Bangalore Tests – Day’s play abandoned
Bangalore has witnessed 21 tests so far including the just concluded test between India and South Africa.
It is interesting to note that only in three of these tests a day’s play was abandoned. However, it is the first occasion of four day’s play was abandoned in a test at Bangalore. Of the three abandonments one was not related to cricket and the other two were due to rain interference.
The first occasion of a day’s play abandoned was due to fear of riot. The final day of the test was called off due to the arrest of former Prime Minister Smt Indira Gandhi. The date of abandonment was Dec 20 1978
An absorbing match in which fortunes swayed from day to day, this Test would doubtless have come to a fitting climax had circumstances quite unrelated to cricket not forced the last day’s play to be abandoned. The cause of the abrupt finish was the outbreak of civil unrest in the city, set off by the expulsion from parliament and arrest of former Indian Prime Minister, Smt Indira Gandhi.
The second occasion of a day’s play was also the last day of the test against England in Dec 2001. The date of abandonment was Dec 23, 2001. The was due to rain.
The highlights of this test was A Kumble became the third Indian bowler to capture 300 test wickets. By dismissing Hoggard on the second afternoon, lbw as he tried to sweep, Kumble became the second Indian (after Kapil Dev) and fourth spinner (after Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan and Lance Gibbs) to reach 300 Test wickets, achieving the landmark in his 66th game.
The other highlight of this test was MP Vaughan of England was dismissed “handled the ball” in this test to provide the seventh occasion of a batsman dismissed “handled the ball” in the annals of test cricket
Hussain had won the toss again, but the chief talking point on the first day was the controversy when Vaughan became the seventh batsman in Test cricket to be dismissed for handling the ball. His reputation as a perpetually blighted Test batsman – one he would do well to ignore – had arisen largely because of some freakish injuries, but here a mental aberration undid him. Vaughan was batting with more authority than at any time in his Test career when, on 64, he missed a sweep at the off-spinner Sarandeep Singh. As the ball became tangled beneath him, he first smothered it, then brushed it away from his crease, a lapse that would be condemned in a club match. The ball was not heading for the stumps, but that was irrelevant under Law 33. India were entitled to appeal, although Vaughan complained, unwisely, that it was “against the spirit of the game”. Hussain’s admission that he would have appealed himself “nine times out of ten” put this gripe into perspective. Had Vaughan simply tossed the ball to a fielder, an appeal would have been unlikely.
The third occasion of the day’s play abandoned at Bangalore was the just concluded test against South Africa. After the first day’s play, four consecutive days were washed out due to incessant rain and inclement weather. It was for the first time, a Bangalore test witnessed four consecutive days abandonment due to rain. The highlight of this test was – South African batsman AB de Villier’s one hundredth test appearance.
AB de Villiers has played 99 tests prior to the start of the test. Second test at Bangalore was be his 100th test. He became the 63rd cricketer to play 100 plus tests in the annals of test cricket. He also become the seventh South African cricketer to play 100 plus tests. Others are JH Kallis {165}, MV Boucher {146}, GC Smith {116}, SM Pollock {108}, G Kirsten {101} and M Ntini {101}
AB de Villers became the second cricketer to play his 100th test at Bangalore after Inzamam-ul-Huq of Paksitan. Inzamam-ul-Huq scored 184 in his 100th test against India in Mar 2005.