Sachin playing for Pakistan and 4 other cricket facts you might not know

ByNawang Chugh, SportsCafe Editor

07/01/2016

Cricket, is a game of stats and records. Every match and every series throws up new un-imagined records and facts. To a cricket crazy nation, most stats are unsurprising. But, there are some shocking facts which many cricket lovers would have missed, and would love to know.

India: The king of all formats

Indian fans will love this! When the Indian team won the 1983 World Cup under the veteran Kapil Dev, they were not the strongest of the team in the tournament. West Indies, Australia, and England were the favorites that season. Yet, the Indian team managed to win the World Cup, displaying great character. The game then, was a 60 overs-a-side affair.

Then in 2007, MS Dhoni and his young squad created history again. When many big players opted to rest, MSD along with his young brigade won the first ever T20 World Cup.

The 2011 World Cup also was very special for every Indian. It was a cup which team wanted to win for the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar & they did it in style. With this, Team India became the only team to have won the World Cup in all formats -60 overs, 50 overs and 20 overs.

Richard Stokes: Only person to view Jim Laker and Anil Kumble taking 10 wickets in an innings

The magical spell by Anil Kumble in Delhi where he took 10 wickets in an innings against the arch-rivals Pakistan cannot be forgotten in a hurry. He wasn’t the first to do so. Way back in 1956, Jim Laker did it against Australia during Ashes series.

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What is mind-blowing thought, is the fact that Richard Stokes, son of a B-Division Surrey cricketer, was the only man to witness Jim Laker and Anil Kumble taking all 10 wickets in an innings. He had witnessed the amazing feat performed 43 years apart! This is what Richard Stokes had to say,

“I made it to the ground after lunch and Pakistan were very comfortable. Immediately, Kumble got two in an over and I told a friend of mine that I have brought luck to Kumble and India. When he had taken six wickets, I told him about my having watched Laker's feat, and he just said that history was about to be repeated. I merely laughed.”

Peter Siddle made his birthday more special

There have been amazing performances in the past by many cricketers on their birthdays. Example : Sachin’s desert storm against the Aussies in the final on 24th April 1998.

Australia’s pacer Peter Siddle created a unique record for himself - the only man to take a hat-trick on his birthday. The unlucky batsmen were Alistair Cook, Matt Prior, and Stuart Broad. The match was held at Gabba in 2010. That was really a huge gift he gave himself!

Sachin played for Pakistan before

Can you imagine India’s greatest batsman Sachin Tendulkar playing for any other team, let alone arch-rivals Pakistan? This actually happened!

In 1987, Tendulkar came on the field as a substitute fielder for Pakistan. Javed Miandad and Abdul Qadir left the field at lunch time and Tendulkar was asked to field. He was standing at long-on and soon Kapil Dev hit a skier in his direction. Despite running 15 metres, Tendulkar could not reach the ball. It was a practice match between India and Pakistan at Brabourne Stadium and that was Sachin’s first taste of international cricket.

Also read- If only Messi had learnt from Sachin's 22 year journey to win a World Cup

When Inzamam Stunned Brian Lara

There is no doubting what a huge influence Inzy was as a batsman. But very few are aware of his magic with the bowl. He bowled for the first time in his international career in 1991 when West Indies was playing against Pakistan.Skipper Imran Khan handed the ball to a young Inzamam-Ul-Haq, who was playing his second international match. It was his first over in international cricket & Brian Lara was batting at 45. As he bowled, he got Lara to edge one and

Skipper Imran Khan handed the ball to a young Inzamam-Ul-Haq, who was playing his second international match. It was his first over in international cricket & Brian Lara was batting at 45. As he bowled, he got Lara to edge one and wicket-keeper Moin Khan made no mistake. It was a wicket from the first bowl of his career.Inzy went on to pick three more wickets in his famed ODI career.

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