How India Returned From the Dead

GH introduces an Easter special

Regular readers of Et Al will be familiar with the scholarly starbursts of Thomas Miles, our doyen of scoring, who shared his story here. For nearly two years, we have been featuring his ball-by-balls and wagon wheels on the Tests we report, and, of course, celebrating his masterpiece: the Usman 232.

Now Thomas has surpassed himself by retrospectively scoring one of the greatest Tests of all: Kolkata 2001, whose twenty-fifth anniversary I recently celebrated. Victory after following on! It gave one of cricket’s totemic numbers: 281 suggests VVS Laxman, as 334 does Bradman and 501 does Lara. It gave us the legend of the Bhajji hat trick and of Gilly’s king pair. It contained other superb hundreds, from Rahul Dravid and Steve Waugh. It also generated a headline in The Age that I still remember for its exquisite unintelligibility to anyone not au fait with sport: Indian Bats Threaten Streak. Huh? It ranks with another I recall when Garry Hocking resumed for Geelong after injury: Buddha In For Cats…..

For night after night, Thomas has been patiently rewatching the Test on Fox in order to reconstitute it using the Miles system, complete with retro flourishes like old Australian Cricket Board symbols - the name changed two years later. He’s magnified the hundreds, and even given us Laxman’s wagon wheels at 100 and 200. He’s loved it too.

That really was the complete Test.

I can’t stop thinking about Laxman’s brilliance. Whipping Warne out of the rough through mid wkt and even driving him through the covers from way outside leg left me jaw dropped. Is KP Adelaide 06 the only other right hander to play him so well against the spin?

Steve Waugh at his gritty best with the most determined ton, Harbhajan ripping gloves off. Loved every second!

Can only imagine what it would have been like at Eden Gardens. Never seen a more enthusiastic crowd.

Anyway, on this day of the Lord’s crucifixion, prepare to be amazed once more by cricket’s great resurrection…..

India by 171 runs: even now it’s hard to believe.