December 20, 2008
Finally the 100 !!
It was obvious how big a monkey Rahul Dravid had been carrying on his back over the past few weeks. The century came and there were no big celebrations, no fists, no high five's and jumping around, just the bat acknowleding the claps and probably the support from team mates. Probably the most important personal innings for Dravid's career after the magnificient 95 in 96. This was the quintessential Rahul Dravid, very slow at first, killing all aspirations of an early lapse, demoralizing bowlers by that perfect defence and accumulating runs here and there, it wasn't dominating at all, it was the wall and I can't be happier to see it repaired again for one last hurrah. I say this because he is 35 + and i don't see him playing another full season unless he really has a role that no one else can fill in, i am sure the team is dying to find a replacement and Rohit Sharma looks a good candidate who can bat long hours and kill sessions for oppositions day after day. He might be an understudy for a year or two but i do see him getting his share of responsibility when Dravid decides to hang his boots. Number 3 is an important open slot and good technique is a must for whoever has to fill that spot for a long time. But till it lasts, I will enjoy the adventures of 'The Wall' , I hope he ends up with 12000 runs atleast.
November 10, 2008
Thank You DADA
It was Children's day in 1991, India were playing SA in the third ODI
of their famous comeback series. I remember skipping school midway and
going to see my first live international match. The atmosphere was
amazing its was a day night match at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi
on his birth anniversary. What i vividly remember about that match are the hundreds of Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Majrekar and SA's win eventually. In between i remember being told of Vengsarkar and Srikanth who occasionally came to third man to field. At some point i did see a younger person come in and field for a bit, i instantly remembered the face, it was Sourav Ganguly. I had seen him earlier in one of the Indian Training Camps and i remember clearly how far he was able to hit. Seeing him and Kambli and of course Sachin was a pleasure, i was ten, the cricket bug hadn't bit me till then and i was dreaming about being the next Michael Stich :) and what not.
When Ganguly played in his only ODI on the big tour of Australia, i was disappointed to not see Jadeja play, and we only heard later how he had misbehaved earlier and then dropped from SA tour. That Kambli was at his best and Jadeja was rocking never made us realize the kid who almost made it. When i started playing cricket and going to nets, my coach once or twice did mention to us why discipline and luck are also important with hard work .... " Otherwise Even Ganguly would have played for India " .... Everyone considered him a selectors boy, getting into the team with some influence apart from talent. When he was picked for England there was a huge cry as to why Laxman was not picked. By this time i was in Hyderabad and playing school cricket there. Laxman was making merry of every domestic team and should have been in the team before Dravid and Ganguly. But then Sourav did grab the opportunity with both hands and scored two marvelous back to back hundreds. In a series that India eventually lost, his and Dravid's innings made sure that India had probably found someone to fill the gaps of Shastri and Vengsarkar and to a certain extent of Kapil Dev the lower order Batsman.
Sachin asking him to open with him in Jaipur ODI was a surprize since Sidhu was still around, but again Sourav took the opportunity and scored his fifty, although a slow fifty it build foundation of the most formidable ODI opening partnership of all time. From that time till about 2000, He and Sachin made merry of almost all attacks. The way he stood ground in Dhaka Cup finals and score brilliant 123 was a highlight. The peak performance probably was the 183 against Sri Lanka in a must win game of 1999 world cup.
That he was susceptible to short stuff is no secret and i think the 2001 rule to allow one bouncer in an over really hampered his batting for a while. The slide probably started around 2002 and continued till 2005. But no one complained since he was doing brilliant job in captaining India. The one thing i really liked about him was his ability of promote youngsters and then giving them enough opportunities. He stuck with Yuvraj, Sehwag, Harbhajan, Zaheer even when these guys were non performing in between. The ability to inspire players is very unique to Ganguly and as he said its the spark on field, using right people at right time and motivating them to do the best is something only few captains have. I still remember Dravid using Kumble in an ODI when Afridi was going berserk, that to me was as stupid as it can get. Kumble went for 26 odd runs and Dravid had the “now what ?” look.... Ganguly for some reason always made changes that worked. Be it setting up a peculiar field for a batsman or using even spinners in short stint or randomly using a fast bowler as a stock bowler. Call it luck or brilliance, it always worked. The only time I saw the “now what ?” look on Sourav was in the 2003 finals. But who had even thought that India would even reach there.
