The dark clouds above the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg were caving in. However, the smiles on the faces of a few thousand Indian in the ground couldn’t be brighter. India was at the brink of creating history; moments away from grabbing their first test win on South African soil.
South Africa were battered and bettered in all quarters. But the world is weird and so is the mind of a few players. South African fast bowler André Nel, following an arsenal of bouncers targeted at the body of India’s 23-year-old tailender, suddenly decided to take a dig at the young man and question his heart and lack of courage.
It was rather odd for a player of a team who had nothing to cheer for in the test sledging one of the top performers. Yet, here we were.
Nel went back to the mark to bowl his next delivery. Commentators went on to criticise the bowler and opined the young man has nothing to care about.
The South African quick runs in, bowls a good length delivery outside off. The tailender hops to his left, makes room, frees his arms and smashes the ball to long-off for a six. The crowd goes berserk as the young pacer breaks into the most hysterical celebratory dance in the middle of the pitch. Nel puts his head down and walks back to his mark.
The commentators take a while to control their waves of laughter as Shanthakumaran Sreesanth lets the world know that he is not here to back off and let anyone else have the last laugh.
The stories of Sreesanth and his antics can go till the wake of dawn. With ‘peace’ ingrained in his very name, Sreesanth was once the clown prince of India. Wearing his heart on his sleeve, he was up for anything.
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As the flamboyant pacer plans to return to cricket after his seven-year-long ban, for allegedly spot-fixing in the IPL 2013 season, ended on Sunday, we take a look at his most memorable performances:
IND VS ENG 1ST TEST 2006, NAGPUR
Replacing Zaheer Khan, it was in the home series against England Sreesanth made his Test debut for India. There was quite a bit of conjecture about the Kerala-born speedster. Opening the bowling with Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth kept troubling the opening pair.
Finally, he grabbed the wicket of Sir Andrew Strauss with his signature outswinger, when the opening batsman edged it to the slips.
Next up Sreesanth scalped the wicket of Kevin Pietersen. In the end of the innings, he cleaned the tail with wickets of Matthew Hoggard and Monty Panesar.
He finished the innings with figures of 4-95 and India went on to draw the match.
IND VS PAKISTAN 5th ODI SERIES, KARACHI
Under Rahul Dravid, India had already sealed the series by the 4th match. Still, any game against Pakistan is invaluable, irrespective of what is at stake.
In the most emphatic fashion, Sreesanth ran through the Pakistan top order, dismissing Kamran Akmal, Imran Farhat and Shoaib Malik. The right-hand fast-medium pacer ran in with the most accurate seam presentation which made his balls unplayable.
Sreesanth ended his spell with figures of 4-58 and India went on to win the match and the series, with a margin of 4-1.
KXIP VS RCB IPL 2008, BANGALORE
Playing for the Punjab side, Sreesanth opened the bowling with his national team compatriot Irfan Pathan. His lethal outswingers trapped Royal Challengers Bangalore opener Wassim Jaffer as he ended up nicking an away-going delivery to the slips on a duck. Further in the match, Sreesanth went on to dismiss Cameron White for a golden duck in the innings. The pacer had 2-16 in his four overs and was crowned the man of the match for his two crucial wickets and a catch to dismiss Virat Kohli.
IND VS SA 1st TEST 2006, JOHANNESBURG
A lot happened in that priorly discussed Wanderers test. It was one for the history books. Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to bat.
After posting a total of 249/10 in the first innings, on a cloudy morning, the Indian opening bowlers took to the pitch to defend the tally.
With a seaming delivery coming into the left-hander, Sreesanth trapped Graeme Smith on the pads early. Following it with the wickets of Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla.
He ended the innings with a tally of 5-40. Even though a wicket eluded him in the second innings Sreesanth bowled clean and tight to carry India to the win.
IND VS SA 2nd TEST 2010 DURBAN
It is somehow always South Africa.
The final inclusion in the list is not much of a performance in its entirety but a ball, a single ball in a test match, does make the cut.
South Africa, 1-0 up in the series, were 123/3 in the second innings, only 180 runs from sealing the match and the series.
Jacques Kallis on strike, Sreesanth walked to his mark, donning a headband that had entered the fashion books of every young pacer. He sprinted in and with his lyrical action pitched in a bumper of a delivery that took the South African all-rounder by surprise. Completely losing track of the ball, Kallis tried to get out of the way only to glove a looping catch to the slips.
An Indian fast-medium pacer catching a South African off guard with short stuff, who would’ve thought? Only, Sreesanth, I presume.
