Story Indian Cricket League 1993 - Second Half of the Season is on! Who will qualify?

[Bevab]

April 16, 1993​

Round Five
Madras Rubbers vs Wills Classic Calcutta @ MA Chidambaram Stadium
2 PM Start​

Spoiler: Report

Border's comments on wanting a better pitch at home seem to have worked out as Madras finally clinched their first home win of the season.

Calcutta went in with an unchanged XI after their first win and opted to bat first as Border made the big call of dropping coach Amarnath and bringing in recently capped youngster Ganguly.

An early spin choke from the formidable trio of Raju, Kumble and Qadir kept Calcutta away from establishing a big partnership and brought plenty of wickets. They had to rely on Ajay Sharma stonewalling at one end to avoid an early innings end for just double figures. Rice's introduction brought in the counter attacking flair as the veteran all-rounder took on the spinners and pacer DeFreitas with Qadir in particular struggling after a bright start. Prabhakar's late heroics with the bat paired with Rice's first 50 of the season took Calcutta to a respectable total.

They would also start strongly with both Srikkanth and Shastri struggling to find any fluency at the start. Imran, Patterson and Garner used their slower balls to excellent effect to tie the opening duo down until Srikkanth's miserable stay was cut short. Debutant Ganguly started off decently but could only watch as Shastri soon departed. After Lamb also fell despite a qucik start, captain Border stuck around with Ganguly to patiently knock off the required runs in a display of masterful batting on a tricky pitch, aided by Calcutta's reluctance to bowl their spinners more. Ganguly was unfortunately run-out in pursuit of a debut 50 but by that point he had done enough and all that remained was for Amre to keep supporting Border and score quickly enough to ensure that there was no late drama unlike the Bombay game.

Spoiler: Scorecards - 1st Innings

Spoiler: Scorecards - 2nd Innings

Spoiler: Post-Match

Imran Khan: "We conceded too many runs towards the end of the innings, they shouldn't have been able to play as fluently as they did. The total was good, we should have bowled better after the powerplay. (On why he bowled only four overs of spin) They were seeing off Venkataramana well and I didn't want to risk gifting them more momentum, our pacers started well so I trusted them to get back the wickets. Sharma and Rice both batted for a long period and I didn't want to overburden them so we didn't use them much. Tough to qualify from here on but we will keep trying our best."

Allan Border: "Good win. We stayed in it and competed till the end which makes me happy. Amarnath wasn't in form as you all saw and he wasn't doing well in nets too, Sourav was practicing well and we wanted to give him a chance today. The way forward for Amarnath is to play himself back into the side, no other option. Sourav is a real competitor, I think he will go a long way if he keeps believing in himself. Our bowling fell apart towards the end and that is something we will focus on for the next game. After a rough three first games it is good to have two wins in a row."

 

[Bevab]

April 17, 1993​

Round Five
Prestige Bangalore vs Hero Delhi Nationals @ Chinnaswamy Stadium
6:30 PM Start​

Spoiler: Report

Two teams wanting to get back on the winning track clashed on a hot Saturday night in Bangalore as the home side brought back Razdan and the away team handed a debut to Malhotra. Bangalore opted to bat first as usual.

Raman and Jadeja got the home team off to a good start before Raman had to unfortunately depart when he edged one to the keeper Pandit against the run of play. Viv and Jadeja stitched together a promising partnership that targeted the weaker Indian bowlers and Waugh until Chauhan got the better of Jadeja. The captain's arrival heralded even more aggressive and bold play with Viv going on the warpath. He tried one too many risks against Waugh though who managed to get him dismissed with Pandit involved in the action for the third time. It was all for little though as despite Stephenson's struggle to get going, his captain managed to bat impressively enough for the both of them and took Bangalore to a big total, punishing Botham in particular.

