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Triple centurion Mayank Agarwal speaks on his hero Virender Sehwag and learning from Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni and revealed the advice he received from MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Steve Smith.

By : Aprameya C November 4, 2017 16:39 IST

 

Mayank Agarwal

It is always disappointing to get out for a duck in cricket. But it is a horrible feeling if it is repeated in the same match, resulting in a pair. This happened to Karnataka’s Mayank Agarwal last month against Hyderabad in Ranji Trophy.

 

But how did he respond to this huge setback? With a monumental innings.

 

The 26-year-old opener entered history books with his maiden triple hundred (304 not out) in next knock after two successive zeroes. What an incredible comeback this was.

 

Mayank is only the 43rd batsman in Ranji Trophy history to have crossed the coveted 300-run mark. In this season of the premier domestic tournament, he is the third in the club after Prashant Chopra (Himachal Pradesh) and Hanuma Vihari (Andhra).

 

“It is a very good feeling to have got a triple hundred. I got a pair in the last game and to have got something like this, I am extremely happy,” Mayank told International Business Times, India in an exclusive interview today (November 4).

 

The right-hander from Bengaluru batted for over 12 hours against Maharashtra at Pune’s MCA Stadium to reach a memorable 304 not out (494 balls, 28×4, 4×6) on Friday (November 3).

 

Thanks to his mammoth effort, Karnataka posted 628/5 declared and today won by an innings and 136 runs to complete hat-trick of wins.

 

When asked whether he was thinking of a triple ton, Mayank, often branded as limited-overs specialist, said he was focused on the “process” than any milestone.

 

“Coming into this game I just wanted to give my best. I was focused on the process. I never thought I would get (300),” he admitted.

 

He continued, “To be honest, till 250 I never thought about it (triple ton). After I crossed 250 I thought I can get there but reminded myself that I should keep doing what I was doing. I said to myself whatever has to come will come. I never focused on triple ton.”

 

Since the start of his cricket career, Mayank has idolised Virender Sehwag. Now, he has emulated his hero by hitting a triple ton. Sehwag did it twice, in Test cricket. He is the only Indian to have scored two triple hundreds (309 and 319).

 

Mayank might have modelled his batting on Sehwag but the youngster said the “Nawab of Najafgarh” is “very unique” and nobody can match his batting.

 

“To be honest there is only one Virender Sehwag. He is very unique and a great character. I have idolised him. I have always looked up to him. I really enjoyed the way he played the game. I have been fortunate enough to meet him and interact with him a couple of times. He told me to enjoy the game,” he spoke of his idol.

 

The Karnataka opening batsman said he was “fortunate” to have played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) which helped him pick the brains of several top international cricketers including MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Steve Smith.

 

“IPL is a great platform for any young cricketer. I was fortunate to have played IPL at the age of 19. It was a great experience for me to play among all international cricketers. You get to know where you stand. Experience was overwhelming.

 

“They (Dhoni, Yuvraj, Smith and others) always backed me. They always said to focus on the process and don’t think too much on the results and keep working hard. They told me to give importance to every game be it practice, state-level or any other match. They told me to enjoy every innings,” he elaborated on IPL experience.

 

Mayank was part of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Delhi Daredevils (DD) and recently Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS).

 

Being a part of India ‘A’ meant Mayank could learn from former captain and batting legend Rahul Dravid, who is the team’s coach.

 

Talking about the advice he got from Dravid, he said, “Obviously he (Dravid) is one of the greatest batsmen India ever had. His experience helped me. His advice to me was ‘playing according to the situation’.”

 

Expectations could rise in the coming days after a triple ton but Mayank is unfazed by them. He wants to control what he can and leave the rest.

 

“Those (expectations) are the things which you can’t control. I don’t want to focus on things which I can’t control. What I can do is focus on things which have got me to this stage and continue the same,” he signed off.

 

(Mayank Agarwal is the third Karnataka batsman after KL Rahul and Karun Nair to hit a triple ton in Ranji Trophy. So far he has played 32 first-class, 46 List A (50 overs) and 91 Twenty20s. He made his first-class debut in 2013, against Jharkhand in Mysore. He has played for India Under-19, India ‘A’ and three teams in IPL. He also played in ICC Under-19 World Cup 2010 in New Zealand).

 

Today is 04.11.2017. Exactly 83 years ago, on 04.11.1934, the first ever Ranji Trophy match was played and  it was completed  in a day. 

