Ten Deliveries of the Millenium

An exhaustive list. I personally feel though that Aaquib Javed bowled some mesmerizing stuff at the Indians every time they faced each other. Also, the new kid Mohammad Asif has a nippy action and a few lethal deliveries in his kitty. Could prove to be a great prospect for Pakistan cricket if groomed properly. As a self-proclaimed fan of Pakistan cricket team for years, I was saddened at the manner in which they lost the series against India recently. I did not expect them to capitulate like that.

Correct me if I am wrong but wasnt the delivery by Imran Khan ... bowled at Kirmani ... and not Vishvanath ...

-Pakistan Zindabad

-Quaid e Azam Zindabad

-Jiye Ataturk

-Jiye Bhutto

-Imran Khan for PM

here`s a couple I can think of from the Indian perspective.

#2

Kapil`s banana yorker to take out Qasim Omar`s middle stump first ball in the finals of the B&H mini world cup. It put the Pakistani batting on the defensive and set the stage for a managable total that the Indians overcame with ease.

#1

WI were chasing India`s 183 in 60 overs in the world cup finals of `83. The greatest opening pair in ODI history Gordon & Dessie walked out to set up the chase (if you can call 183 in 60 overs a chase!). The Lords ground slopes dramatically across the pitch and very few bowlers get any movement off the seam that is up the slope. Balwinder Singh Sandhu, the inoccuous outswing bowler from Bombay was put in from the pavillion end by Kapil so that the slope would assist his outswingers. With the slip cordon waiting, the sardarji pitched a ball a good 18 inches outside the off stump. Grenidge raised his bat high and watched wide mouthed as the ball climb the 18 uphill inches to take out the off stump; suddenly victory was a distant reality. What followed afterwards is in my opinion easily one of the greatest upsets in sport.

I remember running hysterically across my room for god-knows-how-long.

I wonder if there`s a site where this classic moment has been put on mediaplayer... *sigh *

RE: #7 & #8

I was a little 14 year old back then. Sharjah finals on Friday, India v. Pakistan, can you imagine the excitement? I paddled as hard as I could my BSA SLR, the 2 odd miles from school to home. After gulfing my lunch down in record time I was off again on my trusted bike. Destination my friend`s home. My folks were at work and I sure as hell was not going to watch the finals all by myself!

What happened until that last ball is now a blur. I don`t remember any of Gavaskar`s masterful 92 or Kris Srikanth`s 75, neither do I recall the details of the way Pakistani bowlers pulled it back during the slog overs after the top three Indians had scored 50s. I don`t remember much of Miandad`s first 110 runs which according to Chishti Mujahid constituted one of the finest one day innings of all time.

I remember everything about the last delivery like it was yesterday. I remember the conference between Kapil & Chetan Sharma at Mid-off. The towering captain of the Indian team looking down on his diminutive understudy. Two Haryanvis. One already a legend in his own right, intensity his middle name, fiery red eyes demanding quite obedience, the other a fledgling youngster, not quite built to be a paceman... projecting confidence but fearing the worst.

As we would learn later, with three to win off the last ball Kapil instructed ``bowl a low full toss outside the off stump... we have everyone on the boundary.. he will have to hit it out of the park... and whatever you do.. don`t bowl it down the legside``! As the conference went on, Chishti Mujahid lost for words sent down platitudes to the affect of `no mater who wins this one it will be cricket that would have won` and then in ran Chetan Sharma.

I thought about it for a moment but then decided not to close my eyes. As the bowler ran in, it seemed like for a brief moment, the only people left in the universe were the 15 on the field, the 20,000 in the stadium and my friend & I. As the juicy full toss was served knee height down the leg side; of the 20,017 people in the universe, the most surprised was Javed Miandad as he wafted it into the stands.

I think the Pakistani`s in the stands lost their voices in joyous disbelief and the Indians had their breaths knocked out of them as amidst deafening silence it was again Miandad who reacted first. Arms raised high, bat flailing mightily he ran towards the pavilion letting loose a wild shriek of delight that to this day torments me! Such was Javed`s excitement that he had gained about 10 yards on poor Tauseef by the time the hapless tailender took the most cruel of spills you would ever see, his bat flying off yards as he crumbled in a heap of tangled arms & legs. I distinctly remember failing to see the humor in that slap stick moment. I distinctly remember barely nodding at my friend before walking out. I distinctly remember biking back home in what seemed like an hour long uphill ride. And I remember my inability to hold back the tear that fought its way through my left eye and down my cheek.

I was on the wrong side of the single greatest shot in cricket history. Judging by the intensity of my disappointment, I could later appreciate the boundless joy the event must have brought the Pakistani fans. That one shot would lay the foundation of a long and amazingly consistent domination of India by the Pakistanis.

Many of my Pakistani friends compare Jadeja`s onslaught on Younis in Bangalore to the Miandad six. I humbly disagree. If I ever see another shot like that under those circumstances again in my life, I will consider myself truly blessed.