Despite the early wicket of Bhave, Delhi looked good value for the chase as they kept steadily scoring runs. Boon's wicket did not deter them as Crowe put up an excellent 50 of his own to keep the pressure on. Razdan in particular was the victim of some heavy hitting. The experienced Malhotra also played aggressively and it looked like Delhi were running away with the game. Ayub however brought Bangalore back into the game, first by drawing an edge from Malhotra and then forcing Waugh into an uncharacteristic slog shot that only managed to find the hands of the sub fielder. As Crowe and Botham still managed to find runs off Stephenson who looked very off colour, Azharuddin brought back Marshall to put the pressure back. The scoreboard pressure had switched the tale by then as neither batsmen scored as quickly as Azharuddin did and had to resort to some desperate slogging to try and catch up. Marshall managed to dismiss both Crowe and Botham in successive overs and Kapil wasn't able to find a way to bring a miraculous run chase to the away fans.

Spoiler: Scorecards - 1st Innings

Spoiler: Scorecards - 2nd Innings

Spoiler: Post-Match

Kapil Dev: "We were outplayed. Azhar had a great game both with bat and as the captain. We will continue backing our domestic bowlers, they have been important for us before and they can be again. Just credit to Bangalore, they were too good for us."

Mohammad Azharuddin: "We were slightly worried about an early collapse when I went in to bat. Viv with his experience was able to attack the bowlers and that gave me some time to build my innings before going fully aggressive. It was key as the pitch was getting more difficult to bat on especially with the older ball. I noticed that which is why I held back Marshall for some time even when Delhi were batting well. It is not like a test or ODI but there is plenty of time still in this format and every over matters. We wanted a win after coming close against Bombay, hopefully they finally drop a game and we can go back to being at the top."

 

[Bevab]

April 18, 1993​

Round Five
Tollywood Cricket Nagar vs Bombay Tatas @ Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium
4:30 PM​

Spoiler: Report

The previously unconquered titans were handed their first defeat of the season as Tollywood got back to winning ways in emphatic fashion.

The biggest talking point of the game was Tendulkar being promoted to a surprise opening position as the out of form Stewart was replaced by Ramanayake. The move did not pay off as both himself and his skipper had to depart after Sharma struck twin blows in consecutive overs. Reiffel finally brought his best to the tournament as he bowled out Ranatunga with a crafty yorker. Manjrekar and Kambli were left trying to salvage a partnership but it only lasted for thirty runs as Patil's inspired move to bowl de Silva brought him another prized wicket. Kambli managed to keep the tempo high even after the wickets of O'Donnell and Singh but had to finally depart after a great fifty. With the pitch being a batting paradise, it seemed as if Bombay had left one too many runs out there...

Despite losing Sidhu early to O'Donnell, Tollywood managed to keep the runs flowing at a steady rate with Sharma and Smith. Debutant Ramanayake would claim the latter two as wickets later but Aravinda's fireworks were unstoppable with only the two main overseas bowlers escaping the onslaught by the marauding Sri Lankan. There was little they could do but watch a master at his peak as Aravinda deposited the ball all over the ground with his boundaries, finishing the chase with seventeen balls to spare all by himself.

Spoiler: Scorecards - 1st Innings

Spoiler: Scorecards - 2nd Innings

Spoiler: Post-Match

Aravinda de Silva: "Good performance today, we wanted to win after losing three games in a row. A win like this can provide newfound belief in everyone. Credit to the bowlers today, they bowled superbly on a batting pitch and gave us a great chance of chasing it down. I like bowling too, will always step up if the captain wants me to."

Geoff Marsh: "Unhappy with the batting today, it was not what you wanted to see. Once we scored less than needed it was always a lost cause with the bowling effort. Alec was out of form and touch so we wanted to bring in an extra bowler to help us rotate through them better. Kambli is also in good form so he can bat at five for sure. It's only the first loss of the season, we have been good so far and will look to bounce back in the next one."