Sri C Keshavamurthy, Champion Statistician on Indian Domestic Cricket, has penned a special article for the then crickick.com netizens on the first ever Ranji Trophy match between Madras and Mysore which was played on 04.11.34. This match was completed on a single day. Read on CKM’s thoughts on this historic match

Madras (now Chennai) is not new to cricket. It is learnt that cricket was played here as early as 1855 on military grounds as a sort of recreation of the soldiers. Matches were played by the Cricket Clubs as early as 1932/33 and 1933/34 for the Raja of Palayampatti Shield and Bishop Waller Shields. Even test cricket had its birth in India way back in 1933/34 and Madras had staged a test at Chepauk ground from 10th to 13th Februry 1934. As time took its toll, Madras had the distinction of becoming the first centre to boast of India’s inaugural victory in 25 tests over a span of 20 years when it beat England at the Chepauk ground on 10th February 1952. It has also the rare privilege of hosting a tied test match (only the 2nd instance in the history of test cricket) between India and Australia in September 1986.

The idea of having a Premier National championship – the Ranji Trophy (named after KS Ranjitsinhji, popularly known throughout the cricket world as the great Ranji) was mooted in the summer of 1934 when the BCCI at its meeting at Simla decided to conduct a cricket tournament on an yearly basis to keep cricket at the highest level on the lines of County matches in England and Sheffield Shield matches in Australia. And when the question of selecting the first ever venue for the National Championship came up, Madras was chosen and what better place could there have been for the inaugural match of the prestigious tournament than Madras which had earlier hosted a test match. Madras has the prevelege of hosting the first ever Duleep Trophy match too in 1961-62

On November 3, 1934 – Madras city had witnessed heavy rain and many in cricket circles thought it may well interfere the inaugural match of the tournament. Some others – perhaps those who were curious to peep in and have a look at the match presumed that rain was a good augury for the first ever match in Ranji Trophy. And so it proved to be as the historic match took place on November 4, 1934 without any hurdles.

The inaugural match itself proved to be a great hit in that it was played between the traditional rivals – Madras (now Tamilnadu) and Mysore (now Karnataka) – just as the Ashes series is played between England and Australia. Since it was the first ever match in Ranji Trophy and perhaps nobody had visualized that this tournament would be a huge success in the coming years, not much importance was given to statistics – which has acquired a major role now. Fall of wickets do not indicate the name of the outgoing batsmen. The cricketing fraternity should be thankful to Sri SK Gurunathan for recording this match in his “Twelve Years of Ranji Trophy”. Sri SK Gurunathan was the first Honorary Official Statistician of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Despite the overnight rain and the faint morning drizzle on the opening day which resulted for a late start in the match, the two teams were keen to play and enthusiasm was writ large on the faces of the players. It was quite natural because this was the first big game to have come their way and everyone was keen to perform. When play commenced on November 4, 1934 at 11.00 am, two Englishmen, CP Johnstone (Madras) and Major MS Teversham (Mysore) captained the rival teams. Johnstone, left hand opening batsman and an excellent slip fielder, won the first toss in the championship and invited Mysore to bat. The same could not have been said of the Mysore Captain as he had not played cricket with the Mysoreans earlier. In fact, Mysore had lacked match practice.

Mysore batsmen were clueless on the wet wicket and it was no surprise that it was in deep trouble at the beginning itself when its openers N Curtis and P McCosh went in to bat. Morapakkam Joysam Gopalan – the Madras fast medium bowler and the lone test cricketer from among the two teams (he had made his debut for India against England at Calcutta in January 1934; he had also the distinction of playing Hockey at international level – he was selected in the Indian Team for Berlin Olympics) entered the record books as the first bowler to deliver the first ball in the history of the premier tournament to N Curtis who took the first strike. Although Gopalan bowled the first over (and could not capture a wicket in the first innings), the havoc was done by AG Ram Singh, the left arm spinner (his two sons AG Kripal Singh and AG Milkha Singh represented India), who partnered Gopalan at the other end. Mysore players with no exceptions had virtually no answer to the guile of Ram Singh who fully exploited the rain affected pitch. Coupled with his Captain CP Johnstone (a Burmah Shell Executive and who played for Kent in Eng), both sliced through the Mysore batting line up. Curtis top scored the innings with 15 while the only other player to reach double figures was Renshaw Nailer (he had earned a name as a powerful hitter in the Presidency matches in Madras), who made 14. Five players were dismissed for ducks. The only notable partnership of a meagre 24 runs came between Curtis and Nailer for the 4th wicket. MS Teversham – the Mysore skipper (a major in the Army) achieved the rare distinction of becoming the first Captain in the championship to be dismissed for a duck. Wreckers in chief – Ramsingh took 6/19 in 13.2 overs (the first five wicket haul in the national championship) and Johnstone bowling off-cutters, had figures of 4/10 in 6 overs. Mysore players whose batting performance gave a feeling as though they were afraid of the devil in the pitch, eventually were responsible for their team to be dismissed for a paltry 48 – the first double digit score in the history of the national championship. SVT Chari kept wickets brilliantly for Madras and effected 4 stumpings, while C Ramaswamy held 5 catches in the match.