The best delivery of the millennium was one from BS Chandrasekhar to Asif Iqbal in 1978 in Faislabad. The pitch was a graveyard for the bowlers where lion hearted Indian spinners bowled for three days in row. Remember the double century by Zaheer Abbas in that Test.. apprently the first Test of legend Kapil Dev. Tired Indian bowlers had no more faith in themselves as they were salvaged by Majid Khan, Sadiq Mohammed, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas. After the exit of Zaheer Abbas on the third day, mighty Asif Iqbal came to face the tired Chandra and on the very first delivery,a googlie Asif was out LBW, yes leg before the wicket given by none other than Shakoor Rana. Later in the series Mushtaq Mohammed said that Pakistan would beat any team anywhere in the world if he had Sunil Gavaskar and BS Chadrasekhar in his team. Then came the rebuttal from Bishan Bedi who said if he had Shuja and Shakoor Rana, the two umpires, his team would too beat any team in the world. Given the circumstances and the dead pitch the delivery by Chandrasekhar was the delivery of the century. Go and ask Asif Iqbal.

Something slightly off the topic. I have always wondered what a Sub-Continent team would look like. My own picks are as follows:

One-day:

Saeed Anwar, Jayasuria, Dravid, Tendulkar, Aravinda De Silva, Moin Khan, Wasim Akram, Anil Kumble, Saqlain, Muralitharan, Srinath

Test:

Saeed Anwar, Ganguly, Dravid, Tendulkar, Aravinda De Silva, Inzamam, Moin Khan, Wasim Akram, Anil Kumble/Saqlain (take your pick), Muralitharan, Shoaib Akhtar

AliReza:

Miandad/Sharjah/Six.

Forget Top Tens.

If you had to pick one batting shot in Pakistani cricket - just ONE - that still stays and will stay for as long as people who saw it live, which would it be?

Anyone care to state obvious?

Jerry:

I think the ball that got Gavaskar was bowled in the same spell in which Imran got Vishwanath (#2 in author`s list). Christmas Day 1982 I think. In fact, I think the dismissals were almost identical in where the balls pitched and what the batsmen tried doing with them. Maybe that`s the reason the author didn`t mention both.

regards,

PM

pretty good list: I think #2 should be #1. And #10, although a good delivery, was just a result of Hick having no idea on how to read spinners (Hick can make any leg-spin delivery look like a classic.)

if only someone can put up a `real video` link to all the mentioned deliveries!

Good work !! But as you mentioned yourself its so difficult to come-up with a formula to choose a delivery. I disagree with you on your choice of # 9 as (agian a subjective thing) I think Aqib has bowled lot better bowls worthy of mentioning than that one. I think that a vital factor is THE STATE OF THE MATCH where the delivery is bowled. One delivery which is stuck in memory is from early or mid 80s India

touring Pakistan. 3rd Test match at Karchi and (probably) in 2nd Innnings Gavaskar was glued to the wicket and at that age he perfected so much that beating him use to be equivalnet of getting him. In those conditions Imran and Sarfraz Nawaz bowled him short pitches from morning till close to lunch. He got adjusted to shortpitches then came Imran Khan with a dream Indipper and Gavaskar had to readjust to this quick change and lacked that by mearly a fraction of a second and BINGOO

he was clean Bowled. I wanna tell here that to deceive Gavaskar you gotta be Imran. In my Opinon that ball deserved mentioning in the list of 10 balls.

ANY IDEAS ABOUT THE 20 BEST SHORTS from the subcontinent` batters.

Jerry

Great list. I probably agree with most of them. The criteria to judge what a great delivery is quite difficult. Especially the Waqar to Rod Latham stands out forever.

Nonetheless these are other deliveries that come to mind.

Imran to Botham. Edgbaston First test 1982. Botham wearing a floppy hat to the fast bowler loses his leg stump to a classic Imran inswinger. No time at all to react ....Botham stares at bewilderment.

Wasim Akram to Rahul Dravid Madras Test 1998-9. Probably one of the most unplayable deliveries to one of the most techniquely correct batsmen in the world. Pitching on middle and leg this clipped the off bail...and there was nothing that Dravid did wrong.

Shoaib Akthar to Fleming Pak Vs NZ Semi-Final 1999. No reverse swing this ball just banana swung at high speed to dismantle his leg stump. Tong Greig went crazy in the commentary box.

Waqar to Desmond Haynes Karachi One day match 1991. Pakistan won by 3 runs. This ball was a beauty for pace and swing. Shown many times in the old days in the Gold Leaf commerical.

You tell em Hoody!!!!

Once again the Hooster does us Proud....

If the ``Ball of the Cuntury`` was an extremist comment, then your TOP TEN list is no other extreme....

No Cricket Lover could ever eliminate bowlers like Shane Warne`s Megical deliveries, Dennis Lilly`s awesome wickets, Ambrose`s and Marshall`s ruthless bowls from this list.....

Its good to be a patriot, but be Objective too....