Friday, April 27, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Bhagwan Parshuram
Bhagwan Parshuram
Bhagwan Parshuram, the sixth
Incarnation of Vishnu, belongs to the Tretayug, and is the son of
Jamadagni and Renuka. Parshu means axe, hence His name literally means
Ram-with-the-axe. He received an axe after undertaking a terrible penance to
please Lord Shiva, from whom He learned the methods of warfare and other
skills. Even though He was born as a Brahmin, He had Kshatriya (warrior) traits
in terms of aggression, warfare and valour. Hence He is said to be a 'Brahma-Kshatriya'
and one who possesses Brahmatej and Kshatratej.
He killed the entire army and King Kartavirya
Sahasrarjuna, who took away the magical cow (Kamadhenu) forcibly, that belonged
to His father Jamadagni. In revenge the King's sons killed Jamadagni in
Parshuram's absence. Furious at their unrighteous act, He killed all sons of
the King and also went on killing all corrupt Haihaya Kings and warriors on the
earth 21 times.
He then conducted
the Ashvamedha sacrifice, done only by sovereign Kings and gave the
entire land He owned to priests who performed the sacrifice (Yadnya).
He is a Chiranjeevi (Immortal) who
fought the advancing ocean back, thus saving the lands of Konkan and Malabar
(Maharashtra - Karnataka - Kerala coastline). The
coastal area of Kerala state along with the Konkan region, i.e., coastal Maharashtra
and Karnataka, is known as ParshuramKshetra (area).
He has been a Guru to Bhishma, Dronacharya and
later also to Karna. He taught Karna the extremely
powerful Brahmastra (a celestial weapon). But He also cursed that the
knowledge would be useless to Karna, predicting much in advance that Karna will
join the unrighteous Duryodhana in the Kurukshetra war. Such was His love for
Righteousness.
Also, the Sudarshan chakra (or Sudarshan
Vidya) is said to be given by Parshuram to Lord Krushna. The purpose of the
sixth Incarnation of Vishnu is considered by religious scholars to be to
relieve the earth's burden by exterminating the sinful, destructive and
irreligious kings that pillaged its resources, and neglected their duties.
Meaning: Parshuram who is
well-versed with the four Vedas and sports the bow and arrow upon His back
(that is the one who has the radiance of both the Brahman and the Kshatriya)
will destroy evildoers either with a curse or with an arrow. When fighting,
mere use of weapons is insufficient for a seeker. He should have the potential
to curse in conjunction with the former. Shri Parshuram single-handedly
eliminated the warriors from the earth, circumambulating it twenty-one times.
What exactly does this mean? He destroyed the evil Kshatriyas. If He were to
destroy all the Kshatriyas on the earth thoroughly even once then not a single
Kshatriya would have survived for the second round! However He slew only the
evil Kshatriyas. Let us all attempt to destroy the evildoers atleast once.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Sunil Gavaskar
Achievements:
- First player to score more than 10,000 runs in Tests
- One of the only two players to score centuries in each innings, three times
- Highest number of runs in a debut series by an Indian (774 against West Indies)
- Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1980
- Awarded Padma Bhushan
Gavaskar was especially quite good against the fast bowlers, and maintained a decent average of 65.45 runs against the super-fast West Indian bowlers. He also served as the Captain of the Indian Cricket team, although the team couldn’t fare much better under his leadership. In fact, during his Captaincy, the Indian Cricket team one played 31 Test matches without a single victory.
Early Life
Sunil Gavaskar was born on the 10th of July 1949 at Mumbai, and started playing Cricket right since his school days. In the year 1966 he was declared the Best Schoolboy Cricket of the year in India. He had scored 246*, 222 and 85 runs in School Cricket. He made his debut in Ranji Trophy in the year 1968/69 with a match against Karnataka although he scored a duck in the match and was out for a 0 score. But in the next match against Rajasthan he scored 114 runs and hit 3 consecutive centuries in the tournament.