Madras, although rejoiced at keeping the opposition at bay, too did not fare better but the home team batsmen were not as timid as those of the opposition and could muster 130 in 43 overs, for a lead of 82 runs – a shade better than the performance of the visitors. The restricted total of Madras was mainly due to the devastating spell of 6/23 in 8 overs by MG Vijayasarathy who bowled medium off breaks. (he later rose to the level of an international umpire and who was also the first player treasurer of the Mysore State Cricket Association (now KSCA). he also served as its Vice President and President.) and excellent bowling (3/29) by Safi Darashah (who later took to broadcasting as a commentator). Cotah Ramaswami (who also represented India in the Davis Cup in 1922), top scoed with 26 for Madras. NN Swarna (22) and MJ Gopalan (23) were the other leading scorers for Madras. Many felt that if Vijayasarathy had opened the bowling with Nagaraja Rao, the home team could have been dismissed for a lesser score as Vijayasarathy coming as a third change bowler caused the lower order collapse – all the dismissals, being in a row. .

When Mysore switched to batting for a second time, everyone thought it would put up a decent performance. However, this was not to be as once again wickets fell at regular intervals. Mysore batsmen refused to learn from the first innings debacle and paid a heavy price for the inept batting performance for the second time in the match. Ram Singh was in his elements again demolishing the Mysore innings with his tantalizing spinners and accounting for another five wicket haul (5/16in 14.3 overs). With this he scripted his name into the record books as the first player to take 10 or more wickets in a match. Gopalan with 3/20 and Johnstone with 2/10 ably assisted him. T Murari (one of the founders of the MSCA) and Teversham with 11 runs each were the joint top scorers as batsmen for the visitors. Darashah was the only other player to reach the double figure (10). The irony was that Mr Extras top scored for the innings with 13. Mysore, in the end, folded up for a niggardly 59. BR Nagaraja Rao – a fast bowler of repute, also went into the record books as the first player to be dismissed for a ‘pair’ (duck in each innings).

Madras thus emerged victors by an innings and 23 runs. The inaugural match was over in a single day – a record that still stands today as till date no other match in the national championship has been completed in a single day. The whole match lasted for a total of 100.5 overs. Bowlers had a sway in the entire match and this match is still known as Ram Singh’s match for his magnificent bowling performance of 11/35 (6/19 and 5/16).

This match is also known for a humorous anecdote if you can call it like that. It is learnt that some of the supporters of the Mysore team who were excited to get a first hand knowledge of the inaugural day’s play, had gone to the Railway Station on the morning of the next day to purchase the news paper (in those days it is learnt that Bangalore did not have any reputed news paper and the news papers used to come from Madras by train) but were taken aback when they saw the team members alighting from the train, remarking that they would narrate the match event in detail instead of the news paper.

And what about those press people who covered this unforgettable match. The stalwarts N.S. Ramaswami, KN Prabhu and PN Sunderesan also find themselves in the record books as the famous trio of cricket writers to have witnessed and reported this historic match. The trio is no more as they have breathed their last.

PS: In case any readers/viewers to the site are having any other connected information or anecdotes relating to the above match, they are requested to post the comments at www.crickick.com so that an improved version of the article could be prepared. Views are most welcome.

The score card of the first Ranji Trophy match is reproduced below

Ranji Trophy, 1934/35 : Madras v Mysore : MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai : 4 November 1934 (3-day match) : Result: Madras won by an innings and 23 runs : Toss: Madras : Captains : MS Teversham {Mysore} : CP Johnstone {Madras}

 

MS Dhoni became the 25^th batsman to face 1000 deliveries in T20Is. Prior to the start of the first T20I against New Zealand at Delhi on 01 Nov 2017 he had faced 999 deliveries. He faced two deliveries in this game and faced 1001 deliveries at the end of the game. The following table lists all the 25 batsmen

