The greatest ever Test innings under pressure of the modern era

[Cricketman]

136 at Chennai against Pakistan 1998

Sachin was dismissed for a duck in the first innings due to an impatient shot against Saqlain Mushtaq.

We needed 272 runs to win in the second innings and he walked out to bat at 6 for 2 against a great bowling attack of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Saqlain Mushtaq.

The innings was tottering at 82-5 when he and Nayan Mongia got a huge partnership, before Sachin was dismissed with the score at 257.

Facing an attack of that quality, Sachin had stayed at the wicket for all the 251 runs that were scored. Everyone seems to miss that angle. He did his job fantastically well. That would easily be his all time best innings. We just barely lost this one!

114 v Australia, Perth, 1991-92
The fastest pitch in Australia has been reserved for the last Test. India have been beaten already, only humiliation awaits. Batting first, Australia score 346. Tendulkar enters at a relatively comfortable 100 for 3, but watches the next five wickets go down for 59. Tendulkar is the next man out... at 240. He has scored 118 of the 140 runs added while he is at the crease, and has made them in such an awe-inspiring manner that commentators are asking themselves when they last saw an innings as good.

119 not out v England, Old Trafford, 1990
England pile up 519 on a benign pitch, and India reply with 432. England stretch the lead to 407, and though the pitch is still good and the bowling (Malcolm, Fraser, Lewis, Hemmings) not terribly menacing, India find themselves in deep water at 127 for 5 with only one recognised batsman left. And he's only 17 years old. Tendulkar battles for nearly four hours, grimly but never dourly, and ends the day with 119. India lose only one more wicket, ending up with 343. With one more session, they might even have won.


Copied from all over the place, but those are three of Sachin's best really. And people say he can't bat under pressure.

 

[sohum]

No one EXPECTS you to recover from 39/6 or trailing by 300 runs following on though. When you're in those sort of situations, you just bat and see what comes of it.

Under pressure situations are when you are battling to win or save a match, or fighting for your career.

Those are certainly under pressure situations, but they do not form the set of all under pressure situations. At best, they are a minor subset of that set. You don't just "bat and see what comes of it" when you're playing a Test match for your country, and you're a top-tier side.

People have already noted in this thread the reason why Akmal's and Laxman's innings are denoted as top-tier: one was purely because it was India-Pakistan as well as a decider for the series, and the other was because it stopped Australia from conquering the "Final Frontier" for about 5 more years.

Expectation has a lot to do with pressure, but it's not the only thing. When you're playing for a decent international side, losing a Test match is the worst thing your side can achieve.

 

[aussie_ben91]

Those are certainly under pressure situations, but they do not form the set of all under pressure situations. At best, they are a minor subset of that set. You don't just "bat and see what comes of it" when you're playing a Test match for your country, and you're a top-tier side.

People have already noted in this thread the reason why Akmal's and Laxman's innings are denoted as top-tier: one was purely because it was India-Pakistan as well as a decider for the series, and the other was because it stopped Australia from conquering the "Final Frontier" for about 5 more years.

Expectation has a lot to do with pressure, but it's not the only thing. When you're playing for a decent international side, losing a Test match is the worst thing your side can achieve.

You make my comments sound like I'm talking about park or club cricket. When your team is 6 wickets down and you're batting with the tail then you do bat and see what comes out of it and see how much you can get on the board before the team ineviatebly gets bowled out. Same with following on and trailing by 300 runs, the message would be just to play your normal game.

 

[shravi]

Dravid 233 vs the Aussies after they put on a 550+ score in the first innings.

What a knock.

Surprising that nobody other than us two has mentioned this knock.

 

[metallics2006]

One innings that I have voted as the best after looking at the details recently.

Wasim Akram 257* Vs Zimbabwe

1st Inngs Zim make 375 and then bowl well to have Pakistan at 7 down for 237. Wasim walks in after Moin Khan and strikes a massive 313 run stand with Saqulain Mushtaq. He scores his 257* at a strike rate of 70.:hpraise Legendary stuff. Take a look.

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/63722.html

 

[King Pietersen]

It was against Zimbabwe ffs. Not even worth considering.

 

[Pakistani Army]

It was against Zimbabwe ffs. Not even worth considering.

Why not? Even if its against a weaker side it still counts as an Innings.