 

[Till Valhalla]

Tollywood over Bollywood

 

[Bevab]

April 19, 1993​

MID-SEASON NEWS​

Spoiler: Player Availability

• Star Australian batsmen Dean Jones and Allan Border have been given special permission to join up late with the travelling Australian squad for the tour of England. While such courtesy was not extended to others like McDermott, Boon, Waugh, Reiffel and Healy it appears as though Calcutta and Madras have made enough of a plea to convince the ACB. The two batsmen will only leave for international duty at the end of this month, leaving them free to play two more games in comparison to the others who will leave at the conclusion of round seven.
  
  
• West Indian stars Franklyn Stephenson and Viv Richards have meanwhile confirmed that they will only be joining their county sides after the conclusion of the ICL. It will no doubt be a massive boost to the league leaders aspirations of winning the inaugural tournament as both of their overseas stars have been vital to their success as the highest wicket taker and run scorer respectively. No comment has been given by their county teams as of now.
  
  
• Joel Garner has been ruled out for the rest of the season after aggravating a hamstring injury suffered during the last game. Garner had already missed two games earlier, both of which Calcutta lost and his absence will only make things worse for a team languishing at the bottom of the table.
  
  
• The TCCB has issued a directive asking for all players with county contracts to return after April 24 from the ICL. While they were not approachable for a comment on Stephenson and Richards refusing to do so, the others haven't issued any similar statements and are expected to return for county duty. A list of players who will depart after round seven include Gower (BT), Stewart (BT), Botham (HDN), DeFreitas (MR), Russell (MR), Lamb (MR), Smith (TCN), Donald (TCN) and Gooch (WCC).

Spoiler: League News

• Buoyed by the instant popularity of the ICL, the BCCI has confirmed that the league will also return for the next two years in roughly the same period of the calendar. A part of the league's success has been attributed to the timing of it with the traditional summer holidays in the country which has attracted a wide following from the younger sections of the audience.
  
  
• The BCCI has also confirmed that teams will have more money to spend at the next auction. Rumours say that they are planning to increase the purse of each team by around 20 to 25%, a significant increase. The BCCI has also confirmed that players and teams are allowed to cancel their contracts if they mutually agree to it and teams are allowed to move a player from one contract to another vacated one if both parties agree. As of the moment no information was given regarding the squad size and overseas player limits.

Spoiler: Team News

• Geoff Marsh confirmed that Tendulkar opening was not a one off move and was something always planned for after Stewart's departure. "I thought we could use his aggressive shot making at the top order, it didn't work out yesterday but we intend to stick with it" were his words upon being asked. He also added that the team may look to rotate more and trial other players such as More and Prasad in the coming days to test their bench strength.
  
  
• Kapil Dev admitted that Delhi's lack of bowling depth is hurting his team's ability to close out games. "We would have been better off with one more Indian bowler for sure, we have one too many batsmen. We may have to bring in overseas bowlers to try and compensate in the coming games".
  
  
• Despite winning two consecutive games, there still seems to be trouble in Madras's paradise. Reports of coach and captain not seeing eye to eye are not good normally but when the coach is also a player and former Indian star who got dropped while the captain is a hardnosed WC winning captain it gets worse. Captain Border for his part seemed impressed with Ganguly's debut, calling him a big talent who will accomplish great things in the future and it seems like as long as he is still captaining the team, Amarnath may not have a way back into it.
  
  
• Bangalore were predicted to be one of those competing for the title even before the season began and they've lived up to expectations so far. Lloyd, their coach has been in a relaxed mood ever since their first win and he has admitted that it has been great working with a set of experienced talents and upcoming youngsters. With former U19 captain Dravid yet to play, Lloyd has said that the team may continue springing surprises to catch opponents off guard.
  
  
• Despite playing well, Tollywood have only two wins to show for it. Aravinda de Silva is not worried though. "As long as we keep performing well, we have no worries. We will pick up wins eventually. The key thing is to qualify and head into the knockout stages with a clear sense of mind. I have no doubt our team is capable of that."
  