No	Player	Team	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	100	50	0	4s	6s
1	BB McCullum	NZl	71	70	10	2140	123	35.66	1571	2	13	3	199	91
2	TM Dilshan	Srl	80	79	12	1889	104*	28.19	1567	1	13	10	223	33
3	Shoaib Malik	Pak	92	86	24	1821	75	29.37	1548	0	6	1	152	43
4	Mohammad Hafeez	Pak	81	78	5	1658	86	22.71	1457	0	9	5	178	39
5	MJ Guptill	NZl	62	60	7	1810	101*	34.15	1382	1	10	2	170	76
6	Umar Akmal	Pak	82	77	14	1690	94	26.82	1375	0	8	8	122	55
7	JP Duminy	RSA	73	67	21	1700	96*	36.95	1372	0	9	6	124	59
8	V Kohli	Ind	53	49	14	1878	90*	53.65	1371	0	17	1	199	38
9	Mohammad Shahzad	Afg	58	58	3	1779	118*	32.34	1300	1	12	3	200	66
10	MN Samuels	Win	60	58	10	1469	89*	30.60	1275	0	10	0	133	60
11	AB de Villiers	RSA	78	75	11	1672	79*	26.12	1237	0	10	5	140	60
12	DA Warner	Aus	65	65	3	1696	90*	27.35	1218	0	12	5	164	74
13	EJG Morgan	Eng	70	68	13	1576	85*	28.65	1208	0	8	3	118	69
14	H Masakadza	Zim	50	50	2	1413	93*	29.43	1180	0	10	0	131	51
15	Ahmed Shehzad	Pak	53	53	2	1353	111*	26.52	1171	1	7	2	145	29
16	KC Sangakkara	Srl	56	53	9	1382	78	31.40	1156	0	8	2	139	20
17	RG Sharma	Ind	66	59	12	1472	106	31.31	1128	1	12	3	130	56
18	DPMD Jayawardene	Srl	55	55	8	1493	100	31.76	1121	1	9	4	173	33
19	Tamim Iqbal	Ban	59	59	5	1257	103*	23.27	1091	1	4	4	139	29
20	CH Gayle	Win	52	49	4	1577	117	35.04	1085	2	13	2	134	103
21	LRPL Taylor	NZl	73	65	13	1256	63	24.15	1046	0	5	4	83	48
22	AD Hales	Eng	48	48	6	1383	116*	32.92	1022	1	7	4	148	42
23	Shakib Al Hasan	Ban	61	61	8	1223	84	23.07	1009	0	6	4	121	27
24	SR Watson	Aus	58	56	6	1462	124*	29.24	1006	1	10	3	115	83
25	MS Dhoni	Ind	81	70	35	1232	56	35.20	1001	0	1	1	84	37

MS Dhoni became the third Indian batsman to face 1000 deliveries in T20Is. Prior to the start of the first T20I against New Zealand at Delhi on 01 Nov 2017 he had faced 999 deliveries. He faced two deliveries in this game and faced 1001 deliveries at the end of the game. Others are V Kohli (1371} and RG Sharma {1128} The following table lists all the three batsmen

No	Player	Team	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	100	50	0	4s	6s
1	V Kohli	Ind	53	49	14	1878	90*	53.65	1371	0	17	1	199	38
2	RG Sharma	Ind	66	59	12	1472	106	31.31	1128	1	12	3	130	56
3	MS Dhoni	Ind	81	70	35	1232	56	35.20	1001	0	1	1	84	37

 

Q de Kock of South Africa scored 168 not out against Bangladesh at Kimberley on 15 Oct 17 to provide the eighth occasion of a wicket keeper batsman scoring 150 plus runs in the history of one day internationals. All such occasions are tabulated below.

 

No	Player	Runs	Inns	Team	Oppn	Ground	Start Date
1	AC Gilchrist	154	1	Aus	Srl	Melbourne	07 Feb 1999
2	AC Gilchrist	172	1	Aus	Zim	Hobart	16 Jan 2004
3	MS Dhoni	183*	2	Ind	Srl	Jaipur	31 Oct 2005
4	KC Sangakkara	169	1	Srl	RSA	Colombo (RPS)	20 Jul 2013
5	D Ramdin	169	1	Win	Ban	Basseterre	25 Aug 2014
6	L Ronchi	170*	1	NZl	Srl	Dunedin	23 Jan 2015
7	Q de Kock	178	2	RSA	Aus	Centurion	30 Sep 2016
8	Q de Kock	168*	2	RSA	Ban	Kimberley	15 Oct 2017

 

Q de Kock’s 168 not out in this game provides the second occasion of a South African batsman  scoring 150 plus runs in one day games. Both the occasions are tabulated below

 

No	Player	Runs	Inns	Team	Oppn	Ground	Start Date
1	Q de Kock	178	2	RSA	Aus	Centurion	30 Sep 2016
2	Q de Kock	168*	2	RSA	Ban	Kimberley	15 Oct 2017

 

Q de Kock’s 168 not out in this game provides the second occasion of a batsman  scoring 150 plus runs in one day games against Bangladesh in one day games.  Both the occasions are tabulated below

 

No	Player	Runs	Inns	Team	Oppn	Ground	Start Date
1	D Ramdin	169	1	Win	Ban	Basseterre	25 Aug 2014
2	Q de Kock	168*	2	RSA	Ban	Kimberley	15 Oct 2017

 

