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Tag Archives: MCC

Fearless Cricket

19 Tuesday Jan 2021

Posted by niralihathi in Uncategorized

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Tags

Australia, BCCI, Cricket, ICC, India, INDvAUS, IPL, Lords, Match, MCC, test, Test Cricket, Test series

I hear this phrase “fearless cricket” thrown around a lot these days. It’s been associated quite frequently with England’s brand of one day cricket these past few years… but this series and in particular these past five days, the Indian Cricket Team have given the phrase a whole new meaning.

Winning a Test match at the Australian fortress of Brisbane (the first team to beat Australia at the Gabba since 1988) with what was basically a 2nd XI team showed something few thought India were capable of. WinViz had India’s chances of winning at 1% before the first over of Day 5 had even been bowled with 0 wickets down. So what was the deciding factor in the game?

How was it that after losing the first test, being 36 a/o, losing their captain, having been plagued with injury after injury, losing the toss and fielding a team with 2 debutants and a grand total of four Test matches worth of experience in their bowling attack (if you discount Rohit Sharma’s ball), India pulled off one of the greatest wins in Test match history to secure the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the second time in a row?

As Sachin Tendulkar so eloquantly put it: “Every session we discovered a new hero. Everytime we got hit, we stayed put & stood taller. We pushed boundaries of belief to play fearless but not careless cricket.”

They weren’t overconfident but neither were they afraid. They played with clarity, grit, purpose and most importantly courage. At no point did India look resigned to whatever ‘fate’ was in store for them. They played a brand of cricket that was unbridled by expectation and uninhibited by fear and by doing so pulled off an incredible feat.

Each and every one of those those players who took to the field for the 4th Test gave their all.

Each and every bowler shouldered their responsibility including an injured Navdeep Saini (who was fielding very gingerly) came on to bowl in the 3rd innings to support his teammates. And through their combined four Test experience managed to extract 20 Australian wickets.

Each and every one of those batters showcased why they had made it into the international side. From Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar’s valiant assault in the second innings that rescued India from 6-186 to 7-309 to Cheteshwar Pujara’s impregnable defence and Shubman Gill’s elegant drives that set the platform up perfectly for Rishabh Pant & Co. to storm the castle in the fourth innings.

It was in the final hour of play we saw this new brand of cricket come to fruition, after a series of partnerships had taken India to within 63 runs of victory, they lost Mayank Agarwal. The burden of either pushing for a win or closing off fell on Pant and debutant Washington Sundar.

The two left-handers chose to be fearless and go for the win.. but in all honesty was it really a choice? Had they even considered it a dare to take on the challenge and risk the loss? Did it even cross their mind? Nothing we saw in that final hour was out of character for Pant and we had seen that same drive in Sundar during the second innings.

So how do you beat a man that just plays the way he plays?

How do you beat a team unburdened by consequence and fear?

It seemed Australia just couldn’t find an answer as India won by 3 wickets and recorded the highest ever run chase at the Gabba to take the series 2-1. A testament to this new brand of cricket. The beginning of a new era.

Can Cricket Save The World?

30 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by niralihathi in Uncategorized

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Cape Town, Chance to Shine, Cricket, Cricket without Boundaries, Equality, ICC, MCC, South Africa, Women Empowerment, Women in Sport

It’s been a while since I uploaded a blog, I’ve been having a bit of writers block. I wanted to write something about India and Australia but whilst I gather my thoughts on that, I wanted to upload this. A slightly late video of our coaching day in South Africa and talk a bit about – as the MCC like to call it – ‘the spirit of cricket’

I was lucky enough to be given the chance to go on tour and play cricket in South Africa and on top of that I was even MORE lucky to be given the opportunity to coach some really talented young kids cricket in a Township in Cape Town. Created during apartheid as a dormitory area for migratory workers, today it is the biggest and youngest black township on the Cape Flats.

 

It was so inspiring to see these young kids running around (playing better cricket than myself to be honest) and bursting with energy. Working alongside Sporting Chance who work tirelessly with the kids and do amazing work we were able to deliver some bowling, batting and fielding coaching sessions and donate some kit and £700 to the charity. It’s nothing in the grand scheme of things but every little helps and the day had such a profound impact on everyone who participated, we established a crowdfunding page to help raise money and develop a sustainable relationship with the charity and the kids.

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/khayelitsha <if you have a few pounds to spare!

It got me thinking about the impact cricket has in the world and in particular on women and young girls. From Cricket Without Boundaries who work in sub-Saharan African countries to deliver cricket development alongside health and social education messages from HIV to FGM two of the most prevalent health issues faced by some of these countries…

(http://www.cricketwithoutboundaries.com/volunteer < you can read more about volunteering if you’re interested!)

… to Opening Boundaries who  just recently teamed up with the White Ribbon campaign to promote the role of men in the prevention of male violence against women and girls through sport and have done incredible work to promote gender equality and empower women and young girls through cricket.

Even at the elite level, cricket is making progress. the MCC have in recent years started running development and legacy tours to coach and train up coaches in countries such as Nepal, Suriname, Bermuda and Uganda. Countries that don’t enjoy the benefits of larger Test playing nations or even associate nations but giving the chance to these other nations to play against an elite team is invaluable experience and will help grow the game in more ways than one.

 

 

To be honest, I have no idea where this blog was going and I could go on forever about the number of charities doing amazing work from Chance to Shine to Street Child United and don’t get me wrong there’s still a long way to go but I just wanted to show everyone the incredible projects that are running all around us and most importantly, that my obsession with the sport is well founded…

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My recent posts

  • Burn out
  • Fearless Cricket
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