  
• They are not mathematically out yet but it seems increasingly likely that Calcutta, a team predicted to finish first by many will not qualify for the knockouts barring a miraculous turn-around in form and morale. The team appears free of the dressing room drama prevalent in Madras but they appear bereft of confidence, one that even the mighty Imran Khan has been unable to solve till now. Star signings Prabhakar and Jones have both been criticised for their poor showings as fans want more chances given to the likes of Laxman and Joshi for the future.

 

[Bevab]

April 19, 1993​

Round Six
Prestige Bangalore vs Madras Rubbers @ Chinnaswamy Stadium
6:30 PM Start

​

Spoiler: Report

A classic South Indian rival match ended with the league leaders asserting further dominance in a nervy win. Madras won the toss and elected to chase, playing right into Bangalore's hands. They were also forced by a stomach bug to replace Qadir with Harris while Bangalore made one change, bringing in veteran Binny for Razdan.

Bangalore got off to the worst start possible with two wickets lost in the first two overs as both Raman and Viv were bowled. The woes continued as DeFreitas who seemed to be in the mood had Jadeja edging a cover drive in his third over. Azharuddin and Stephenson were forced into defensive duty as they sought to see out the rest of the powerplay, finishing it at 39/3. It wouldn't end there though as Shastri's introduction brought the prized wicket of Stephenson in his first over right after the powerplay and then Jayasuriya was also dismissed in his second over. It was left to Healy and Azharuddin to rebuild as Bangalore risked being dismissed in double figures. A patient and watchful partnership was perhaps let loose by Border who bowled himself, Harris and the rest of the spinners other than Shastri in the hopes of keeping Bangalore quiet. Azharuddin did not read the same script though and started to let loose after the 22nd over, going after every bowler possible to bring his scoring rate above a run a ball. With the able support of Healy he was able to take his team's score to above 170 and score his century off Harris in the last over.

Madras would also succumb to a terrible start as they lost three wickets in two overs from Marshall. Shastri and captain Border tried to play safe in the rest of the powerplay and were building a solid partnership until Ayub struck with an arm ball to bowl Shastri. As Azharuddin held back Stephenson for unknown reasons at that time, Border and Amre got to building the best partnership Madras could have in the middle overs, hitting Jayasuriya, Viv and Binny out of the attack, wary of Stephenson's remaining five overs. Just as Border got his fifty from Marshall's fifth over and started to go after the attack like Azharuddin at a similar point, Stephenson dismissed the veteran captain with a superb moon ball that may well be the delivery of the tournament. A clearly shocked Border could do nothing but walk off as the climbing required run rate, an increasingly tired Amre and a trio of pacers growing in confidence managed to restrict Harris from hitting too much and gave a raucous home crowd a victory that seemed unlikely for a large part of the game.

Spoiler: Scorecards - 1st Innings

Spoiler: Scorecards - 2nd Innings

Spoiler: Post-Match

Allan Border: "Sometimes I wish our bowling doesn't give up under pressure and our batting can score more runs but it seems like we switch off too often in these moments. I don't think we had this one in the bag, we let off Bangalore in both innings instead of using the momentum and they were able to hit us back. I can't do much else with this team, this is our best and we have to work with what we have. Maybe we can secure a semi-finals spot with one or two wins more in the next four games, we will see. Sourav (Ganguly) is here to stay, it is unlikely Amarnath will play again as long as I am captain as he isn't cutting it in training. One bad performance doesn't mean we give up on a young talent like Sourav.

Mohammad Azharuddin: "Delighted with the win, we showed excellent character under pressure. Our qualification chances are high and I'm pleased we could give our fans a good game to watch today. (On his century) I didn't realise to be honest, I was focused on just hitting and hitting at the end to catch up for our slow start. It was great work from Healy to keep his wicket and provide good support. We did hold back Stephenson after his customary first over as we knew their danger man was Border and if he was still out there after the twentieth over we would need something special to get him. Once we realised Border was here to play, we decided to do so. Stephenson is that special something as everyone knows, he is extraordinary under pressure. The rest of the bowlers deserve credit too, they all gave less runs away which proved decisive at the end."