Q de Kock’s 168 not out in this game provides the second occasion of his scoring 150 plus runs in one day games against Bangladesh in one day games.  Prior to this he had scored 178 runs against Australia at Centurion on 30.09.16. He became  the second batsman in the history of one day games to score 150 plus runs on two occasions after AC Gilchrist of Australia. The feats of these two batsmen are listed below

 

No	Player	Runs	Inns	Team	Oppn	Ground	Start Date
1	AC Gilchrist	154	1	Aus	Srl	Melbourne	07 Feb 1999
2	AC Gilchrist	172	1	Aus	Zim	Hobart	16 Jan 2004
1	Q de Kock	178	2	RSA	Aus	Centurion	30 Sep 2016
2	Q de Kock	168*	2	RSA	Ban	Kimberley	15 Oct 2017

 

Tomorrow’s game between India and Australia  is  likely to be rain  interrupted.  Cricketing Public are aware that KSCA is the only Cricket Association in the world to install the  state  of  the art  Sub Air System.  www,hrgcricstats.com had published an article on this subject with photographs in Jan 2017. Request to click on  this url to peruse the article

https://hrgcricstats.com/2017/01/write-up-of-press-briefing-sub-air-system/

 

Finals – Belgavi Panthers Vs Bijapur Bulls at Hubballi on 23 Sep 17 – Belgavi Panthers won by six wickets

 

B Chipli was dismissed  run out without facing a delivery in this game to provide  the fifth occasion of a batsman dismissed run out without facing a delivery in KPL. All such occasions are tabulated below. B Chipli became the first captain to be dismissed run out without facing a delivery in KPL.

 

No	Pos		Batsmen	MoD	Runs	BF	Team	Oppositon	Venue	Date
1	03		S Manager	R out	00	00	Maharajaas	Bulls	Bangalore	10.09.09
2	08		C Raghu	R out	00	00	Maharajaas	Brigadiers	Bangalore	21.09.10
3	10		NC Aiyappa	R out	00	00	Belagavi	Mangalore	Mysuru	02.09.14
4	05		S Gopal	R out	00	00	Shivamogga	Belagavi`	Mysuru	12.09.15
5	02	*	B Chipli	R out	00	00	Bulls	Belagavi	Hubballi	23.09.17

 

B Chipli’s run out dismissal in this game provides the 22^nd occasion of a captain dismissed run out in KPL. B Chipli earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first captain to be dismissed without scoring in KPL.

 

B Chipli  collected his  sixth  duck  in KPL when he was dismissed without scoring in this game  and shares  the record for most ducks in KPL with R Gowda of Rockstars. R Gowda has also scored  six  ducks in KPL.

 

BR Sharath effected three dismissals  in this game to  provide  the 21^st occasion of a wicket keeper effecting three or more  dismissals in KPl. He also effected two stumpings in this game to  provide the eighth  occasion of a wicket keeper effecting two or  more stumping dismissals in KPL. All such occasions are tabulated below

 

No	Player	St	Inns	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date
1	BMV Uthappa	3	2	Panthers	v Mangalore	Bengaluru	14 Sep 2009
2	RK Sabharwal	3	2	Mangalore	v Bulls	Bengaluru	19 Sep 2010
3	RK Sabharwal	2	2	Mangalore	v Diamonds	Bengaluru	29 Sep 2010
4	CM Gautam	2	1	Mysuru-W	v Bellary	Hubballi	07 Sep 2015
5	RK Sabharwal	2	1	Mangalore	v Bellary	Mysore	12 Sep 2015
6	GS Chiranjeevi	2	1	Bellary	v Mangalore	Hubballi	24 Sep 2016
7	KN Bharath	2	1	Hubli-T	v Mangalore	Hubballi	25 Sep 2016
8	BR Sharath	2	1	Panthers	v Bulls	Hubballi	23 Sep 2017

 

Mohammad Taha  scored two boundary sixes in this game which fetched him an aggregate of  51 boundary sixes  in KPL. He became the second batsman to score fifty plus boundary sixes in KPL. MA Agarwal is the other batsmen to score 50 plus boundary sixes. He has scored  hg55 boundary sixes in KPL

 

Mohammad Taha’s run aggregate at the end of this game read 919. He became the sixth batsman in KPL to total 900 plus runs. Others are – MA Agarwal {1419}, R Jonthan {967}, B Chipli {959}, Amit Verma {924} and KB Pawan {922}

 

S Hoover scored 81 in this game which represents the highest individual score by a batsman in any finals of KPL. The previous best was 70 by M Nidesh of Belagavi Panthers against  Mysore Warriors at Hubballi on 12.09.14 in the finals  of 2014-15 edition.

