Any cricketer who has played at the highest level would testify that performing in front of the home crowd can unnerve even the best in the business. The expectations of the crowd create a mountain of pressure under which many crumble.
Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly, although the apple of the eye of the Kolkata crowd, could hardly replicate his silken drives on the off and lofted maximums to spinners in front of his home crowd at Eden Gardens.
Although he salvaged some pride by scoring a ton in his last test on the ground, his average still remained a measly 31 at Eden Gardens. But once away from the home crowd pressure, the Royal Bengal Tiger roared with his bat in front of crowds all over the world. Ganguly is not the only cricketer but one in the long list of many who relished playing at a ground away from their own home ground.
Some piled on so many runs on their adopted home grounds that it's easy to forget their real home grounds.Here we take a look at some of those whose stories won’t be complete without a chapter on their love affairs with their homes away from home.
1. VVS Laxman – Eden Gardens, Kolkata
The wristy Hyderabadi right-hander earned himself a place in the history in 2001 with a career-defining 281 at Eden Gardens against Australia. In an unforgettable turnaround, after following on and staring at defeat, VVS Laxman stitched a 376 run stand with Rahul Dravid and set up India’s victory in that match. The team then went on to snatch victory in the following test at Chennai to halt the Australian juggernaut and won the series.
The team then went on to snatch victory in the following test at Chennai to halt the Australian juggernaut and won the series. This was the beginning of a love affair with Edens in a grand fashion as the Hyderabadi would go on to make the ground his own by ending with 4 more centuries and three half centuries.
Laxman scored 1217 runs in 15 innings at a mammoth average of 110.63. Till date, Laxman remains the only Indian to score 1000 runs at a single ground with an average more than 100.
2. Brian Lara – Antigua Recreational Ground
If you ask Brian Lara to pick his favorite piece of earth on this planet, chances are high that he would point not towards his home ground of Queen’s Park Oval but the Antigua Recreation Ground in St. John’s Antigua.
Popular for its association with Vivian Richards’ 56 ball century, which was scored in the first test played on this ground, Antigua Recreation Ground would also become the ground where Brian Lara would post two mammoth scores of 375 and 400, both coming against England exactly a decade apart.
In all Lara scored 1650 runs in 22 innings at an average of 78.57. He hit four tons and six half-centuries on this ground.
3. Don Bradman – The Melbourne Cricket Ground and Headingley
If someone has an average of more than 100 on five grounds, the name has to be Sir Donald Bradman. Although the Australian great scored massive hundreds on all grounds barring Old Trafford, Manchester, he reserved his best for the grandest stage – the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In 11 matches that he played at MCG, he piled on 1671 runs at an average of 128.53 that included 9 centuries and the innings of 270 that turned the 1936 Ashes on its head.
In 11 matches that he played at MCG, he piled on 1671 runs at an average of 128.53 that included 9 centuries and the innings of 270 that turned the 1936 Ashes on its head.
This phenomenal knock by the Don inspired his team to come back from a 2-0 deficit to win the Ashes 3-2, the only such turnaround in the history of the game. Bradman also found a home away from home in Headingley where he amassed 963 runs in just 4 matches at a jaw-dropping average of 192, that also included two of his triple hundreds.
4. Sachin Tendulkar – The MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
The Master Blaster, much like the Don enthralled crowds all over the world with his superlative batting performances for more than two decades. By the end of his career, no matter wherever he batted, it always seemed his home ground.
Yet, the hallowed turn of MA Chidambaram brought the best out in the Little Genius. Billed as the battle between Shane Warne and Tendulkar, the 1996 Chennai test saw the little master produce a masterful 155 in India’s second innings.
Tendulkar entertained the Chepauk crowd again, albeit in a lost cause against Pakistan in 1999 when he scored 136. Tendulkar played another ‘Sachin special’ on the backdrop of the Mumbai attacks in 2008 against England to chase down 387 in the 4th innings. In 10 matches he played at Chepauk, Sachin scored 970 runs at an average of 88.
4.Michael Clarke – The Gabba, Brisbane
The former Australian captain, who hails from Sydney, hit a memorable debut ton against India at Bangalore. Pup followed it up with a debut home ton as well at the Brisbane Cricket Ground and this started a lovely affair with the ground that culminated in him scoring 1030 runs in 10 matches at an average of 103.
Clarke is only one of the five batsmen who have scored more than 1000 runs at a ground and have managed a hundred plus average too.
6. Mahela Jayawardene – Galle International Stadium
The Sri Lankan legend forged an unforgettable relationship with one of the most picturesque stadiums ever. Mahela Jayawardene played 23 matches at the Galle International Stadium and notched up 2320 runs at an average of 70.
The 5 centuries he scored on the ground included 2 double tons. The Galle ground has also seen Jayawardene’s long time batting partner Kumara Sangakkara pile a bucket load of runs as he scored 1921 runs at an average of 50 in 23 matches.
7. Rohit Sharma – Eden Gardens
Though still in its fledgling state, the Rohit-Edens relationship is already a special one. Whenever the Mumbai batsman has walked out to bat on the Edens pitch, be it in the whites of Test or the blues of his India and Mumbai Indians’ shirts, he has conjured up magic. It comes as no surprise that Rohit’s 264 against Sri Lanka came on the same ground.
What more, when given a chance to make his Test debut after a long wait at Edens, Rohit once again unleashed an array of shots that only he is capable up to notch up a scintillating debut ton against West Indies.Even in the IPL, the Kolkata Knight Riders’ home ground is Rohit’s favorite home ground where he has a century to his name.
8. Sir Len Hutton – The Oval, London
Sir Richard Leonard Hutton’s home ground was Headingley, Yorkshire where he grew up playing and piled on a bucketload of runs for his county Yorkshire. Yet, when it came to Tests, the English legend relished playing at The Oval.
In the 12 matches, he got to play in his career on this ground, Hutton scored 1521 runs at an average of nearly 90. It was also the ground where he went past Sir Don Bradman’s 334 to score the then highest score of 364, helping England to notch up a humongous 903 runs.
9. Virat Kohli – Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
In the past couple of years, there has been no ground in any part of the world that has remained untouched by the batting brilliance of Virat Kohli. Yet, one relationship that has been strongly established is one between him and his IPL home turf of Chinnaswamy in Bangalore.
One of the few players who has been with the same team throughout, Kohli’s fondness for the Bangalore track has only grown as his career has progressed. Even before the 2016 season, where he has made batting look ridiculously easy, Kohli had impressive figures on the batting paradise of Chinnaswamy. Before the IPL final, Virat had 2096 runs at Bangalore in 9 seasons.
10. Inzamam-ul-Haq – Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
When ‘Sharjah’ and ‘Cricket’ are used in the same sentence, it is impossible to not talk of Sachin Tendulkar and his ‘Desert Storm’ tons against Australia. But despite his stellar performances in Sharjah in the 90’s, it is not Sachin who averages the highest or has the most runs at the venue. The man to whom this honour belongs is former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq.
Inzamam is only one of the two batsmen to have more than 2000 ODI runs at an average above 50 on a single ground, the other being Ricky Ponting. At the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, the burly right-hander scored a staggering 2464 runs, averaging 50, which is way better than his career average of 39.52.
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