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Arunabha Sengupta

10 Dec, 5 tweets, 3 min read

@vishy64theking

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That 21.Bg6 against Lautier (inset)
Simultaneously sacrificing his Queen and putting his bishop at the mercy of not one but two pawns.

Born #onthisday 1969 - @vishy64theking
A personal memory : cricmash.com/beyond-the-gam…

That incredible double of 22.Rxe6 fxe6 23.Be7+ against Bologan …
Or 26. … Rxc4 against Radjabov that left his Queen unprotected in front of the white rook, and left his opponent susceptible to a devious 8-move combination.

And my favourite, that 16.Rxf7 till 23.Rxf6 .. a double rook sacrifice during a spectacular 10-move sequence against Sokolov that would see him win the game with two bishops and a knight against two rooks and a bishop

Anand used (and still uses) sacrificial combinations like a champion pugilist, sneaking them in past resolute defence, one after the other, unexpected, undetected, lethal.

I asked him about the age-related challenges in the career of a chess champion, and he promised to do his best to extend his career.
He has kept his promise.
Viswanathan Anand. The Master turns 51.

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Arunabha Sengupta

@senantix

11 Dec

Thread:
Salim Durani born #onthisday 1934
Another of the handful of Indian cricketing icons of the 1960s who promised to be way better than what his end numbers proved; yet another whose legend is linked as much to his cricket as to his debonair image & smouldering good looks

Yes, Durani was handsome enough to play the hero in a Bollywood movie. In fact, he did so, pairing with Parveen Babi in BR Ishara’s Charitra.

Durani had the ability to turn the match with bat or ball, and occasionally did so. He captured 8 wickets at Calcutta and 10 at Madras to help India defeat England in 1961-62. He took 6 for 73 to dismiss Bobby Simpson’s Australians for 174 in 1964-65.

Read 13 tweets

Arunabha Sengupta

@senantix

28 Nov

Thread:
Cricket loving PM Robert Menzies kept a photograph of a perfect Miller square drive on his office desk. Ian Wooldridge called Miller “the golden boy” of cricket, leading to the nickname “Nugget”. Cardus referred to him as Australian in excelsis.

born #onthisday 1919

Miller ended with 2958 runs at 36.97 and 170 wickets at 22.97 from 55 Tests. The figures put him at the top of the list of all-rounders when he retired, and has been matched by only the likes of Garry Sobers, Imran Khan and Jacques Kallis since then.

With Ray Lindwall, he formed one of the scariest new ball partnerships. And he is one of the very few in history to bat high in the order while also bowling with the new ball.
West Indian captain John Goddard exclaimed, “Give us Keith Miller and we’ll beat the world.”

Read 18 tweets

Arunabha Sengupta

@senantix

26 Nov

There was that eternal child in him. The innocent delight that sparked every time he touched a ball.
Without that child the Hand of God goal would've been impossible. And the second goal of the match, the run from his own half-line, perhaps the best goal of all time
#RIPMaradona

That child lived in him notwithstanding the truckloads of cocaine, the links with the mafia, the sex workers in his room, the fake penis to dodge drug tests, the hideously bloated self after years of substance abuse
#RIPMaradona

When as manager of Argentina he stood beyond the sidelines, desperately trying to fit in his charcoal-black suit … and when in that avatar he trapped the errant match ball effortlessly with his formal shoe … that eternal child sparked again.
#RIPMaradona

Read 4 tweets

Arunabha Sengupta

@senantix

25 Nov

Thread:

4522 runs as an opening batsman at 61.10. Ahead of the rest of the field across the history of Test cricket by more than five runs per innings.

Len Hutton followed them a decade later. Together the triumvirate of Hobbs, Sutcliffe and Hutton stand head and shoulders above any other opening batsman … ever.

Yet, Sutcliffe is seldom spoken of when great, and often not so great, opening batsmen are recalled. Precious little is documented in terms of eulogies to his craft of batting.

Read 12 tweets

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