Every cricketer dreams of representing his country in the international arena someday and if he’s a batsman, he always has that one dream to score a century. A double-century have become quite common in Tests as well as in ODIs with the sort of performances the current crop of batsmen are putting on these days.
Scoring a double-century in Test cricket is always a great achievement and over the years, there have been a number of batsmen who have achieved this. However, there have been a few instances when the batsmen have to go through the pain of being dismissed at 199. The most recent one of them came during the India-England Test series when KL Rahul got dismissed by Adil Rashid for 199 which prevented him from a glorious and well-deserved double-hundred.
The likes of Sanath Jayasuriya, Younis Khan and Mohammad Azharuddin have also been dismissed on this score during some time in their illustrious careers.
Being dismissed on 199 is perhaps even more painful than being dismissed on 99, especially for a player who has just begun his career because getting a double-century during the early stages of your international career is a morale booster.
Here are five thoughts that might pass through a player’s mind when he gets dismissed on 199.
#5 Why did I have to play that shot!
One of the first things that go through a batsman’s mind when dismissed is “Why in the world did I go for that shot”. When a batsman gets dismissed for 99 or 149, the batsman gets disappointed but a dismissal on 199 does make him sick to the stomach and probably more painful than being hit on the body by the cricket ball.
He keeps on wondering why he had to play that particular shot, and that he could have kept his calm and simply defended that delivery and tried to reach the milestone a few deliveries later.
Or he could have just plainly grounded the shot and taken a run or two or he could have done a Virender Sehwag by going for the glamour shot to bring up the glorious double-hundred. These thoughts always go through the batsman’s mind when he sits in the pavilion pondering about what could have been.
#4 Maybe the best chance I had to get a double hundred
Even though scores of 100+ and 150+ have been quite prevalent in Test cricket these days, scoring a double-century in Tests will be something a batsman will always cherish for the rest of his career regardless of how long his career goes on to be.
No matter how good form a batsman is in, scoring a double-hundred in any format of the sport is not something you see every day and such chances do not come frequently. When a batsman gets dismissed on 199, he brings in a sea of dejection with him into the pavilion right from the moment he gets dismissed and the thought of it being probably the best chance to get a double-century often comes to his mind.
For batsmen who have been brought into the playing XI as injury covers for in-form regulars, this will probably be one of the biggest thoughts that would come to their minds if dismissed on 199.
#3 How good would it have been
Whenever a player in any sport comes close to reaching a particular milestone and goes on to miss it, he keeps on ruing his miss and ponders what could have been. And in cricket, it isn’t any different, be it missing a bowling milestone or missing a batting milestone or ending the runner-up in a World Cup.
When dismissed on 199, a batsman sits in the pavilion and wonders what could have been if he would have got to that milestone; maybe he could have gone on to score a triple hundred or for somebody like Virat Kohli or Joe Root may have thought about breaking Brian Lara’s record.
For a cricketer who has been out of form for a long time, he would have regretted about how brilliant a comeback it would have been if he had got to a double-century.
#2 I should have converted a run or two into a boundary earlier
A run or two can easily alter the outcome of a match or even a tournament and after losing a match by a short margin, cricketers often ponder about how different an outcome would it have been had they scored a few runs earlier during their innings.
When a player fails to reach a batting milestone by a run or two, he wonders if he should have converted one of the dot balls into ones or ones in twos earlier throughout his innings. The same thought crosses the mind of a batsman when dismissed on 199 as he rues his missed chances while sitting in the pavilion.
#1 So close, yet so far
And the phrase that comes on everybody’s list when a person fails to reach an individual landmark by a whisker or a team ends a tournament as the runners-up. It’s just like nearing the finish line but the fuel tank becoming empty by then. In cricket, whenever a batsman fails to reach a milestone, this is probably the first thought that is bound to cross his mind.
Even though a score of 199 is no cakewalk and is a monumental effort, that one run will always haunt the player till he does get to a double-hundred. Thinking about how that one run could have made a huge difference just increases the frustration of the player.
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