Ganguly took over captaincy at a very bad time for Indian cricket, the match fixing was hanging around, India was loosing consistently and even Zimbabwe were sometimes dominating the Indian attack. He said at the time that he wants India to dominate not just at home but abroad, he worked towards it and India did achieve those victories abroad. He laid the foundation of self belief in youngsters and the colors of success were reaped eventually.
I personally think that him being removed from captaincy was good but the way was certainly wrong. He got out at the wrong time and for wrong reasons. Mr. More and Greg Chappel were guilty in not handling the situation with poise. To a certain extent even Sachin, Laxman and Rahul. Probably it was the insecurity of holding their positions in the team that no one openly supported Ganguly. It was only Harbhajan, Zaheer and Yuvraj. But even they were reprimanded at the time and lost their places temporarily.
The return was even more dramatic, being taken to Pakistan and dropped from playing XI was heart wrenching for any supporter of Ganguly. There was no point in making him sit, i think that was the bottom. But Sourav being Sourav kept mum and continued what he does best, score runs. But even in domestic cricket he was not performing extremely well, and finally when he did get a chance for comeback with Vengsarkar as selector, he again grabbed it with both hands score amazing 98 and couple of more 50's against Windies. In modern times apart from Sachin, there is no one who comes closer to Sourav in playing both as aggressive destroyer or an anchor. By the way I don’t think Jayasuriya never played sheet anchor role. Sourav in ODI's has destroyed attacks and also played the quite partner to perfection. World Cup 2007 was a huge disaster and i give full responsibility of it to Greg Chappel, he had basically no idea what he was doing. I think players were more worried to stick to their place in final XI rather than focusing on what India needs. And its this insecurity that ruined India's chances.
Once the Greg Chappel Era, there were more opportunities for Sourav and he was again back to what he does best. Keep scoring runs. Seeing him destroying Pakistan was pleasing with his first double hundred. Now that he is retired after the final frontier of defeating the mighty Australians, he can rest of the laurels of his achievements. The mighty DADA has gone but the spirit remains intact.
Good Bye Good Luck Dada, keep hunting new talents because you sure have an eye to pick them.
of their famous comeback series. I remember skipping school midway and
going to see my first live international match. The atmosphere was
amazing its was a day night match at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi
on his birth anniversary. What i vividly remember about that match are the hundreds of Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Majrekar and SA's win eventually. In between i remember being told of Vengsarkar and Srikanth who occasionally came to third man to field. At some point i did see a younger person come in and field for a bit, i instantly remembered the face, it was Sourav Ganguly. I had seen him earlier in one of the Indian Training Camps and i remember clearly how far he was able to hit. Seeing him and Kambli and of course Sachin was a pleasure, i was ten, the cricket bug hadn't bit me till then and i was dreaming about being the next Michael Stich :) and what not.
When Ganguly played in his only ODI on the big tour of Australia, i was disappointed to not see Jadeja play, and we only heard later how he had misbehaved earlier and then dropped from SA tour. That Kambli was at his best and Jadeja was rocking never made us realize the kid who almost made it. When i started playing cricket and going to nets, my coach once or twice did mention to us why discipline and luck are also important with hard work .... " Otherwise Even Ganguly would have played for India " .... Everyone considered him a selectors boy, getting into the team with some influence apart from talent. When he was picked for England there was a huge cry as to why Laxman was not picked. By this time i was in Hyderabad and playing school cricket there. Laxman was making merry of every domestic team and should have been in the team before Dravid and Ganguly. But then Sourav did grab the opportunity with both hands and scored two marvelous back to back hundreds. In a series that India eventually lost, his and Dravid's innings made sure that India had probably found someone to fill the gaps of Shastri and Vengsarkar and to a certain extent of Kapil Dev the lower order Batsman.
Sachin asking him to open with him in Jaipur ODI was a surprize since Sidhu was still around, but again Sourav took the opportunity and scored his fifty, although a slow fifty it build foundation of the most formidable ODI opening partnership of all time. From that time till about 2000, He and Sachin made merry of almost all attacks. The way he stood ground in Dhaka Cup finals and score brilliant 123 was a highlight. The peak performance probably was the 183 against Sri Lanka in a must win game of 1999 world cup.
