - that it was an easy pitch to bat on. From all accounts ( including from Sachin, Aussie players etc ) that was a fantastic knock on a track that wasn't easy to play on

Was pretty easy for JOnes and Moody to get hundreds the day AFTER Sachin's knock, pitch cant have gotten better by then, it was not bad at all on day 1 2 or 3. And you havent even seen it, people that talk about that innings hugely overrate it, it was a great innings by a very young player whose team was crumbling, that doesnt equate to a minefield pitch. Ive uploaded a few clips from that test and you cant see any cracks at all, even in the 2nd innings, ive posted Sachin's 2nd inn knock too from that test. The pitch might not have been easy due to the usual bounce, but there was nothing actually wrong with the pitch.

 

[Borges]

Just below Gavaskar's and Dravid's knocks, (from among the ones that I have watched; for example I have just seen the highlights of the Kim Hughes innings) is Asanka Gurusinha's unbeaten half century on a vicious pitch at Sector 16, Chandigarh (1990). A pitch that started out by being bad, then got much worse during day two, and then miraculously improved to return to being just a bad pitch from about half way on day three.

Only Test: India v Sri Lanka at Chandigarh, Nov 23-27, 1990 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[vcs]

This was also a ****ing tough pitch to bat on. No surprises who made runs in India's 2nd innings then, that too on debut.

 

[abmk]

Was pretty easy for JOnes and Moody to get hundreds the day AFTER Sachin's knock, pitch cant have gotten better by then, it was not bad at all on day 1 2 or 3. And you havent even seen it, people that talk about that innings hugely overrate it, it was a great innings by a very young player whose team was crumbling, that doesnt equate to a minefield pitch. Ive uploaded a few clips from that test and you cant see any cracks at all, even in the 2nd innings, ive posted Sachin's 2nd inn knock too from that test. The pitch might not have been easy due to the usual bounce, but there was nothing actually wrong with the pitch.

Not saying it was a minefield. Not at all. Just that it wasn't easy to bat on . It doesn't have be one extreme or the other.

I'm not talking about what general public has to say about it. I'm talking about players/commentators like Benaud/Ganguly/Manjrekar/Kumble, other Aus players etc praising that innings very highly. What's more is Sachin rates it as his best test innings ever

 

[abmk]

Has anybody mentioned Akmal's century at Karachi vs India yet ? The ball was swinging like crazy, but bloody hell , how well did he play ?

 

[abmk]

Gilchrist's century in his first innings in India in Mumbai 2001 probably deserves a mention here . Brilliant counterattacking knock on a track that was offering assistance to both seamers and spinners

 

[vcs]

Gilchrist's century in his first innings in India in Mumbai 2001 probably deserves a mention here . Brilliant counterattacking knock on a track that was offering assistance to both seamers and spinners

Yeah, that was a class knock. Hayden and Gilly both made tons IIRC. Gilly has scored some tough runs on the subcontinent, also made runs in SL and India in 2004 in some very crucial situations.

I would also rate Martyn's knock in Chennai 2004 very, very highly.

 

[smash84]

Has anybody mentioned Akmal's century at Karachi vs India yet ? The ball was swinging like crazy, but bloody hell , how well did he play ?

I sometimes wish that he had never played that inning. Has since become a permanent feature of our team and cost us so many matches

 

[abmk]

Yeah, that was a class knock. Hayden and Gilly both made tons IIRC. Gilly has scored some tough runs on the subcontinent, also made runs in SL and India in 2004 in some very crucial situations.

I would also rate Martyn's knock in Chennai 2004 very, very highly.

yeah, IMO gilly's knock was a class above hayden's which was a good knock .....

haydos was brilliant in that series though, the only one ( apart from maybe Steve ) who looked consistently comfortable against Harbhajan, sweeping him relentlessly !

martyn was brilliant in the tours to India and SL in 2004, a big part of the reason why Aus won both those tours. Never seen any other batsman handle good quality spin bowling from the backfoot that comfortably !

 

[abmk]

I sometimes wish that he had never played that inning. Has since become a permanent feature of our team and cost us so many matches

he he

 

[Blaze 18]

Not saying it was a minefield. Not at all. Just that it wasn't easy to bat on . It doesn't have be one extreme or the other.

I'm not talking about what general public has to say about it. I'm talking about players/commentators like Benaud/Ganguly/Manjrekar/Kumble, other Aus players etc praising that innings very highly. What's more is Sachin rates it as his best test innings ever

You sure? Think he rates his Madras knock against Pakistan as his best.

I sometimes wish that he had never played that inning. Has since become a permanent feature of our team and cost us so many matches

 

[abmk]

You sure? Think he rates his Madras knock against Pakistan as his best.

I would rate that as his best too, but I think he's said Perth was his best ( he might have said the Chennai innings depending on how exactly the question was framed though )

 

[Blaze 18]

He generally tends to avoid giving a definite answer when he's asked such a question. He only says "yes, it was one of my best innings", or "it is right up there", or something along those lines. I guess I'll leave it there though, as I don't want to bore anyone by turning this into a Tendulkar-centric thread.

 

[robelinda]

Yes but Sachin also says his best one day innings is that 98 vs Pakistan, was that the toughest pitch he ever batted on? Of course not. So it depends on the question asked, the Perth knock was one of his best, no doubt, but that doesnt mean it was the best knock on the toughest pitch. More like it was the best knock in toughest match/team situation, but also it was a dead test anyway so you cant give it too much credit, a test is a test for sure, but a 'live' test surely is more important. His 155* in 1998 was phenomenal, but i'd say his 111 vs South Africa in 1992 was his best knock ive ever seen him play, he managed Donald with ease, magic stuff, he didnt hit many 4's off him, but looked really comfortable, and Donald was lightning fast back in 1992, really bloody fast.

 

[honestbharani]

Yes but Sachin also says his best one day innings is that 98 vs Pakistan, was that the toughest pitch he ever batted on? Of course not. So it depends on the question asked, the Perth knock was one of his best, no doubt, but that doesnt mean it was the best knock on the toughest pitch. More like it was the best knock in toughest match/team situation, but also it was a dead test anyway so you cant give it too much credit, a test is a test for sure, but a 'live' test surely is more important. His 155* in 1998 was phenomenal, but i'd say his 111 vs South Africa in 1992 was his best knock ive ever seen him play, he managed Donald with ease, magic stuff, he didnt hit many 4's off him, but looked really comfortable, and Donald was lightning fast back in 1992, really bloody fast.

Sachin's best innings on a bad track HAS to be the Mumbai one in 2004...