Test Debut
The Test Cricket debut of Sunil Gavaskar was made in a Test match against West Indies played at Port of Spain on 6th of March 1971. He scored 132 runs in this match, getting India its first over Test victory over West Indies. In the 5th Test match between India and West Indies, he scored 124 and 220 runs in both the innings, helping India to score its first Test Series victory over West Indies, which was not repeated for a period of 35 years to come till the year 2006.
One Day International (ODI) Debut
Gavaskar made his One Day International (ODI) Cricket debut in an ODI match against England played at the Leeds ground on 13th of July 1974, where he scored 28 runs off 35 balls.
Captaincy
Sunil Gavaskar also stayed the Captain of the Indian Cricket team for some time, but his record as the Captain has not been much impressive, as a bigger number of matches he led the team into turned out to be drawn. He led the team to 47 Test matches, out of which 9 were won, 8 were lost and 30 were drawn. Under his Captaincy, the Indian Cricket team played 37 ODI matches, out of which 14 were won, 21 were lost and 2 went without any result.
Sunil Gavaskar’s last Test match was against Pakistan played at Bangalore on 13th of March 1987, and he scored 117 runs in the match. His last ODI match was against England played at Mumbai on 5th of November 1987, and he scored just 4 runs in the match.
Overall Performance
In his overall Test Cricket career, Sunil Gavaskar played 125 Test matches and scored 10122 runs including 34 centuries and 45 half-centuries, with an average of 51.12 runs and a highest score of 236 Not Out. Regarding his ODI Cricket career, he played 108 matches. He scored 3092 in them including 1 century and 27 half-centuries, with an average score of 35.13 runs and a highest score of 103 runs.
Other Achievements
Sunil Gavaskar has been conferred upon Padma Bhushan, and had been appointed the honorary Sheriff of Mumbai in the year 1994. Having written 4 books upon Cricket, he has also been named the advisor of the Indian Cricket team, and the Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee. In his honor, a Test Cricket Series between India and Australia has been named jointly after him and the Australian Cricketer Allan Border, as Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Full Name: Sunil Manohar Gavaskar
Born: July 10, 1949, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Major teams: India, Mumbai, Somerset
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium
Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi
Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, fondly called Tiger has been an
Indian Cricket player and the Captain of the Indian Cricket team. He has to his
credit the honor of having been the 9th and last Nawab of Pataudi, a small Princely
State which presently is a part of
the Haryana state of India.
Early Life
He was born on the 5th of January 1941 in Bhopal to the 8th Nawab of Patuadi, Iftikhar Ali Khan. Having studied at Dehradun, Hertfordshire and Oxford, he became the 9th Nawab of Patuaudi after his father died in the year 1952.
Test Cricket Debut
Mansur made is Test Cricket debut in the year 1961 with a Test match played against England at Delhi. He scored 13 runs in the match. Very soon after beginning his Test Cricket career, he lost the vision in his right eye due to a car accident.
Captaincy
In the year 1962, he was named the Captain of the Indian Cricket team. Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, also known as Nawab Pataudi Jr., is considered to be one of the most successful Captains that the Indian Cricket team has ever got in its history. He led the Indian team in 40 Test matches, out of which 12 had been won by the team. Although the winning percentage was not very high, he is best known for instilling the winning confidence into the members of hitherto low-down Indian team, and boosting their morale that led them to further victories.
Mansur is credited as the first Indian Cricket captain that got the team its much needed first Test victory at an overseas ground. This victory was achieved in a Test match played against New Zealand in the year 1968. He is also known for recognizing the fact that Spin Bowling was the forte of the Indian Cricket team, hence he utilized more of spinners against other strong teams to get the Indian team the maximum benefit in the Cricket ground. Apart from being a good Captain, Nawab Patudi Jr. is also known very well for being a good fielder too. Although his Batting Average was only 34 runs, he must have yielded way too far better results had he not been visually impaired with one eye.
Overall Performance
In his Test Cricket career, Mansur Ali Khan played 46 Test matches in which he scored a total of 2793 runs with 6 centuries and 16 half-centuries. His Batting Average was 34.91 runs and Highest Score was 203 runs not-out. He played his last Test match against West Indies at Mumbai in the year 1975, and scored 18 runs in the match.