That he was susceptible to short stuff is no secret and i think the 2001 rule to allow one bouncer in an over really hampered his batting for a while. The slide probably started around 2002 and continued till 2005. But no one complained since he was doing brilliant job in captaining India. The one thing i really liked about him was his ability of promote youngsters and then giving them enough opportunities. He stuck with Yuvraj, Sehwag, Harbhajan, Zaheer even when these guys were non performing in between. The ability to inspire players is very unique to Ganguly and as he said its the spark on field, using right people at right time and motivating them to do the best is something only few captains have. I still remember Dravid using Kumble in an ODI when Afridi was going berserk, that to me was as stupid as it can get. Kumble went for 26 odd runs and Dravid had the “now what ?” look.... Ganguly for some reason always made changes that worked. Be it setting up a peculiar field for a batsman or using even spinners in short stint or randomly using a fast bowler as a stock bowler. Call it luck or brilliance, it always worked. The only time I saw the “now what ?” look on Sourav was in the 2003 finals. But who had even thought that India would even reach there.
Ganguly took over captaincy at a very bad time for Indian cricket, the match fixing was hanging around, India was loosing consistently and even Zimbabwe were sometimes dominating the Indian attack. He said at the time that he wants India to dominate not just at home but abroad, he worked towards it and India did achieve those victories abroad. He laid the foundation of self belief in youngsters and the colors of success were reaped eventually.
I personally think that him being removed from captaincy was good but the way was certainly wrong. He got out at the wrong time and for wrong reasons. Mr. More and Greg Chappel were guilty in not handling the situation with poise. To a certain extent even Sachin, Laxman and Rahul. Probably it was the insecurity of holding their positions in the team that no one openly supported Ganguly. It was only Harbhajan, Zaheer and Yuvraj. But even they were reprimanded at the time and lost their places temporarily.
The return was even more dramatic, being taken to Pakistan and dropped from playing XI was heart wrenching for any supporter of Ganguly. There was no point in making him sit, i think that was the bottom. But Sourav being Sourav kept mum and continued what he does best, score runs. But even in domestic cricket he was not performing extremely well, and finally when he did get a chance for comeback with Vengsarkar as selector, he again grabbed it with both hands score amazing 98 and couple of more 50's against Windies. In modern times apart from Sachin, there is no one who comes closer to Sourav in playing both as aggressive destroyer or an anchor. By the way I don’t think Jayasuriya never played sheet anchor role. Sourav in ODI's has destroyed attacks and also played the quite partner to perfection. World Cup 2007 was a huge disaster and i give full responsibility of it to Greg Chappel, he had basically no idea what he was doing. I think players were more worried to stick to their place in final XI rather than focusing on what India needs. And its this insecurity that ruined India's chances.
Once the Greg Chappel Era, there were more opportunities for Sourav and he was again back to what he does best. Keep scoring runs. Seeing him destroying Pakistan was pleasing with his first double hundred. Now that he is retired after the final frontier of defeating the mighty Australians, he can rest of the laurels of his achievements. The mighty DADA has gone but the spirit remains intact.
Good Bye Good Luck Dada, keep hunting new talents because you sure have an eye to pick them.
November 3, 2008
ADIOS JUMBO
With the retirement of Anil Kumble, a great chapter in Indian cricket comes to a close. Kumble has always been my cricketing hero since the day he obliterated England way back in 1993 and i was watching my first live 'test' match. I was just learning cricket and i loved every bit of it. Chris Lewis scored century and Kambli scored a double in that series but Kumble stomped his authority and gave hint as to times that were coming. With Rajesh Chauhan and V. Raju, the next generation of Indian Spinners were raring to go. Many have come and went since then but Jumbo just went on and on and on and on. Be it Hero Cup or Being best bowler in 1996 World Cup or Magnificient spells at home against almost all touring teams or bowling abroad, he did it all, the high point being perfect 10 at Delhi.
People practically wrote him off after 2003 world Cup but after a shoulder surgery and a little break he was back and back he was, dominating in Australia this time. Since then he as practically accomplished many records including a test century and Captaining India, something he should have done back in 1998 when Azhar was made captain the second time, its just a personal opinion.
There has never been a hard trier than Anil, he has bowled some devastating spells that we all know of but he has also bowled some amazing spells as a stock bowler, especially in South Africa and New Zealand. He was the quintessential team player, always there for the team. That is probably the greatest of his many qualities. He probably would have retired last year but captaincy essentially gave his career another extention. That India had not found a replacement was another reason. Leg Spinners are a rare breed and finding a good leg spinner is like finding a true unicorn.
We have been very lucky to witness Shane and Anil in a single generation and i think the Golden Age of Cricket is just dwindling. These two craftsman of same genre yet so different in their execution. We enjoyed till they played and we pray that we do find someone to fill their shoes soon.