 

S Hoover registered his third fifty in KPL – all in this edition. His other two fifties are – 67 Vs Hubli Tigers at Hubballi on 20.09.17 and 62 Vs Bellary Tuskers at Mysore on 12.09.17.  Thus his 81 in this game represent  his highest individual score

 

S Hoover’s 81 in this game  provides the fourth occasion of a batsman scoring 80 plus runs in KPL2017. All such occasions are tabulated below

 

No	Player	Runs	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date
1	MA Agarwal	92*	Hubli Tigers	v Shivamogga	Mysore	08 Sep 2017
2	STR Binny	87	Panthers	v Blasters	Mysore	08 Sep 2017
3	Mohd Taha	83	Bulls	v Hubli-T	Mysore	10 Sep 2017
4	S Hoover	81	Panthers	v Bulls	Hubballi	23 Sep 2017

 

STR Binny’s run aggregate at the end of this game read 805. He became the 12^th  batsman to total 800 plus runs. The batsmen who have accomplished this feat are listed below

No	Player	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	C	HC	0	4s	6s
1	MA Agarwal	41	41	06	1419	119*	40.54	3	6	0	134	55
2	R Jonathan	45	42	09	967	77	29.30	0	6	3	74	37
3	B Chipli	45	43	01	959	89	22.83	0	8	6	89	41
4	Amit Verma	47	42	05	924	73*	24.97	0	2	0	84	28
5	KB Pawan	42	41	03	922	73	24.26	0	6	1	94	21
6	Mohd Taha	32	31	01	919	93	30.63	0	7	0	94	51
7	R Vinay Kumar	43	38	05	892	70	27.03	0	5	0	72	21
8	M Nidesh	46	41	10	850	70	27.41	0	4	2	50	36
9	KK Nair	33	30	04	829	100*	31.88	1	4	1	89	15
10	RR Bhatkal	44	40	08	826	83*	25.81	0	2	2	88	17
11	R Samarth	27	25	06	808	87*	42.52	0	7	3	87	14
12	STR Binny	36	34	10	805	87	33.54	0	4	1	63	30

 

Belagavi Panthers won this  game to  become  the Winners of KPL for the first  occasion. They were the finalists in 2009 and 2014.  They had lost  to Bangalore Rural Provident in 2009 and to Mysore Warriors in 2014. The following table details the winner and the runner in each of the six editions of Karnataka Premier League. It is interesting to note that in each edition, a different team had lifted the KPL Trophy.

 

WINNERS  AND RUNNERS  IN EACH OF THE EDITIONS
No	Edition	Winners	Runners	Venue	Date
1	2009	Bangalore Rural Provident	Belgavi Panthers	Bangalore	23.09.09
2	2010	Mangalore United	Bangalore Rural Providence	Bangalore	29.09.10
3	2014	Mysore Warriors	Belgavi Panthers	Hubli	17.09.14
4	2015	Bijapur Bulls	Hubli Tigers	Mysore	20.09.15
5	2016	Bellary Tuskers	Hubli Tigers	Hubballi	02.10.16
6	2017	Belagavi Panthers	Bijapur Bulls	Hubballi	23.09.17

 