He also served as an ICC Match Referee for a period of 3 years between 1993 and 1996. For his extra-ordinary performance as a Cricket player for India, Mansur Ali Khan had been conferred upon the Arjuna Award in the year 1964, and was named the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in the year 1968.
Early Life
He was born on the 5th of January 1941 in Bhopal to the 8th Nawab of Patuadi, Iftikhar Ali Khan. Having studied at Dehradun, Hertfordshire and Oxford, he became the 9th Nawab of Patuaudi after his father died in the year 1952.
Test Cricket Debut
Mansur made is Test Cricket debut in the year 1961 with a Test match played against England at Delhi. He scored 13 runs in the match. Very soon after beginning his Test Cricket career, he lost the vision in his right eye due to a car accident.
Captaincy
In the year 1962, he was named the Captain of the Indian Cricket team. Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, also known as Nawab Pataudi Jr., is considered to be one of the most successful Captains that the Indian Cricket team has ever got in its history. He led the Indian team in 40 Test matches, out of which 12 had been won by the team. Although the winning percentage was not very high, he is best known for instilling the winning confidence into the members of hitherto low-down Indian team, and boosting their morale that led them to further victories.
Mansur is credited as the first Indian Cricket captain that got the team its much needed first Test victory at an overseas ground. This victory was achieved in a Test match played against New Zealand in the year 1968. He is also known for recognizing the fact that Spin Bowling was the forte of the Indian Cricket team, hence he utilized more of spinners against other strong teams to get the Indian team the maximum benefit in the Cricket ground. Apart from being a good Captain, Nawab Patudi Jr. is also known very well for being a good fielder too. Although his Batting Average was only 34 runs, he must have yielded way too far better results had he not been visually impaired with one eye.
Overall Performance
In his Test Cricket career, Mansur Ali Khan played 46 Test matches in which he scored a total of 2793 runs with 6 centuries and 16 half-centuries. His Batting Average was 34.91 runs and Highest Score was 203 runs not-out. He played his last Test match against West Indies at Mumbai in the year 1975, and scored 18 runs in the match.
He also served as an ICC Match Referee for a period of 3 years between 1993 and 1996. For his extra-ordinary performance as a Cricket player for India, Mansur Ali Khan had been conferred upon the Arjuna Award in the year 1964, and was named the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in the year 1968.
Born: January 5, 1941, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Major teams: India, Delhi, Hyderabad, Oxford University, Sussex
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium
Kapil Dev
Achievements:
- Captained India to World Cup victory in 1983
- Broke Richard Hadlee's record of 431 wickets in Test cricket
- Scored first ODI century by an Indian
- Only cricketer to score 4,000 Test runs and take 400 wickets
- Named Indian Cricketer of the Century by Wisden
Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj has been a Indian Cricket player,
and is said to be one of the all time greatest all-rounders to have existed in
the world of Cricket. Kapil also served the Indian Cricket team as its Captain,
and is famous for being the only Captain of the Indian Cricket team that led it
to win a World Cup Cricket Trophy in the year 1983.
Early Life
Kapil Dev was born on the 6th of January 1959 at Chandigarh, India. He began his Cricket career in Domestic Cricket from the Haryana team, with a match played against Punjab team in November 1975. Kapil took 6 wickets in the match and helped Haryana to win the match.
Domestic Cricket Career
Kapil gave his best performance of his initial times in a match against Bengal, in which he took 7 wickets giving only 20 runs within just 9 overs in the second innings. Although Haryana was beat by Bombay team in the quarterfinals, his performance brought his talent under the limelight.
Debut
He debuted the Test Cricket with a match played against Pakistan at Faisalabad in the year 1978. During the 3rd Test match played at Karachi, he scored the fasted half-century made by any Indian cricketer off just 33 balls.
Kapil’s One Day International (ODI) debut was made on 1st of October 1978 in a match played against Pakistan at Quetta. He scored 13 runs and took 1 wicket giving 27 runs in the match.
