Hi everyone. I hope you all had a very happy and safe Diwali, and I wish all of you a very happy and prosperous year ahead. I was fortunate enough to have some time off, as our next match is only on November 2, so I took the opportunity to return to Chennai and spend Diwali with my family. Iâ..m now back in Delhi and looking forward to the next game in Chandigarh.
The last match in Delhi, against the home team was a game where I was looking to make some improvements, as I wasnâ..t very happy with the way I batted against the Hyderabad Heroes. You just canâ..t get out after getting set with 20-odd and five overs remaining. So even though we had a sleepy and tired flight out of Ahmedabad immediately after our match, we made sure we got a lot of practice before this one. Delhi was also much cooler than Ahmedabad, and we got a good look at the wicket, which looked low and slow. There were tons of insects flying around as well, and I couldnâ..t avoid swallowing a couple myself!
On match day, we got in early, keeping in mind that we had to drive from Delhi to Gurgaon. There was an excellent turnout at the ground, creating the sort of noise and buzz thatâ..s always encouraging. We won the toss and chose to bat, but suffered blows early, losing Ian Harvey and Russel Arnold quickly. Both these guys have been in terrific form and when we slipped to 24 for 3, it was far from the best start weâ..ve had.
I was in by now, and started a bit tentatively, edging a couple of balls and not coming to terms with the low bounce. But Abid Nabi came in to the attack and woke me up, bowling one into my stomach â.. that over went for sixteen runs with a six and two fours. Seeing Rajagopal Satish stroking the ball well, I decided to step off the gas and started rotating the strike. It was good to see our skipper Stuart Law back in form with his quick 28 off 17 balls, and he looked good for plenty more before he was out lbw.
This time I made sure that I finished the job, and was happy to end up with 51 not out off 45 balls, and thought we had quite a good score on the board. While defending, the conditions got a bit tough with the ball becoming really wet and feeling like a bar of soap, but Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad bowled beautifully and so did Nantie Hayward and Shabbir Ahmed, and we defended our score quite easily. I was really pleased to get the Man-of-the-Match award in just my second game after the injury. Given my lack of form in the domestic tournament and the lack of practice thereafter, it was very satisfying.
Off the pitch, I was very disappointed with Adam Gilchristâ..s remarks about Sachin Tendulkar as I admire both these great players, but looking back I did realize that this is something most cricketers do when they are coming out with a book, just to create a stir and sell a few more copies. Itâ..s nothing more than a marketing strategy or publicity stunt, but I thought it as a very cheap option which left a bad taste in the mouth. I really donâ..t think our game needs such unnecessary controversy.
Comments
Posted by: BINO at October 31, 2008 6:29 AM
WHERE IS THIRU KUMARAN ?
Posted by: rajesh at November 5, 2008 6:40 AM
u r the best,hemang.it is very pleasing to read u r blog and also to see that u r in good form.u r writing is as stylish as u r batting.good to see that the superstars r on a roll.great cricket on display.some matches r even better that the ones displayed in the ipl.good to see the icl doing well and fighting all odds.be rest assure u have our support and will back u'll to the hilt.we just want to see some good cricket and don't care if it is icl or ipl.good luck with the rest of the games.u have always entertained us please continue to do so.also liked what u said about adam gilchrist,very true that this happens when someone wants some cheap publicity.keep it going.good luck.
Posted by: Vivek at November 5, 2008 2:09 PM
Hi Hemang, This is to let you know that you are one of my favourite players...a graceful batsman, an outstanding fielder and a more than useful bowler...what more does the Indian team want?You are right about the book thing...the game doesnt need such unnecessary controversy. Hope ICL knocks some sense into BCCI's head and the players get accepted in the national fold once again. Amazing matches.
Posted by: karim at November 5, 2008 3:14 PM
great job hemang.all the best.icl is here to stay
Posted by: Ranjit at November 12, 2008 11:46 AM
I always wanted to ask Akash why Sadagoppan Ramesh was never taken into the team during the last but tour of Australia (under Ganguly I feel what Ganguly did to Ramesh nature gave it back to him of late) even though he was more successful than the ones selected to open the innings in Test. Was it discrimination against a Southie much like Gavaskar's ensuring the most exciting and (of those days) T.E.Srinivasan from the 92 team. One can stretch this discrimination to Lala Amarnath days when VV Kumar the best leg spinner (better than Gupte) was never considered for selection or P. Ramesh the ideal partner for Gavaskar was overlooked for butter fingured Ramnath Parkar. Thankfully atleast now some members of Indian team seem to be open. Akash Chopra will not answer this since it is rumoured it was Rohan Gavaskar for Akash Chopra plan of Gavaskar that kept out Ramesh
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Hemang Badani played four Tests and 40 ODIs for India. The high point of his international career was his 98-ball hundred against Australia in Pune. In a distinguished first-class career, he scored 5558 runs at 47.91, 3881 of them for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy, at an average of 51.74. Among his more memorable knocks was the century in a chase of 377 in the 2002-03 final, but Tamil Nadu fell short on that occasion. After the 2006-07 season, he joined the ICL.
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