I was very young when the whole house erupted in unbridled joy and hysterical happiness. Syed Mushtaq Ali, the swashbuckling opener whose hand was broken and had retired hurt, came as the last man to hit a four singlehanded to get an improbable victory for India! Those days radios worked only on valves and carried lot of airways ‘noise’ along with the commentary. But the commentator had sent the whole nation into an electrifying ecstasy by conveying what was happening on the field miles away. In clear contrast to this, when John Arlott was describing India’s innings with India 0 for 4 (yes, zero runs for four wickets) at Headingly, Leeds, you could hear a pin drop piercing the hushed silence as Freddie Trueman sliced through India’s batting using the ball as if it were a meat slicer. Such was the power of radio commentators.  Sanjay was the first commentator who narrated the 18-day Kurukshetra war between Pandavas and Kauravas in Mahabharatha to the blind king Dhritarashtra through Divya drushti (power to visualise what’s happening elsewhere and convey the same).
Radio commentators were pure magicians who could convey the see-saw feelings that erupted in the field to fans thousands of miles away staring at nothing but ceiling and yet participate in whatever happened in the field.  There was AFS Talyar khan, AFST giving the commentary for a full five days all by himself!  Maharajkumar of Vijayanagaram (Vizzy), who would describe Polly Umrigar as the ‘Palm Tree’ hitter for the sixers he was famous for. Quite a majority of cricket lovers grew up listening to ‘Berry’ Sarbadhikari, Pearson Surita, Anant Setalvad, Chakrapani, Dicky Rutnagar, Raj Singh Dungarpur, Ananda Rao, Balu Alaganan, Devraj Puri and his son, the ENT doctor Dr. Narottam Puri.  When the only way you saw action was through some pictures on the Hindu sports page next day, or the Weekly ‘Sports and Pastime’, these magicians by their collective range of voice and sheer artistry brought home the unalloyed ecstasy of winning, the despair of waiting for a draw or the agony of losing a nail-biter. Anant Setalvad’s soothing voice would comfort the desperate crowd at paanwala shops in street corners that Chandu Borde and Russi Surti were rebuilding an innings lying in disarray. Or, the smile that danced on the face of crowd when Dicky Rutnagar described the effortless ‘on-demand sixers’ by Salim Durani or ML Jaisimha to whichever part of the field the demand came from! As you walked from Churchgate station towards Nariman Point in Bombay, you would see hundreds shaking their collective head when you heard Dr. Narottam Puri lament India’s inexplicable collapse from the radio at Lotus Court office of Philips. A cabbie or a chauffeur-driven Mercedes, who would otherwise get frothing mad at the trespass of a carefree pedestrian with a tilted head, would smile and pardon his indiscretion shouting at the same time to know the latest score! Most people had one ear affixed to their transistor sets, while riding their cycles, running to catch a local or while haggling with vegetable vendors as they do with mobile phones nowadays! When Abbas Ali Baig, in company of Ramnath Kenny, drew a match against Australia with a fine 58 and was returning to pavilion, a girl came from nowhere and planted 13 kisses on him. The number was actually counted and conveyed by Vijay Merchant who lamented that he had played for years and lived practically on a cricket field, but never did a girl even look at him!  Did the commentators go wrong? Sometimes, but at extraordinary times! It took quite some time for everybody to realize they had a tie on hand, the first ever in cricket’s history in December 1960 at Brisbane! Our own All India Radio in the afternoon news at 1:30 News first flashed Australia had won and changed it to West Indies before finally coming out with the news of the first tie ever! Listening to John Arlot, Brian Johnston, Rex Alston, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Peter Baxter, Trevor Bailey over shortwave radio was like sitting in a cricket coaching class; their commentary when Jim Laker took 19 wickets in a Test was no less than the feat itself. Alan Mcgilvary, Micheal Charlton, Richie Benaud, Johnnie Moyes, Jim Maxwell were some of the finest Australian commentators who brought the drama of cricket right to the living room. Into this box walked young Harsha Bhogle to bring ball-by-ball commentary from Australia.  It was as much of a debut as Sunil Gavaskar or a Sachin Tendulkar would make on the field and Harsha had a great debut series in Australia. He is one of our best but somehow, the magic of what he did as a radio commentator has eluded him, such is the medium of radio compared to television. Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Manjrekar too should sometime go on the air to experience the power of radio in commentary.  How was India’s victory in Port of Spain, West Indies, conveyed in India? India chased a near-impossible score of 400-plus runs against West Indies with both Vishwanath and Sunil Gavaskar scoring a century each, laying the foundation for the chase. When Brijesh Patel scored the winning run, both Hindi and English Commentators on the All India Radio panel wanted to break the news simultaneously!  There was a minor scuffle as to who should convey India’s victory between Ravi Chaturvedi and Suresh Sarayya! Those were the glorious days of ‘Emergency’ then and everybody had to be politically correct in their behaviour in public or the alternative was a quick spell in jail! So the commentators had to heap praises on the then Kings and Queens before they could shower some on the cricketers for the famous victory!

First Published: October 19, 2011, 4:56 PM IST

11th match – Bijapur Bulls v Hubli Tigers at Mysore – Sep 10, 2017 – Bijapur Bulls won by four wickets

 

MA Agarwal scored 33 runs in this game  with the help of four boundary fours and took his  aggregate of runs to 1300. His boundary fours aggregate at the end of this game read 118. He has also scored 53 boundary sixes. His run aggregate, boundary fours and boundary sixes are the records in each statistical parameters of KPL. He became the first batsman in the history of KPL to amass 1300 runs.

 

A Mithun’s lone wicket in this  game fetched him an aggregate of 34 wickets in this game. He now shares the joint fifth place amongst the most wicket takers in KPL with Amit Verma. Amit Verma has also captured 34 wickets. Other bowlers who have captured more  wickets that A Mithun and Amit Verma in KPL are – K Gowtham {48}, R Vinay Kumar {44}, J Suchith {43} and VV Kumar {38}

 

R Vinay Kumar completed 800 runs in KPL when he was on 1 during his  knock of 13 in this game. His run aggregate read 812 at the end of this game. He became the eighth batsman to total 800 plus runs in KPL. Others are – MA Agarwal {1300}, R Jonathan {907}, B Chipli {867}, Amit Verma {865}, KB Pawan {832}, KK Nair {812} and R Samarth {802}

 

B Chipli failed to account in this game to provide the fifth occasion of his scoring a duck  in KPL. He became the fourth batsman to score four or more ducks in KPL. Others are – R Gowda {06}, C Raghu {05} and RK Sabharwal {05}

 

Mohammad Taha scored his seventh fifty of KPL when he scored 83 in this game. He became the fourth batsman to score seven or more fifties in KPL. Others are – MA Agarwal {08}, R Samarth {07} and B Chipli {07}. Mohammad Taha’s fifties are listed below.