For Jumbo, good bye, good luck, you still have IPL to conquer .....
People practically wrote him off after 2003 world Cup but after a shoulder surgery and a little break he was back and back he was, dominating in Australia this time. Since then he as practically accomplished many records including a test century and Captaining India, something he should have done back in 1998 when Azhar was made captain the second time, its just a personal opinion.
There has never been a hard trier than Anil, he has bowled some devastating spells that we all know of but he has also bowled some amazing spells as a stock bowler, especially in South Africa and New Zealand. He was the quintessential team player, always there for the team. That is probably the greatest of his many qualities. He probably would have retired last year but captaincy essentially gave his career another extention. That India had not found a replacement was another reason. Leg Spinners are a rare breed and finding a good leg spinner is like finding a true unicorn.
We have been very lucky to witness Shane and Anil in a single generation and i think the Golden Age of Cricket is just dwindling. These two craftsman of same genre yet so different in their execution. We enjoyed till they played and we pray that we do find someone to fill their shoes soon.
For Jumbo, good bye, good luck, you still have IPL to conquer .....
July 17, 2008
GHOST - Global Hosted Operating system
I had heard of it before as a concept but trying GHOST was an amazing experience. The Global Hosted Operating System is a first of its kind WebOS. Idea is simple, you get a desktop to play around and access to it from anywhere through any web browser.
Even if you have a dumb terminal at home (I used a second hand old laptop P3) that can handle explorer or firefox, you can access your more powerful online desktop through it. Once online, you are as good as working on a typical system. with 5GB free space and 3GB for mails, its good enough to try it out now. You have the hosted versions of office suite programs for your docs, excels and powerpoints, plenty of games, text editors, FTP clients,control panel, ghost hosted mail client etc etc, you name it you have it.
I was playing around with OpenLaszlo when i came to see one of the sites that had used it for development. And what a product, fantastic!! Talk about $100 laptop, now with hosted webOS, that could be a reality.
March 5, 2008
Cricket In America
The very first International game (in any sport even before the Olympics)was played between USA and Canada in 1800's. The first annual Canada vs. USA cricket match, played since the 1840s, was attended by 10,000 spectators at Bloomingdale Park in New York. The USA vs.Canada cricket match is the oldest international sporting event in the modern world, predating even today's Olympic Games by nearly 50 years.
Cricket in America i guess is as old as britishers here. The first fame was played at Germantown Academy by British Troops in 1777. The first real attempt to make cricket an American game was made at Haverford College in 1836 by one William Carvill . Nine matches are recorded for that time at the Quaker College. The English hosiery weavers in Germantown formed a club in 1842. They played a t a field near Logan Station, no Old York Road. Mr. Wister found a number of fellow students at Univeristy of Pennsylvania and founded the first cricket club on U.S.A. He was also instrumental in forming the Philadelhia cricket club. Indoor practices were also available in winter season at Barrerrt's Gymnasium. Some original members were S. Wier Mitchell, John J. Borie, William s Blight, George Harding, Hartman Kuhn Jr. , John Perot, Thomas Stewardson, Benjamin W. Richards, T.H.. Bache and Frederick Klett. The first cricket match was played with Germantown Cricket Club in 1843 and from that time cricket started at the university. The first Inter-Coeegiate game in any branch of sport in this country was played at Haverford College on May 7th 1864 between a cricket eleven of University of Pennsylvania and one from Haverford College. It was won by Haverford College, game being decided by scores of first innings as darkness set before second innings could be completed. The umpires for this match were Beauveau Borie from Pennsylvania and Edward Starr from Haverford. George M Newhall played for United States against England in 1860 and was a good cricketer of the time. He played against Ireland as late as 1909.
Cricket in America i guess is as old as britishers here. The first fame was played at Germantown Academy by British Troops in 1777. The first real attempt to make cricket an American game was made at Haverford College in 1836 by one William Carvill . Nine matches are recorded for that time at the Quaker College. The English hosiery weavers in Germantown formed a club in 1842. They played a t a field near Logan Station, no Old York Road. Mr. Wister found a number of fellow students at Univeristy of Pennsylvania and founded the first cricket club on U.S.A. He was also instrumental in forming the Philadelhia cricket club. Indoor practices were also available in winter season at Barrerrt's Gymnasium. Some original members were S. Wier Mitchell, John J. Borie, William s Blight, George Harding, Hartman Kuhn Jr. , John Perot, Thomas Stewardson, Benjamin W. Richards, T.H.. Bache and Frederick Klett. The first cricket match was played with Germantown Cricket Club in 1843 and from that time cricket started at the university. The first Inter-Coeegiate game in any branch of sport in this country was played at Haverford College on May 7th 1864 between a cricket eleven of University of Pennsylvania and one from Haverford College. It was won by Haverford College, game being decided by scores of first innings as darkness set before second innings could be completed. The umpires for this match were Beauveau Borie from Pennsylvania and Edward Starr from Haverford. George M Newhall played for United States against England in 1860 and was a good cricketer of the time. He played against Ireland as late as 1909.