 

[metallics2006]

From 237-7 to 550 is not good enough? Sometimes the side does'nt matter if the innings is that big. Moreover he is not a specialist batsman mate. So it should count atleast in the top 50.

 

[Insomniac]

You make my comments sound like I'm talking about park or club cricket. When your team is 6 wickets down and you're batting with the tail then you do bat and see what comes out of it and see how much you can get on the board before the team ineviatebly gets bowled out. Same with following on and trailing by 300 runs, the message would be just to play your normal game.

I don't know about you, but if I'm in a situation where I'm trailing by 300 runs (actually it was 270, but thats just as hard), I'd be under immense pressure to score a 100, double hundred since I'm a batsman, so in a way its my job to get the team out of trouble.

 

[sohum]

You make my comments sound like I'm talking about park or club cricket. When your team is 6 wickets down and you're batting with the tail then you do bat and see what comes out of it and see how much you can get on the board before the team ineviatebly gets bowled out. Same with following on and trailing by 300 runs, the message would be just to play your normal game.

You only bat like that if you have no hope and confidence in yourself and your team. If you think that its possible to get yourself out of the hole, you will have hope and you will be under pressure.

Besides, do you have anything to say about the fact that those innings' came in matches that did/could have decided the series', both of which were quite important?

 

[Master Khan]

One innings that I have voted as the best after looking at the details recently.

Wasim Akram 257* Vs Zimbabwe

1st Inngs Zim make 375 and then bowl well to have Pakistan at 7 down for 237. Wasim walks in after Moin Khan and strikes a massive 313 run stand with Saqulain Mushtaq. He scores his 257* at a strike rate of 70.:hpraise Legendary stuff. Take a look.

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/63722.html

And hitting 12 sixes
which is a record in test cricket

 

[smssia0112]

Once again, it was against Zimbabwe. No matter how well they seemed to be doing, a good score against India, England, Australia or Pakistan is still a greater feat.

 

[Insomniac]

Once again, it was against Zimbabwe. No matter how well they seemed to be doing, a good score against India, England, Australia or Pakistan is still a greater feat.

So Inzamam's 100 v Bangladesh doesn't count? Pakistan were chasing 250, and were 137-7, but Inzamam batted with the tail to 250 and won them the game by 1 wicket.

Honestly, I don't get this point that runs v Zimbabwe and Bangladesh don't count. According to many Indian fans, their bowling sucks crap, so lets take out the runs that are scored against Indian bowlers as well. I hope you now see the point

Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are / were good enough to be a Test-playing nation, and therefore should be treated as one.

 

[aussie_ben91]

I don't know about you, but if I'm in a situation where I'm trailing by 300 runs (actually it was 270, but thats just as hard), I'd be under immense pressure to score a 100, double hundred since I'm a batsman, so in a way its my job to get the team out of trouble.

You only bat like that if you have no hope and confidence in yourself and your team. If you think that its possible to get yourself out of the hole, you will have hope and you will be under pressure.

Besides, do you have anything to say about the fact that those innings' came in matches that did/could have decided the series', both of which were quite important?

lol

So you think that as soon as the batsman walks to the crease, when the score is at 39/6 or trailing by over 300 runs, his going to be sweating every possible second of his innings knowing fully well that if he fails then that's the end of his career?

You two are seriously kidding yourselves if you think the sort've thing you call pressure, even compares to a situation where the game is actually there to be won or saved.

To top it off, the two innings' that you highlighted weren't performed by the star players of the side either. Nothing was really expected from them. They can be labelled as innings' of shear genius, or great knocks to get the team out of trouble but not great under pressure innings' of the highest quality.

 

[smssia0112]

So Inzamam's 100 v Bangladesh doesn't count? Pakistan were chasing 250, and were 137-7, but Inzamam batted with the tail to 250 and won them the game by 1 wicket.

Honestly, I don't get this point that runs v Zimbabwe and Bangladesh don't count. According to many Indian fans, their bowling sucks crap, so lets take out the runs that are scored against Indian bowlers as well. I hope you now see the point

Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are / were good enough to be a Test-playing nation, and therefore should be treated as one.

Because they are a long way behind the rest. If India's bowling attack is bad, then Zimbabwe's is non existent. They and Bangladesh are a long way behind the pack.

Inzamam's was a good innings, but it doesn't rate up there because it was against Bangladesh. That's the truth. Are you seriously saying that a century against England or Australia is in the same class as getting one against Zimbabwe or Bangladesh?