Captaincy
He was made the Captain of the Indian Cricket team in the year 1982-83 for a match against Sri Lanka. He began as a regular Captain of the team with the tour of West Indies.
World Cup 1983
During the 1983 World Cup, Kapil scored a huge 175 runs off 138 balls against a crucial match against Zimbabwe. India won this match by 31 runs and went on to win its only World Cup Trophy. This innings played by Kapil has been regarded as one of the Top 10 ODI Batting Performances of all times by the Wisden magazine.
After the World Cup victory, the Indian team lost its grip and faced some bad defeats due to which Kapil was removed from the Captain’s seat and Sunil Gavaskar again became the Captain in the year 1984. Again in March 1985 Kapil got the Captaincy back and led India to World Cup 1987. India lost to Australia in the Semi-Finals, and Kapil’s Captaincy came to a permanent end.
Vital Statistics
In his Test Cricket career, Kapil Dev played 131 Test matches in which he scored 5248 runs with a Batting Average of 31.05 runs. His highest score was 163 runs. As far as bowling is concerned, he took 434 wickets in the Test Cricket, and gave away 12867 runs with an average of 29.64 runs.
Kapil played 225 ODI matches throughout his career, and scored 3783 runs with an average of 23.79 runs, his highest score being 175 not out. He took 252 wickets, and gave 6945 runs with an average of 27.45 runs in his ODI career.
Kapil served as the Coach of the Indian Cricket team between October 1999 and August 2000, but resigned after match fixing allegations were imposed upon him. The Wisden magazine named him the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002, and has been conferred upon with Arjuna Award, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards by the Government of India.
Early Life
Kapil Dev was born on the 6th of January 1959 at Chandigarh, India. He began his Cricket career in Domestic Cricket from the Haryana team, with a match played against Punjab team in November 1975. Kapil took 6 wickets in the match and helped Haryana to win the match.
Domestic Cricket Career
Kapil gave his best performance of his initial times in a match against Bengal, in which he took 7 wickets giving only 20 runs within just 9 overs in the second innings. Although Haryana was beat by Bombay team in the quarterfinals, his performance brought his talent under the limelight.
Debut
He debuted the Test Cricket with a match played against Pakistan at Faisalabad in the year 1978. During the 3rd Test match played at Karachi, he scored the fasted half-century made by any Indian cricketer off just 33 balls.
Kapil’s One Day International (ODI) debut was made on 1st of October 1978 in a match played against Pakistan at Quetta. He scored 13 runs and took 1 wicket giving 27 runs in the match.
Captaincy
He was made the Captain of the Indian Cricket team in the year 1982-83 for a match against Sri Lanka. He began as a regular Captain of the team with the tour of West Indies.
World Cup 1983
During the 1983 World Cup, Kapil scored a huge 175 runs off 138 balls against a crucial match against Zimbabwe. India won this match by 31 runs and went on to win its only World Cup Trophy. This innings played by Kapil has been regarded as one of the Top 10 ODI Batting Performances of all times by the Wisden magazine.
After the World Cup victory, the Indian team lost its grip and faced some bad defeats due to which Kapil was removed from the Captain’s seat and Sunil Gavaskar again became the Captain in the year 1984. Again in March 1985 Kapil got the Captaincy back and led India to World Cup 1987. India lost to Australia in the Semi-Finals, and Kapil’s Captaincy came to a permanent end.
Vital Statistics
In his Test Cricket career, Kapil Dev played 131 Test matches in which he scored 5248 runs with a Batting Average of 31.05 runs. His highest score was 163 runs. As far as bowling is concerned, he took 434 wickets in the Test Cricket, and gave away 12867 runs with an average of 29.64 runs.
Kapil played 225 ODI matches throughout his career, and scored 3783 runs with an average of 23.79 runs, his highest score being 175 not out. He took 252 wickets, and gave 6945 runs with an average of 27.45 runs in his ODI career.
Kapil served as the Coach of the Indian Cricket team between October 1999 and August 2000, but resigned after match fixing allegations were imposed upon him. The Wisden magazine named him the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002, and has been conferred upon with Arjuna Award, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards by the Government of India.