February 27, 2008
Cricket History
http://www.rajasthan.net/cricket/
The earliest evidence of the game of cricket is from a drawing depicting two men playing with a bat and ball dated 1250 A.D. The game was played in Guild-ford, Surrey (England) at least as early as 1550. The earliest major match was between a team representing England which scored 40 and 70 runs in the two inning and Kent which won the match by one wicket having scored 53 and 58 runs for nine wickets at the Artillery ground in Finsbury, London on June 18, 1744.
The first cricket match on the soil of Rajputana was played in 1887 between Mayo College and Govt. College at Ajmer which incidently resulted in a tie. The former collected 72 and 58 runs in the two ventures to which the Govt. college replied with 79 and 51 runs.
In 1887 a change in the old type under-arm bowling was made and three of the Mayo College boys. viz. Jai Singh of Bamolia, Abhi Singh of Mangal and Bhawani Singh of Fatehpur started practicing over-arm bowling for the first time in Rajputana.Col. Abbott, the then Political Agent at Jhalawar was a very keen cricketer and under his patronage a team was formed at Jhalawar.
At its invitation Mayo College played a cricket match at Jhalawar in January, 1889 and in a low scoring match recorded a victory by 48 runs. This was the first match in Rajputana between two teams of two different towns.In February, 1890 H.R.H. Prince Albert Victor visited Ajmer and a grand function was arranged at Kaiser Bagh where now Victoria Hospital and Savitri Girls College are located. The chief attraction of the function was a cricket match between Mayo College and Ajmer Gymkhana. The former batting first declared their innings closed at 224 runs for five wickets to which the Gymkhana replied with 44 runs for four wickets.The first team from outside to play in this province was the Railway team from Bombay known as the Blue Castle XI which visited Ajmer in 1890-91 and played a match against Mayo College. The home team collected 87 and 82 runs in the two innings. The visitors who had scored 127 runs in the first knock were in great trouble in the second and when stumps were finally drawn they were struggling at 31 for 7 wickets.
At the invitation of His Highness the Maharana of Udaipur, the Mayo College team played a cricket match at Udaipur against an Udaipur XI in October, 1891. The home team scored 31 and 39 runs in the two innings to which the visitors replied with 92 runs. For Mayo college, H .H. The Maharao of Koto had the distinction of capturing all ten wickets of Udaipur in the first innings. This is the first instance of a bowler to have captured all the ten wickets in an innings on the soil of Rauputana.The Jaipur Cricket Club, formed in 1873 could claim the honour of being one of the oldest cricket clubs in India. No records are available of its early activities. It enjoyed the patronage of H.H. the late Maharaja Sawai Ram Singhji. The Mayo College team visited Jaipur in 1891 and played a match against this club which was the first match played here between teams of two different towns. At the invitations of H.H. the Maharaja of Jaipur a Parsi team from Bombay visited Jaipur in December, 1891 when the first match against a team from a different province was played in the pink city.The British army officers at Nasirabad formed their own team and in March, 1892 played a match against Mayo College at Ajmer. The visitors scored 122 runs to which Mayo College replied with 116 runs. Another cricket club of the Railways known as the Carriage and Wagon Recreation Club was formed at Ajmer in 1893. Annual cricket fixtures between Mayo College and Rajkumar College, Rajkot began in 1894.