 

No	Pos	Player	Runs	Team	Opposition	Ground	Date
1	01	Mohammed Taha	64	Hubli-T	Shivamogga	Mysore	13.09.15
2	02	Mohammed Taha	58*	Hubli-T	Mangalore	Mysore	18.09.15
3	01	Mohammed Taha	93	Hubli-T	Panthers	Mysore	19.09.15
4	01	Mohammed Taha	89	Hubli-T	Bulls	Hubballi	19.09.16
5	01	Mohammed Taha	52	Hubli-T	Bellary	Hubballi	20.09.16
6	01	Mohammed Taha	59	Hubli-T	Rockstars	Hubballi	30.09.16
7	01	Mohammed Taha	83	Bulls	Hubli-T	Mysore	10.09.17

 

It is interesting to note that Mohammad Taha’s seventh fifty – 83 – came against Hubli Tigers for whom he had scored his first six fifties.

 

Mohammad Taha scored nine boundary sixes in his knock of 83 in this game which is a record for most sixes in an innings  in KPL. It was an improvement over seven sixes scored on three occasions in KPL.

 

No	Player	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date
1	Mohammed Taha	83	45	4	9	Bulls	Hubli Tigers	Mysore	10 Sep 2017
2	MA Agarwal	103	58	5	7	Panthers	Hubli Tigers	Hubballi	08 Sep 2015
3	Mohammed Taha	89	56	5	7	Hubli Tigers	Bulls	Hubballi	19 Sep 2016
4	MA Agarwal	66*	31	3	7	Panthers	Rockstars	Hubballi	28 Sep 2016

 

Mohammad Taha’s boundary sixes aggregate read 49 at the end of this game. He now occupies the second place in the list of batsmen who have scored most sixes in KPL. MA Agarwal occupies the first place with 53 sixes to his credit. Mohammad Taha  needs one more boundary six to become the second batsman to score 50 plus sixes in KPL,

 

Mohammad Taha’s run aggregate at the end of this game read 860. He became the fifth batsman in KPL to score 850 plus runs. Others are – MA Agarwal {1300}, R Jonathan {907}, B Chipli {867} and Amit Verma {865}

 

A Sakuja of Hubli Tigers captured four for 21 in this game to provide the 41st occasion of a bowler capturing four or more wickets in KPL. It also provides the 37th occasion of a bowler capturing exact four wickets in an innings in KPL.

A Sakuja of Hubli Tigers captured four for 21 in this game to provide the third occasion of a bowler capturing four wickets in KPL. All such occasions are tabulated below

 

No	Player	O	M	R	W	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date
1	D Negi	4.0	0	9	4	Hubli-T	Rockstars	Hubli	04 Sep 2015
2	SL Akshay	4.0	0	29	4	Hubli-T	Panthers	Mysore	19 Sep 2015
3	A Sakuja	4.0	0	21	2	Hubli-T	Bulls	Mysore	10 Sep 2015

 

A Sakuja of Hubli Tigers captured four for 21 in this game which went in a losing cause. It provides the fifth occasion of a bowler’s four plus wickets in a losing cause  in KPL. All such occasions are tabulated below

 

No	Player	O	M	R	W	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date	Res
1	Mitrakanth Yadav	3.0	0	19	4	Mangalore	Bellary	Mysore	12 Sep 2015	L
2	T Pradeep	4.0	0	18	4	Panthers	Mysuru-W	Hubballi	24 Sep 2016	L
3	RG More	4.0	0	25	4	Bullls	Mysuru-W	Mysuru	04 Sep 2017	L
4	Abhishek Bhat	4.0	0	25	5	Blasters	Hubli-T	Mysuru	06 Sep 2017	L
5	A Sakuja	4.0	0	21	2	Hubli-T	Bulls	Mysuru	10 Sep 2017	L

 

Bijapur Bulls posted its 24^th win in KPL and own the record for most win in KPL. It went past Belagavi Panthers which has posted 23 wins in KPL.

 

MS Dhoni created a world record in the history of one day games by effecting one hundred stumping dismissals.  A Dananjaya of Sri Lanka became his 100^th stumping dismissal. He was dismissed stumped off YS Chahal for 4 in the final one day game at Col-RPS.  MS Dhoni  went past KC Sangakkara of Sri Lanka who had 99 stumping dismissals to  his credit on his way to the world record