Born: January 6, 1959, Chandigarh
Major teams: India, Haryana, Northamptonshire, Worcestershire
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium
Gundappa Viswanath
Achievements:
- Each of his 14 Test centuries resulted in either an Indian victory or a draw
- Made a crucial century in India's historic chase of 403 against West Indies
- Was the first Indian player to score a 100 against every other Test playing country
- Remained the Captain of the Indian Cricket team for a short period of time
Gundappa Rangnath Viswanath, fondly known as Vishy, has been
one of the finest batsmen India
has ever produced. He was famous for his beautiful style of playing which
concentrated more upon timing and art rather than power. Square Cut was one of
the Viswanath’s favorite shots, that he executed against the fast bowlers a
lot. In fact, Viswanath was known to be more of an artist than a run-making
robot.
Cricket Career at a Glance
He began his Test Cricket career in the year 1969 in a match played against Australia at Kanpur. In the first innings he scored a duck, while in the second innings of the same match he was the highest scorer for India with 137 runs, although the match was a draw. Viswanath played his first ODI match against England on 13th of July, 1974 at the Leeds Cricket Ground, in which he scored just 4 runs. Incidentally, he played his last ODI match against England itself at the same Leeds Cricket Ground on 2nd of June, 1982. In this match he scored 9 runs.
Vital Statistics
In his overall Test Cricket career, Gundappa Viswanath played 91 matches and scored a total of 6080 runs including 14 centuries and 35 half-centuries with a Batting Average of 41.93 runs. His highest score in Test Cricket was 222 runs.
Similarly, in One Day International (ODI) Cricket, he played 25 matches in which he managed to score a total of 439 runs with a Batting Average of 19.95 runs. He scored no century during his ODI career, although he managed to score 2 half-centuries.
Viswanath’s Cricket was at its epitome in the decade of 1970’s, and he was as vital to the success of Indian Cricket during that period as Sunil Gavaskar himself.
Days of Captaincy
He also served the Indian Cricket team as its Captain for a short period during 1979-80. During the tenure, he led the Indian Cricket team to 2 Test matches, of which 1 was lost by India and the other was a draw. As a Cricket player and a Captain too, Viswanath was famous for his honesty and Fair-Game policy throughout his career.
Other Achievements
Viswanath retired from Test Cricket in the year 1983, and continued to work as an ICC Match Refree during the years 1999-2004. He was also named the Chairman of the National Selection Committee, and the Manager of the Indian Cricket team for some time. For his contribution to the Indian Cricket, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) honoured Gundappa Viswanath with Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 2009.
Cricket Career at a Glance
He began his Test Cricket career in the year 1969 in a match played against Australia at Kanpur. In the first innings he scored a duck, while in the second innings of the same match he was the highest scorer for India with 137 runs, although the match was a draw. Viswanath played his first ODI match against England on 13th of July, 1974 at the Leeds Cricket Ground, in which he scored just 4 runs. Incidentally, he played his last ODI match against England itself at the same Leeds Cricket Ground on 2nd of June, 1982. In this match he scored 9 runs.
Vital Statistics
In his overall Test Cricket career, Gundappa Viswanath played 91 matches and scored a total of 6080 runs including 14 centuries and 35 half-centuries with a Batting Average of 41.93 runs. His highest score in Test Cricket was 222 runs.
Similarly, in One Day International (ODI) Cricket, he played 25 matches in which he managed to score a total of 439 runs with a Batting Average of 19.95 runs. He scored no century during his ODI career, although he managed to score 2 half-centuries.
Viswanath’s Cricket was at its epitome in the decade of 1970’s, and he was as vital to the success of Indian Cricket during that period as Sunil Gavaskar himself.
Days of Captaincy
He also served the Indian Cricket team as its Captain for a short period during 1979-80. During the tenure, he led the Indian Cricket team to 2 Test matches, of which 1 was lost by India and the other was a draw. As a Cricket player and a Captain too, Viswanath was famous for his honesty and Fair-Game policy throughout his career.