 

[Bevab]

April 20, 1993​

Round Six
Wills Classic Calcutta vs Bombay Tatas @ Eden Gardens
2:30 PM Start​

Spoiler: Report

Eden Gardens witnessed one of the most thrilling ends possible to a nail-biting encounter as Bombay went in unchanged while Calcutta made one injury enforced change, bringing in Gooch for Garner and electing to bowl first.

Despite being a bowler short it seemed like the Calcutta team was not missing that as they got off to a great start with Patterson's hostile full length bowling getting him two wickets in his first over. Ranatunga and Tendulkar followed it up with a sluggish powerplay that was only boosted at the end due to a leaky eleven run over by Venkataramana. Just as they were rebuilding and looking to set up a platform, Patterson returned and dismissed Tendulkar alongside forcing Ranatunga into a classical run-out as the Sri Lankan captain pushed for a needless double. O'Donnell and Kambli tried to build a similar partnership but Imran Khan brought himself on late to dismiss the veteran Australian. As Kambli tried to get the scoring rate up desperately, Imran took down two more batsmen with some nice reverse swing bowling. All that was left was for Prabhakar to clean up the rest of the tail and Patterson to leave Kambli stranded on 49 as Bombay were all out but they managed one big over off Imran's last one.

Despite Banerjee picking up a wicket in his first over, it seemed like Calcutta were on track to win at a canter as Jones and Gooch kept the rest of the powerplay uneventful. That is, until Gooch inexplicably tried a needless cut on a wide and got himself dismissed just before the powerplay ended. The big money signing Jones was finally off to a good start though at a run a ball and kept the fluency going till his 40s while losing only Vengsarkar to the ever impressive Singh at the other end. Hirwani was toothless and O'Donnell was hit out of the attack as Imran anchored at one end and Jones kept his runs coming in smoothly, slowing down only for his fifty. They kept the required run rate from going beyond six and it only seemed a matter of time before Calcutta's second win. An impressive spell of late overs bowling from Singh, Ramanayake and McDermott was ruined by Ramanayake's fifth over going for nine runs leaving Calcutta with only 13 required from 12. McDermott followed it up with a superb over, conceding only five and Marsh turned to Singh instead of Ramanayake for his last over and the latter held his nerve to nail two crucial deliveries at the end to the opposition captain, denying Imran his deserved fifty and Calcutta a win as they stole yet another defeat from the jaws of victory while Bombay did it in reverse.

Spoiler: Scorecards - 1st Innings

Spoiler: Scorecards - 2nd Innings

Spoiler: Post-Match

Imran Khan: "I don't know how we lost like this. I take full responsibility, it doesn't matter how well you do before the ending if you disappoint there. The boys feel really bad after such a close defeat again, we will try to keep the hopes alive for the last four games and fight till the end though. We cannot give up. (On the boos by the home crowd today) I understand them, we have been disappointing so far and I only wish we can win the last four for our fans who until now have been very supportive of us despite our weak performances. Not interested in blaming any single individual, it was a team loss and we move on."

Geoff Marsh: "We've trained to never give up until the last ball and fight till then, that is why we always seem to make these comebacks (laughs). It was an entertaining match for the fans and neutrals but we were nervy till the end in both innings. Kambli is a real warrior for us in the middle order, it gives us fellas freedom at the top to take risks knowing that Kambli can always step in when needed. We bring the same mentality to our bowling unit, if someone has a bad day we try as a whole to field better and bowl better to make up for that and give our teammate the space. We're so close to getting the top spot and that has to be our target for the rest of this season."

