Indian cricket team, time and again, has given its fans plenty of reasons to cheer about. And with each and every win, there emerges a hero, who took that particular game by the scruff of its neck and took his team to victory.
However, amidst all the jubilation and talks about the ‘hero’, quite often, we forget that there was an innings or a spell which set up the platform for the ‘hero’ to launch from. Here, in this article, we talk about five such performances who didn’t get the recognition because a teammate of theirs stole all the limelight by taking the team through.
#1 Gautam Gambhir, 2007 T20 World Cup Final
India were crowned the champions of the inaugural T20 World Cup under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The highlights from the tournament were a young and new captain's outstanding leadership qualities and Yuvraj Singh's six sixes off Stuart Broad.
Both Dhoni and his confidante Yuvraj deserved all the attention they did, but not at the cost of Gautam Gambhir's brilliant knock going uncredited.
Not many people remember, or even know, that the highest run-getter in the tournament was Gambhir. He amassed 227 runs with an average of 37.83 and a strike rate of 129. And that speaks volumes of how instrumental the Delhi batsman was in the India's victory.
In the marquee final against arch- rivals Pakistan, Gambhir scored a gritty 75 off 54 when other big names in the India batting line-up failed to make an impact.
#2 Gautam Gambhir, 2011 World Cup Final
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Sri Lanka posted 274-6, with a major contribution from Mahela Jayawardene's 103. After losing both the openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar early on, it was Gautam Gambhir who stabilised the innings. He added important partnerships with Virat Kohli and captain MS Dhoni to score a beautiful 97 off 122 balls under immense pressure.
When his wicket fell, India were already in a good position to lift the ODI World Cup after 28 years. Although it was Dhoni who took India over the line with some mighty shots, it was Gambhir who brought stability to the Indian innings, without which the game may not have unfurled as it did.
The Delhi batsman didn't get the recognition he deserved for his knock, perhaps because he fell just 3 runs short of a century? His 97 faded away silently as Dhoni and his world cup winning 6 hogged all the limelight.
Extra Cover: Reliving India's 2011 World Cup win
#3 Gautam Gambhir, CB Series 2007-08
No Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni fan can ever forget the 2007-08 CB series in Australia. For Sachin fans, the master blaster played two brilliant knocks (117 and 91) in the tri-series finals and guided the Men in Blue to a famous one-day international series win in Australia.
For Dhoni fans, it was captain cool’s first overseas series as the ODI skipper. And amidst both these feats, Gambhir’s heroics were eclipsed once again.
He was the most consistent player throughout the tournament with tops scores of 102 (Vs Sri Lanka), 113 (Vs Australia) and 63 (Vs Sri Lanka), top scoring in the series with 440 runs with an average of 55. There is one more reason that makes his performance in the series special – it was his first ever series on Australian soil.
#4 Suresh Raina, World Cup Quarterfinal 2011
Having won the World Cup in 1999, 2003 and 2007, Australia were on a roll in 2011 as well, but it was India who finally took their wheels off in the marquee quarter-final at Ahmedabad. It was the partnership between Yuvraj and Raina that made all the difference as they remained together until the winning runs were scored and India progressed to the semifinals.
Yuvraj played the lead role with Raina in support, and somewhere along that, Raina’s innings went uncredited. India’s run-chase saw almost all batsmen getting out at the wrong time. The team seemed in a spot of bother at 187-5, still requiring 74 runs to win as Suresh Raina joined Yuvraj Singh in the middle.
Although several overs were left for India to chase down the target, one couldn’t help but think about the batting collapses by India in the past, and both the batsmen had to play very carefully. The duo put on a match-winning partnership as India won with two overs to spare.
While Yuvraj scored an unbeaten 57 and was awarded the Man-of-the-Match, Raina scored a 28-ball 34. If Yuvraj was not well supported by Raina, India’s batting might have collapsed. The cautiousness with which Raina protected the wickets went unnoticed.
#5 Navjot Singh Sidhu, World Cup Quarterfinals, 1996
It was the second quarterfinal of Wills World Cup. Batting first, India put up a total of 287, on the back of a brilliant knock by Navjot Singh Sidhu. Tendulkar and Sidhu provided a decent start to India.
A prolific cutter, Sidhu survived a few edges but slowly grew in confidence. He played both the pacers and spinners with such ease that it became an innings to remember. While Sidhu lost Tendulkar (31) and, then, Sanjay Manjrekar (20) soon, there was no stopping him.
He was foxed on 93 by Mushtaq Ahmed’s flipper, but had built a foundation for the rest of the batting line-up. India won the game, Sidhu won the man of the match, but this knock from him didn’t survive time and faded away, more so because of the ruckus that the Eden Gardens crowd created in the semifinal against Sri Lanka.
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