The most important centre of cricket in Rajputana was Mayo College, Ajmer and the credit for organising the first cricket tournament in this cricket State goes to this institution though it was confined to its different houses. To commemorate the services of Mr. F.J. Portman who did useful work as a teacher and as a cricketer at Mayo College, its students donated a silver trophy known as the "Portman Cup" and the Inter-House tournament commenced in 1904.Apji Govind Singh of Koela, Kota who was known as "Mayo College Jessop" for his hurricane hitting could claim the honour of being the first batsman to reach the coveted three-figure mark on the Rajputana soil. On September 10, 1904 playing for Mayo College against Nasirabad Officers XI on his home ground he played a brilliant unbeaten knock of 142 runs. The hundred came in only 43 minutes and for his unbeaten knock his entire stay at the wicket was for only eighty minutes.Thakur Dan Singh of Lathi recorded the first double century in Rajputana. The occasion was the annual fixture between Mayo College and Aitchision College, Lahore played at Ajmer in 1905-06. Mayo College declared the first innings closed at 415 for the loss of one wicket. The second wicket unfinished partnership produced 334 runs. Thakur Dan Singh remained unbeaten with 203 runs and Chander Sen of Kunadi, Kota remained not with 125 runs. H.H. Maharaja Bhupender Singhji of Patiala played for the visiting team having been dismissed for a duck in the first innings and was not out with 19 runs in the second knock.Himself a cricketer and polo player H.H. Maharaja Sardar Singhji of Jodhpur had his own cricket team which included some fine cricketers of Rajputana and Kathiawar. The Jodhpur-Jamnagar combined team played a cricket match at calcutta against the famous Cooch Behar XI. The immortal Ranji led the Jodhpur-Jamnagar team.H.H. Maharaja of Bikaner built a very spacious and beautiful pavilion at the Mayo College Cricket ground in 1905. H.H. Maharaja Bhawani Singhji of Jhalawar donated a silver shiled of the cost of Rs. 5000/- and a tournament after the name of Sir Elliot Colvin, the then Agent to the Governor General of Rajputana commenced from 1911-12. This tournament is still the premier cricket tournament of the State and has helped many a cricketer to show his prowess with the willon and the leather.For some years cricket became the religion of Alwar. H.H. Maharaja Jai Singhji revived the Maharaja Cricket Club and himself skippered this team. He built a beautiful pavilion in the Mangal Vihar Garden and the wonderful green ground was a delight for all cricketers. Outside teams were invited and cricket became a craze with the people. That distinguished English cricketer frank Tarrent was a member of the Alwer team which in 1915 took a tour to Bombay. It recorded victory in all the eight matches that it played. A mighty hitter H.H. Alwar had a peculiar way of changing bats while batting. He numbered his own bats from number one to ten. Number one bat was of usual weight. As the number increased the weight of the bat also increased. The number ten was the heaviest of the lot and when the Maharaja wanted to lift the ball he would use this bat. Has any other cricketer carried ten bats on the ground for one match? There would be few cricketers in the world today who make use of ten bats even in a season.To commemorate the great patronage of H.H. Alwar, the Rajputana Cricket Club presented a beautiful silver trophy and an All-India cricket tournament commenced at Ajmer in 1924. Unfortunately in the early thirtees it was discontinued.Maharaj Kumar Vijaya Anand, populary known as Vizzy, who led the Indian cricket team in England in 1936 and who was the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 1954-55 and 1955-56 was student of Mayo College, Ajmer.
The earliest evidence of the game of cricket is from a drawing depicting two men playing with a bat and ball dated 1250 A.D. The game was played in Guild-ford, Surrey (England) at least as early as 1550. The earliest major match was between a team representing England which scored 40 and 70 runs in the two inning and Kent which won the match by one wicket having scored 53 and 58 runs for nine wickets at the Artillery ground in Finsbury, London on June 18, 1744.
The first cricket match on the soil of Rajputana was played in 1887 between Mayo College and Govt. College at Ajmer which incidently resulted in a tie. The former collected 72 and 58 runs in the two ventures to which the Govt. college replied with 79 and 51 runs.
In 1887 a change in the old type under-arm bowling was made and three of the Mayo College boys. viz. Jai Singh of Bamolia, Abhi Singh of Mangal and Bhawani Singh of Fatehpur started practicing over-arm bowling for the first time in Rajputana.Col. Abbott, the then Political Agent at Jhalawar was a very keen cricketer and under his patronage a team was formed at Jhalawar.
At its invitation Mayo College played a cricket match at Jhalawar in January, 1889 and in a low scoring match recorded a victory by 48 runs. This was the first match in Rajputana between two teams of two different towns.In February, 1890 H.R.H. Prince Albert Victor visited Ajmer and a grand function was arranged at Kaiser Bagh where now Victoria Hospital and Savitri Girls College are located. The chief attraction of the function was a cricket match between Mayo College and Ajmer Gymkhana. The former batting first declared their innings closed at 224 runs for five wickets to which the Gymkhana replied with 44 runs for four wickets.The first team from outside to play in this province was the Railway team from Bombay known as the Blue Castle XI which visited Ajmer in 1890-91 and played a match against Mayo College. The home team collected 87 and 82 runs in the two innings. The visitors who had scored 127 runs in the first knock were in great trouble in the second and when stumps were finally drawn they were struggling at 31 for 7 wickets.