Despite dominating large parts of the game, Calcutta couldn't cross the final hurdle as shown. ​

 

[Till Valhalla]

Two set batters can't do

 

[Bevab]

April 21, 1993​

Round Six
Tollywood Cricket Nagar vs Hero Delhi Nationals @ Feroz Shah Kotla
2:30 PM Start​

Spoiler: Report

Delhi won the toss and elected to bat first in a pivotal match for the fourth place spot as they headed into it unchanged. Despite a slow start at the beginning they made up for it in the end by targetting Reiffel and Sharma. The danger of a settled partnership taking the game away on a bowling friendly surface forced captain Patil to bring back Srinath in the mid phase of the game who got him a wicket. It would only result in more misery though as the free flowing Crowe would score briskly as Bhave anchored at the other end. Despite Chatterjee's economical bowling and a wicket on his return the other bowlers proved to be more expensive with Donald in particular missing his mark. It would take a miraculous three over spell from Reiffel at the death overs where he gave away only five runs for the crucial wicket of Malhotra that restricted Delhi to just above 150.

Tollywood would struggle to use that momentum to get going in their own innings as Sidhu and Chetan laboured to get runs despite Botham being expensive in his first over. They would only manage twenty one runs in the powerplay and Botham would finally put Sidhu out of his misery in the first over after the powerplay. Sharma and Smith kept the chase alive for a while but the climbing RRR soon mounted pressure on the duo and Kapil expertly used the opportunity to draw a poor shot from Sharma via his sixth bowler Waugh. Despite conceding runs Kapil stuck to his veteran spinner Matthews who would get him the priceless wicket of de Silva. With Waugh wreaking havoc at the other end Tollywood struggled to keep any form of momentum going and Kuruvilla's second spell proved to be as effective as his first in the powerplay and he also managed to pick up a couple of wickets for his troubles. The death overs were expertly marshalled by Kapil and a mix of bowlers at the other end as Tollywood succumbed to a big defeat.

Spoiler: Scorecards - 1st Innings

Spoiler: Scorecards - 2nd Innings

Spoiler: Post-Match

Robin Smith: "We knew this was a bowling pitch beforehand and wanted to bat first too. It wasn't a good performance from us with the bat though, we should have scored quicker to put pressure on their bowlers. Once they got us under the run rate pressure they switched to using their other bowlers and we had to take a risk to score or get out, unfortunately we just lost wickets too quickly. The damage to our NRR isn't good but we'll keep fighting, we still have a great chance of qualifying."

Kapil Dev: "Pleased with everyone today, they all contributed and played a part. This was a total team effort. Our bowling strategy was to be economical this time as we knew they would sometimes not play aggressively at the start. Once that was executed we decided to take a risk and bowl aggressively with Waugh and Matthews, it paid off well. We've had a disappointing campaign so far, I hope this gives our fans a much needed boost and reason to still cheer for us. Confidence is key and the boys are full of it after today's win."

 

[Till Valhalla]

TCN need future coach of Niue Salil Ankola.

 

[Bevab]

TCN need future coach of Niue Salil Ankola.

Tough for him to break into the starting XI now that Chatterjee's back to bowling well, might as well try coaching.

 

[icyman]

Just came across this- nice concept @Bevab . Guess other commitments are keeping you busy- just a singular feedback- the 1990s ICL would have only had one round robin given that India wasn't a huge powerhouse back then. Nevertheless, a great story in the making!

 

[Bevab]

Just came across this- nice concept @Bevab . Guess other commitments are keeping you busy- just a singular feedback- the 1990s ICL would have only had one round robin given that India wasn't a huge powerhouse back then. Nevertheless, a great story in the making!

Thank you.

Yeah, I’ve had to put it on the back burner due to IRL work. Hope to get this back on track to at least finish the current season by the end of next month.

I do agree, a single round robin would have been more realistic and I did take a creative liberty there since it felt too short to do so with six teams only. I may be forced to do only one round robin in the future iterations when the international cricket calendar becomes very congested.