Other Achievements
Viswanath retired from Test Cricket in the year 1983, and continued to work as an ICC Match Refree during the years 1999-2004. He was also named the Chairman of the National Selection Committee, and the Manager of the Indian Cricket team for some time. For his contribution to the Indian Cricket, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) honoured Gundappa Viswanath with Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 2009.
Born: February 12, 1949, Bhadravati, Mysore
Major teams: India, Karnataka, Mysore
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Leg break
Bishan Singh Bedi
Achievements: One of the famed Indian Spin
Quartet; former India captain; before Anil Kumble, the Indian spinner with
highest number of Test wickets
Bishan Singh Bedi has been a former member of the Indian Cricket team. Considered to be an orthodox Bowler with expertise in Slow Left Arm Bowling, Bedi has been one of the 4 members of the well known Indian Spin Quartet along with B.S. Chandrasekhar, E.A.S. Prasanna and Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan.
Debut in Cricket
Bedi made the debut of his Test Cricket career with a match against West Indies on 31st of December 1966, while he played his first One Day International (ODI) Cricket Match against England on 13th of July 1974.
The Infamous Critic
Considered to be one of the most outspoken and explicitly expressing Cricket players India has ever seen, Bedi’s bold statements and decisions often created so many controversies throughout his Cricket career. In one of these instances, he declared the Indian innings prematurely at a Test Match against West Indies in the year 1976 as 2 players had been forced to retire hurt owing to the intimidating bowling by the West Indian fast bowlers. Similarly, during a One Day International (ODI) Cricket Match against Pakistan in November 1978, he created history by conceding the match while India still had 8 wickets in hand. The reason behind this was that Sarfaraz Nawaz from Pakistan consecutively bowled 4 bouncers, and none of them was declared a Wide Ball by the umpires.
Vital Statistics
Bishan Singh Bedi played 67 Test Cricket matches in his career, in which he grabbed 266 wickets and gave 7637 runs in 118 innings, with a Bowling Average of 28.71 runs. As far as One Day International (ODI) Cricket is concerned, he played 10 matches and took 7 wickets at 340 runs with a Bowling Average of 48.57 runs. As a batsman, out of the 67 Test Cricket matches he scored 656 total runs with the highest being 50 not out, with a Batting Average of 8.98 runs. In the One Day International (ODI) Cricket matches, out of the 10 matches he played, he could just score a total of 31 runs with the highest score being 13 runs, with an average Batting Average of 6.30 runs.
Domestic Cricket
Bedi also played in domestic Indian Cricket, representing Northern Punjab and Delhi respectively. In English County Cricket, Bishan Singh Bedi played for Northamptonshire. At the end of his career, Bedi had grabbed 1560 wickets in First Class Cricket, which was the biggest number of wickets achieved by any Indian bowler. He managed to take a record number of 64 wickets in a single season of Ranji Trophy during the year 1974-74.
Batting Performance
Bedi didn’t have a nice batting record though. He played 67 Test Matches in which he scored 656 runs with a Batting Average of 8.98 runs. While in One Day International (ODI) Cricket, he played 10 matches and scored 31 runs with a Batting Average of 6.20 runs. Similarly, in First Class Cricket, he played 370 matches and scorerd 3584 runs with a Batting Average of 11.37 runs. The top score made by him as a batsman in Test Cricket was 50 Not Out, while the same in One Day International (ODI) Cricket was 13 runs.
Coaching Stint
Bishan Singh Bedi had been appointed as the coach of the Indian Cricket team in the year 1990. As a matter of fact, he has to his credit the honor of being appointed as the first Full-Time coach of the Indian team. He is famous for threatening to throw the Indian Cricket team into the Pacific Ocean when the team played very badly upon a foreign tour, and was returning back home from there.
Current Profile
Although Bedi is not an active part of the Indian Cricket anymore, still his hot comments upon different Cricket personalities and phenomena have still continued creating stirs and controversies. Specially, his harsh criticism of the bowling action of Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan accusing him to be a chucker has even gone to the extent of Muralitharan having threatened to sue him, although Bedi doesn’t find any personal difference against him.