At the invitation of His Highness the Maharana of Udaipur, the Mayo College team played a cricket match at Udaipur against an Udaipur XI in October, 1891. The home team scored 31 and 39 runs in the two innings to which the visitors replied with 92 runs. For Mayo college, H .H. The Maharao of Koto had the distinction of capturing all ten wickets of Udaipur in the first innings. This is the first instance of a bowler to have captured all the ten wickets in an innings on the soil of Rauputana.The Jaipur Cricket Club, formed in 1873 could claim the honour of being one of the oldest cricket clubs in India. No records are available of its early activities. It enjoyed the patronage of H.H. the late Maharaja Sawai Ram Singhji. The Mayo College team visited Jaipur in 1891 and played a match against this club which was the first match played here between teams of two different towns. At the invitations of H.H. the Maharaja of Jaipur a Parsi team from Bombay visited Jaipur in December, 1891 when the first match against a team from a different province was played in the pink city.The British army officers at Nasirabad formed their own team and in March, 1892 played a match against Mayo College at Ajmer. The visitors scored 122 runs to which Mayo College replied with 116 runs. Another cricket club of the Railways known as the Carriage and Wagon Recreation Club was formed at Ajmer in 1893. Annual cricket fixtures between Mayo College and Rajkumar College, Rajkot began in 1894.
The most important centre of cricket in Rajputana was Mayo College, Ajmer and the credit for organising the first cricket tournament in this cricket State goes to this institution though it was confined to its different houses. To commemorate the services of Mr. F.J. Portman who did useful work as a teacher and as a cricketer at Mayo College, its students donated a silver trophy known as the "Portman Cup" and the Inter-House tournament commenced in 1904.Apji Govind Singh of Koela, Kota who was known as "Mayo College Jessop" for his hurricane hitting could claim the honour of being the first batsman to reach the coveted three-figure mark on the Rajputana soil. On September 10, 1904 playing for Mayo College against Nasirabad Officers XI on his home ground he played a brilliant unbeaten knock of 142 runs. The hundred came in only 43 minutes and for his unbeaten knock his entire stay at the wicket was for only eighty minutes.Thakur Dan Singh of Lathi recorded the first double century in Rajputana. The occasion was the annual fixture between Mayo College and Aitchision College, Lahore played at Ajmer in 1905-06. Mayo College declared the first innings closed at 415 for the loss of one wicket. The second wicket unfinished partnership produced 334 runs. Thakur Dan Singh remained unbeaten with 203 runs and Chander Sen of Kunadi, Kota remained not with 125 runs. H.H. Maharaja Bhupender Singhji of Patiala played for the visiting team having been dismissed for a duck in the first innings and was not out with 19 runs in the second knock.Himself a cricketer and polo player H.H. Maharaja Sardar Singhji of Jodhpur had his own cricket team which included some fine cricketers of Rajputana and Kathiawar. The Jodhpur-Jamnagar combined team played a cricket match at calcutta against the famous Cooch Behar XI. The immortal Ranji led the Jodhpur-Jamnagar team.H.H. Maharaja of Bikaner built a very spacious and beautiful pavilion at the Mayo College Cricket ground in 1905. H.H. Maharaja Bhawani Singhji of Jhalawar donated a silver shiled of the cost of Rs. 5000/- and a tournament after the name of Sir Elliot Colvin, the then Agent to the Governor General of Rajputana commenced from 1911-12. This tournament is still the premier cricket tournament of the State and has helped many a cricketer to show his prowess with the willon and the leather.For some years cricket became the religion of Alwar. H.H. Maharaja Jai Singhji revived the Maharaja Cricket Club and himself skippered this team. He built a beautiful pavilion in the Mangal Vihar Garden and the wonderful green ground was a delight for all cricketers. Outside teams were invited and cricket became a craze with the people. That distinguished English cricketer frank Tarrent was a member of the Alwer team which in 1915 took a tour to Bombay. It recorded victory in all the eight matches that it played. A mighty hitter H.H. Alwar had a peculiar way of changing bats while batting. He numbered his own bats from number one to ten. Number one bat was of usual weight. As the number increased the weight of the bat also increased. The number ten was the heaviest of the lot and when the Maharaja wanted to lift the ball he would use this bat. Has any other cricketer carried ten bats on the ground for one match? There would be few cricketers in the world today who make use of ten bats even in a season.To commemorate the great patronage of H.H. Alwar, the Rajputana Cricket Club presented a beautiful silver trophy and an All-India cricket tournament commenced at Ajmer in 1924. Unfortunately in the early thirtees it was discontinued.Maharaj Kumar Vijaya Anand, populary known as Vizzy, who led the Indian cricket team in England in 1936 and who was the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 1954-55 and 1955-56 was student of Mayo College, Ajmer.
