On this day in 1999, @anilkumble1074 took 10 wickets against Pakistan.
21 years ago, my father (who doesn't usually watch cricket) was glued to the TV set from start to finish, his every cheer getting louder as wickets kept falling.
There were only two other times in my memory that he was so ensnared by cricket matches.
One of them was the legendary India versus Pakistan ODI quarter final in the 1996 World Cup. He cursed in exultation and taught me a new word when Venkatesh Prasad got Aamir Sohail's wicket
The other was when Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath successfully chased an Australian total of 215 after India was down 164 for 8.
The running between wickets and their banter added to the thrilling finish of the game.
Back to @anilkumble1074 and his ten wicket haul. Here are some fascinating stories related to that historical winter's day in Delhi.
This test match should've been played on another pitch. The wonderful Shiv Sainiks decided protest by digging the pitch up and the match to be played on the backup pitch.
There was some nice numbering sequence in the first innings of the game. Our four bowlers - Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad , @harbhajan_singh and Kumble took 1,2,3 and 4 wickets each.
The ball with which Anil Kumble took the 10th wicket (@wasimakramlive) was thought to be lost when the Indian team and the crowd went batshit insane with joy.
Turns out, Venkatesh Prasad had the ball and agreed to give it to Kumble in exchange for dosa at their favorite eatery.
Did you know of other Indians who also took ten wickets in an innings?
- Pradeep Sundaram 10/78 for Rajasthan v/s Vidarbha
- Subhash Gupte 10/78 for India v/s Pakistan Services
- Premangsu Chatterjee 10/20 Bengal v/s Assam
- Debashish Mohanty 10/46 East Zone v/s South Zone
Richard Stokes, an English businessman decided to watch the game live in Kotla.
Remarkably he also watched Jim Laker get his 10 for 53 runs against Australia live. What a privilege to be there on both occasions!
Some Indian newspapers had the headline that said - "Pakistan destroyed by AK-74".
While admittedly creative, it was not the nicest way to phrase it. After all cricket is supposed to be a game played by people with class and should also be reported accordingly.
Kumble overshadowed poor Saqlain Mushtaq.
Mushtaq had bowled exceptionally and taken 10 wickets in that match. In fact in the 4 innings in which he bowled in that two match test series, he took four 5 wicket hauls.
There are rumours that Shiv Sena was going to disrupt the game by releasing snakes on the playing field.
To counter this threat, security agencies had snake charmers on stand-by in case of possible mayhem.
For those interested in numbers, here are the two scorecards of the games where @anilkumble1074 and Jim Laker took their 10 wicket hauls respectively.
Back in 1971 when the nation was formed, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, considered the leader of the freedom movement, was not in the country - he was in jail in Pakistan.
And it was a former lover of Bhutto who was able to secure his release.
A love story 🧵
In 1971 Pakistan's armed forces laid down their arms at a ceremony in Dhaka before the joint command of the Indian armed forces and Bangladesh's Mukti Bahini.
As the two armed forces were celebrating their victory, Mrs Indira Gandhi had other things to worry about.
1. The enormous cost of the war 2. The cost of dealing with over 10M refugees 3. The un-budgeted responsibility of having to look after the 93,000 Pakistani soldiers taken as POWs.
India wanted to keep the POW's in conditions that went above and beyond Geneva norms.
A school-going kid once visited the Congress party office, where Tamil lyricist Kavirajar Kannadasan asked, "Would you like to work in films, child?" The kid said, "Ask my father."
This child was destined to become one of India's greatest superstars!
A thread on Sridevi! 🧵
It is said that when Sridevi was born, there was a bright red mark on her forehead, and hence people started that a devi had born in the house.
Thus she was named Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan.
Before ruling the box office as a leading star, Sridevi was a phenomenally accomplished child artist.
Here she is, sharing the screen with MG Ramachandran, playing his nephew in a film that also starred J. Jayalalitha!
This film, starring Supriya Pathak & Hugh Grant, is based on a novel by Mircea Eliade.
Its the story of a 23-year-old Mircea who came to Calcutta to study under philosopher Surendranath Dasgupta.
There, he fell in love with Maitreyi - teacher's daughter.
Sounds familiar? A 🧵
In this novel, Mircea fictionalizes how his love story was cut short because Surendranath Dasgupta was unhappy about the relationship. The relationship was "exposed" by Maitreyi Devi's sister.
The novel was published in 1933, a couple of years after Mircea's time in Calcutta.
For some additional context, Maitreyi was a savant! Maitreyi was mentored by Rabindranath Tagore, and she even wrote a book Mongpute Rabindranath (Tagore by The Fire Side) about the time spent with the great poet.
20 years ago, we were reminded that good films need not make money, & films that make good money need not be great!
On June 18, 2004, Lakshya was released, telling the story of an aimless rich youngster who joins the Indian Army & discovers his true goal.
A thread🧵
Lakshya was written by @Javedakhtarjadu: He was told by senior army officers about the declining enrollments to the Indian army each year, prompting him to promise to write a film addressing the issue!
The script marked Akthar's comeback as a scriptwriter after ages!
Lakshya was a departure from the kinds of war movies made at the time like Border, LOC Kargil etc.
In fact, director @FarOutAkhtar's goal was to tell a story about a boy who finds himself in the backdrop of Kargil War.
On June 15, 2001, the world saw the release of a monumental film in scale & vision, with its main plot revolving around a cricket match between India & the British Empire!
A thread 🧵on Lagaan, the film that convinced Aamir Khan to pursue the kind of films he believed in.
After two failed attempts at films, @AshGowariker's confidence was low.
He then conceived a story where a key battle is resolved by a cricket match. He pitched this to Aamir in 4 lines, who told him not to waste time on this.
Lagaan was @AshGowariker’s third foray into direction after his earlier two movies – Pehla Nasha and Baazi.
Baazi is famous for the “Item number” by Aamir Khan. Pehla Nasha had Aamir and SRK in the same movie with some cringe worthy puns
This is freedom fighter Raj Narain, who achieved the greatest electoral upset in India's history.
In the 1977 elections held after the lifting of the Emergency, Raj Narain defeated Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
A thread 🧵
The story begins with the 1971 election.
Originally scheduled for 1972, Indira Gandhi called for early elections, catching opposition by surprise.
The opposition quickly recovered and nominated Raj Narain to contest against Mrs. Gandhi in Rae Bareli.
📸 @htTweets
Indira Gandhi was probably displeased with the nomination.
At a campaign rally she said, "Mr. Narain had been chosen by the opposition parties to contest from Rae Bareli because he was a well-known Nehru hater and baiter."