Cricket Tales that make my heart happy

Sir Ian Botham in deep thought, smoking, after his historic 149 not out at Headingley, 1981. // Etched in every English cricket fan's memory is the "Botham's Ashes" of 1981 which saw the birth of a hero. England were 1-0 down after having lost the first match and drawn the second test at Lord's. After the Lord's test, Ian Botham resigned from captaincy owing to his dip in form, only to later find out that he would have been dropped as a captain anyway.Mike Brearley was called back and made the captain. Batting first Australia declared at 401-9 with Botham picking 6 of those wickets and ending with figures of 6-95. England were asked to follow on by Kim Hughes after they fell short by 27 runs;even though Botham's 50 in first innings showed some resistance. In their second innings, everybody had written them off. English wickets kept falling at regular intervals and an innings defeat seemed on the cards. The odds were 500-1 against England...

21 innings that made me fall in love with Virat Kohli #2- 107 vs Sri Lanka,4 th  ODI, SL tour of India 2009,Eden Gardens,Kolkata We all have had times in our lives when the situation demanded us to be tough; when our palms were sweaty and our hearts were racing. Where we had a point to prove and a statement to make.These are life defining situations and the choices we make then actually builds our character. Many succumb to the pressure and many thrive in it. You can be a really good cricketer and have all the skills in the book but what will make you great is how you perform in situations where the odds aren’t in your favour. And Virat Kohli is easily the greatest cricketer our generation has witnessed solely because adverse conditions bring out the best in him and that is exactly what makes him a hero. You would never want to bat first against a team that has Virat Kohli. Scoring centuries is an art Virat Kohli has mastered in his career spanning over 11 years. H...

21 innings that made me fall in love with Virat Kohli #1- 79* vs West Indies, Champions Trophy 2009, Johannesburg                 When you see Virat Kohli now, you see a man of great batting prowess. A cricketing legend whose talent seems endless and there is nothing he can't do. And to summarize that hell of a career in 21 innings will be doing injustice not only to him but also to this beautiful game we are so passionate about. But here I shoot my shot and I hope I am not disappointed at the end of this series. :) 2008. Kohli lifts the U19 world Cup. Becomes a star overnight. Gets called for Indian side the same year.No chance of him playing because the Indian side is way too strong and there's no way a 19 yo fits in the picture. We are talking of an Indian side that had 6 sealed batting positions. I strongly believe that a key factor to Kohli's success is his awfully amazing luck in his earli...