Bishan Singh Bedi has been a former member of the Indian Cricket team. Considered to be an orthodox Bowler with expertise in Slow Left Arm Bowling, Bedi has been one of the 4 members of the well known Indian Spin Quartet along with B.S. Chandrasekhar, E.A.S. Prasanna and Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan.
Debut in Cricket
Bedi made the debut of his Test Cricket career with a match against West Indies on 31st of December 1966, while he played his first One Day International (ODI) Cricket Match against England on 13th of July 1974.
The Infamous Critic
Considered to be one of the most outspoken and explicitly expressing Cricket players India has ever seen, Bedi’s bold statements and decisions often created so many controversies throughout his Cricket career. In one of these instances, he declared the Indian innings prematurely at a Test Match against West Indies in the year 1976 as 2 players had been forced to retire hurt owing to the intimidating bowling by the West Indian fast bowlers. Similarly, during a One Day International (ODI) Cricket Match against Pakistan in November 1978, he created history by conceding the match while India still had 8 wickets in hand. The reason behind this was that Sarfaraz Nawaz from Pakistan consecutively bowled 4 bouncers, and none of them was declared a Wide Ball by the umpires.
Vital Statistics
Bishan Singh Bedi played 67 Test Cricket matches in his career, in which he grabbed 266 wickets and gave 7637 runs in 118 innings, with a Bowling Average of 28.71 runs. As far as One Day International (ODI) Cricket is concerned, he played 10 matches and took 7 wickets at 340 runs with a Bowling Average of 48.57 runs. As a batsman, out of the 67 Test Cricket matches he scored 656 total runs with the highest being 50 not out, with a Batting Average of 8.98 runs. In the One Day International (ODI) Cricket matches, out of the 10 matches he played, he could just score a total of 31 runs with the highest score being 13 runs, with an average Batting Average of 6.30 runs.
Domestic Cricket
Bedi also played in domestic Indian Cricket, representing Northern Punjab and Delhi respectively. In English County Cricket, Bishan Singh Bedi played for Northamptonshire. At the end of his career, Bedi had grabbed 1560 wickets in First Class Cricket, which was the biggest number of wickets achieved by any Indian bowler. He managed to take a record number of 64 wickets in a single season of Ranji Trophy during the year 1974-74.
Batting Performance
Bedi didn’t have a nice batting record though. He played 67 Test Matches in which he scored 656 runs with a Batting Average of 8.98 runs. While in One Day International (ODI) Cricket, he played 10 matches and scored 31 runs with a Batting Average of 6.20 runs. Similarly, in First Class Cricket, he played 370 matches and scorerd 3584 runs with a Batting Average of 11.37 runs. The top score made by him as a batsman in Test Cricket was 50 Not Out, while the same in One Day International (ODI) Cricket was 13 runs.
Coaching Stint
Bishan Singh Bedi had been appointed as the coach of the Indian Cricket team in the year 1990. As a matter of fact, he has to his credit the honor of being appointed as the first Full-Time coach of the Indian team. He is famous for threatening to throw the Indian Cricket team into the Pacific Ocean when the team played very badly upon a foreign tour, and was returning back home from there.
Current Profile
Although Bedi is not an active part of the Indian Cricket anymore, still his hot comments upon different Cricket personalities and phenomena have still continued creating stirs and controversies. Specially, his harsh criticism of the bowling action of Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan accusing him to be a chucker has even gone to the extent of Muralitharan having threatened to sue him, although Bedi doesn’t find any personal difference against him.
Born: September 25, 1946, Amritsar, Punjab
Major teams: India, Delhi, Northamptonshire, Northern Punjab
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Slow left-arm orthodox
Mohammad Azharuddin
Achievements:
- Scored 22 centuries in Test Cricket with an average score of 45 runs.
- Scored 7 centuries in One Day International (ODI) Cricket with an average of 37 runs.