History - Rajput Supporters of Maurya (Mori) King at Chittor (Chitrakoot)
Interesting read from Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan by Col. James Todd:
The first recorded attack on the Maurya (Mori) Prince of Chittore, which brought Bappa Rawal into notice was sometimes in Hijra 75, about AD 694. This attack was either by Yezid or Md. Bin Kasim. Throghout this period there was a stir among Hindu Nations in which we find confusion and dethronement from an unknown invader, either by sea or through Sind (Pakistan province), sometimes the attackers are referred to as Malencha or Barbarians or Deamons or Magicians. From Samvat 750 to 780 (AD 694- AD724) the annals of Yadus, Chauhans, Chawuras and Gehlotes bear evidence to simultaneous convulsions in their respectice houses at this period. In Ali Hijra 75 (AD 694, Samvat 750) the Yadu Bhati was driven out from his capital of Salpoora in Punjab across Sutlej River into Indian Desert. This is the time when Yezid was Caliphs Lietenant and when arms Walid conquered to the Ganges (Ganga River). At this time Chittore along with Ujjain was the seat of sovereignity of the parmaras of this period, and it became the rallying point for Hindus.
Here we find the following defending Chittore and the Mori Prince:
- prince of Delhi, seat of Tuar(Tanwar/Tomar)
- prince of Ajmer
- the qoutas of Saurashtra and Gujrat
- Ungutsi , lord of Huns
- Boosa, lord of north
- Seo, Jadeja prince
- Johya, lord of Jungeldes
- Aswurya
- Seput
- Koolhur
- Malun
- Ohir
- Hool
and many others (not necessarily Hindus)
The first recorded attack on the Maurya (Mori) Prince of Chittore, which brought Bappa Rawal into notice was sometimes in Hijra 75, about AD 694. This attack was either by Yezid or Md. Bin Kasim. Throghout this period there was a stir among Hindu Nations in which we find confusion and dethronement from an unknown invader, either by sea or through Sind (Pakistan province), sometimes the attackers are referred to as Malencha or Barbarians or Deamons or Magicians. From Samvat 750 to 780 (AD 694- AD724) the annals of Yadus, Chauhans, Chawuras and Gehlotes bear evidence to simultaneous convulsions in their respectice houses at this period. In Ali Hijra 75 (AD 694, Samvat 750) the Yadu Bhati was driven out from his capital of Salpoora in Punjab across Sutlej River into Indian Desert. This is the time when Yezid was Caliphs Lietenant and when arms Walid conquered to the Ganges (Ganga River). At this time Chittore along with Ujjain was the seat of sovereignity of the parmaras of this period, and it became the rallying point for Hindus.
Here we find the following defending Chittore and the Mori Prince:
- prince of Delhi, seat of Tuar(Tanwar/Tomar)
- prince of Ajmer
- the qoutas of Saurashtra and Gujrat
- Ungutsi , lord of Huns
- Boosa, lord of north
- Seo, Jadeja prince
- Johya, lord of Jungeldes
- Aswurya
- Seput
- Koolhur
- Malun
- Ohir
- Hool
and many others (not necessarily Hindus)
Interesting Quotes
"We are on a minor planet of a very average star located within the outer limits of one of a hundred thousand million galaxies. Are your problems really significant in light of this. "
--Stephen Hawking
My Motto -> "People Who made it were those who thought they can"
Believe in yourself, the rest will follow.
-Success is 1% aspiration and 99% perspiration.
-Sar pe na chadne ne
--Stephen Hawking
My Motto -> "People Who made it were those who thought they can"
Believe in yourself, the rest will follow.
-Success is 1% aspiration and 99% perspiration.
-Sar pe na chadne ne
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