- Has been the only player to have hit three consecutive centuries in first three Tests
- Has been the only player in the world Cricket to have taken 156 catches in One Day International (ODI) Cricket
- Got India 14 Test and 103 ODI wins during his captainship, making him one of the most successful Cricket captains India has ever got
- Has scored fastest ODI century by an Indian off 62 balls
- The first player to have played more than 300 ODIs
- Was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1991
Early Life
Mohammad Azharuddin, one of the best known players and captains the Indian Cricket team has ever had, was born and brought up in Hyderabad, the state capital of Andhra Pradesh. He studied in a Catholic convent school named All Saints High School, which has been the Alma Mater to some other prominent Indian Cricketers too, including Venkatapathy Raju and Noel David.
The Batting Maestro
Azharuddin has been most famous for his wonderful wrist flicks that transformed a Cricket match into a poetic creation with aesthetic nuances of a masterpiece. Eventually, Azharuddin showed the best of his batting capabilities against spin bowlers. In fact, John Woodcock, one of the well known Cricket writers had once quoted that asking an Englishman to bat like Mohammad Azharuddin would be like expecting a greyhound to win the London Derby! His smooth and clean batting style was often compared with the same of David Gower, a batsman from England.
Darker Side of the Story
But as every story has its dark twists, Azharuddin’s life too saw its bad moments. Hansie Croje, the captain of the South African Cricket team who had confessed his role in international match fixing, had taken Azharuddin’s name regarding his involvement in the scandal. Further, Central Bureau of Investigation, the prime investigation agency of India looked into the matter and found Azharuddin guilty of receiving money from bookies to fix Cricket matches. The CBI also found Azharuddin involved in bringing other players along with him into the dirty game, and as a consequence the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) banned Azharuddin from playing Cricket for his lifetime in the year 2000. Ironically, Azharuddin had played 99 Test Cricket matches in his life till then and was on the verge to enter the coveted 100 Test Cricket Club. Although the ban was lifted in the year 2006, he couldn’t make the dream come true.
Political Foray
On the 19th of February 2009, Azharuddin formally joined the Indian National Congress Party. He contested the General Elections 2009 from the Moradabad seat in Uttar Pradesh and is now a Member of Parliament.
Mohammad Azharuddin, one of the best known players and captains the Indian Cricket team has ever had, was born and brought up in Hyderabad, the state capital of Andhra Pradesh. He studied in a Catholic convent school named All Saints High School, which has been the Alma Mater to some other prominent Indian Cricketers too, including Venkatapathy Raju and Noel David.
The Batting Maestro
Azharuddin has been most famous for his wonderful wrist flicks that transformed a Cricket match into a poetic creation with aesthetic nuances of a masterpiece. Eventually, Azharuddin showed the best of his batting capabilities against spin bowlers. In fact, John Woodcock, one of the well known Cricket writers had once quoted that asking an Englishman to bat like Mohammad Azharuddin would be like expecting a greyhound to win the London Derby! His smooth and clean batting style was often compared with the same of David Gower, a batsman from England.
Darker Side of the Story
But as every story has its dark twists, Azharuddin’s life too saw its bad moments. Hansie Croje, the captain of the South African Cricket team who had confessed his role in international match fixing, had taken Azharuddin’s name regarding his involvement in the scandal. Further, Central Bureau of Investigation, the prime investigation agency of India looked into the matter and found Azharuddin guilty of receiving money from bookies to fix Cricket matches. The CBI also found Azharuddin involved in bringing other players along with him into the dirty game, and as a consequence the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) banned Azharuddin from playing Cricket for his lifetime in the year 2000. Ironically, Azharuddin had played 99 Test Cricket matches in his life till then and was on the verge to enter the coveted 100 Test Cricket Club. Although the ban was lifted in the year 2006, he couldn’t make the dream come true.
Political Foray
On the 19th of February 2009, Azharuddin formally joined the Indian National Congress Party. He contested the General Elections 2009 from the Moradabad seat in Uttar Pradesh and is now a Member of Parliament.
Born: 8th of February, 1968, Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), India
Full Name: Mohammad Azharuddin
Born: February 8, 1963, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Major teams: India, Derbyshire, Hyderabad
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium
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