5 lesser known instances when players excelled in pressure situations

Cricket at its best epitomizes life! More often than not, players are faced with the most daunting of circumstances. More often than not, they face situations of adversity which can demoralize and make a mockery of one's self confidence and attitude. Most players buckle under pressure. They fail to handle the stress and sustained pressure that the opposition puts on them.

But some players have a steely resolve to fight through that troubled period. With single minded determination and discipline, they rise like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes to lead a scarcely believable resurgence that will go on to become the stuff of legend.

Let’s look at a few such instances where testing circumstances brought the best out of some players and elevated the sport to a different level.

#1. Brendon McCullum v India, 2nd Test, India vs NZ, Wellington 2014

Brendon McCullum has always been known for his blazing strokeplay and he carried that aggression into his captaincy. The result was a dramatic resurgence in New Zealand's test fortunes and they became world beaters in multiple formats, with the exception of an ICC silverware.

But people always held the view that he was not the one to look up to in pressure situations. He had often been criticized for his extravagant shot selection in situations which required him to put his head down. The man just couldn't shelve his natural strokeplay, it seemed.

During the final test match of India's tour of New Zealand in 2014, Newzealand were shot out for 192 in the first innings and saw India score 438 to take a significantly rich lead of 246. They found themselves 94/5 in the second innings and with Taylor absent injured and Williamson back in the pavilion, surely an imminent defeat was in cards.

BJ Watling joined McCullum in the crease and then what followed was a partnership fit for the gods. The two put on 352 runs off 738 deliveries, and took their team from a very difficult position to a scarcely believable match winning one. Though BJ Watling deserves special mention for his selfless display of dogged resistance, the star of the show was undoubtedly McCullum.

Battling a dodgy back and his own natural attacking instinct, he put up an amazing display of relentless application and a single minded pursuit of survival. In an innings of gigantic proportions, He made 302 runs off 559 balls, batting and battling for 775 minutes, close to a scarcely believable 13 hours!

From requiring 152 runs to make India bat again, with just 5 wickets remaining, to set India an improbable target of 435 in just over 2 sessions, it was a triumph of mind over matter.

The match was saved! The series was won! More significantly, a national great had staked his claim of being counted as one of the all-time greats.

#2. Ryan Harris v South Africa, 3rd Test, Australia vs South Africa, Cape Town 2014

This series had reached a tipping point. It was getting more and more intense by the day! Players from both sides indulged in explosive press conferences. Australia's tour of South Africa was tied at 1-1 and this was the final match of the series.

A David Warner and Michael Clarke inspired Australia quickly dominated the match for much of the first 4 days. Australia set South Africa an imposing target of 510 runs. South Africa were not going out without a fight though! A win out of the equation, they went on a stonewalling spree led by Ab De Villiers's 228 ball 43. Even Dale Steyn looked focused and hung on for 75 minutes while scoring a solitary run. Could they repeat their heroics from Adelaide 2012 where they had hung on by the skin of their teeth to salvage a draw?

Ryan Harris has always been the quintessential Australian fast bowler ; someone who just never gives up. His career had been marred by injuries but he kept coming back and each time he bettered his performances. Mitchell Johnson and Pattinson were unable to make the ball talk, and Clarke looked desperate. He turned to Harris, the indomitable spirit. Could he conjure something special?

Harris looked spent for most of the day. He was virtually bowling on one leg. His long term struggle with his knee had aggravated and he could barely walk, let alone run and bowl searing deliveries at high speeds. Even though he was the one who had managed to snuff out the stonewalling AB De Villiers, it was clearly visible that he was really struggling physically. At times throughout the day, he was hobbling and often pulled up in his delivery stride. Could he overcome his personal painful struggles and conjure up a memorable Australian win?

In the pursuit of something extra ordinary, he could have landed awkwardly on his feet and done permanent damage to his knee, which could have resulted in the end of his career.

But Ryan Harris put in a performance which will go down in Australian Cricket as one of the most heroic spells of all time.

With 5 overs left in the day, he ran in and castled the stubborn Dale Steyn with what was a toe crusher. You could sense it in his celebrations that he really wanted to win it for his country. 2 balls later, Morne Morkel had absolutely no idea where his stumps cartwheeled, as players from all over the ground mobbed Harris, a man who had put his body and career at stake, to deliver a famous and memorable series win for Australia over the World No. 1 team.

#3. Faf Du Plessis v Australia, 3rd Test, South Africa vs Australia, Adelaide 2016

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South Africa had just done something really special: they had defeated Australia in Australia for the third series in a row! 2008, 2012 and 2016! They were now on course to hand Australia a whitewash in their own territory.

The cricketing fraternity was just starting to warm up to Faf Du Plessis's inspiring captaincy who in the absence of stellar players like Ab De Villiers and Dale Steyn, had marshalled his resources remarkably well and was on par to deliver a record breaking series win.

But things were about to take a turn for the worse for the affable Du Plessis. A controversial video alleging him of ball tampering made headlines much more than it should have, and suddenly Du Plessis was the bad guy.

Australia had just lost a series of massive proportions, and suddenly the Australian media got enough fodder to distract the attention of the public away from the drubbing the national team had just received. The week should have been Du Plessis’ time to bask in the glory of defeating Australia in Australia, but somehow he was in the news for all the wrong reasons. Some even called for him to be suspended. All for a controversial video?

He was then heckled by a Channel Nine Reporter at the airport. Surely an international cricketer being manhandled off the field is a sad thing for the game, right? Du Plessis handled all this perfectly. It was clear that he was saddened by the turn of events, but he didn't let his emotions show.

He walks out to bat in the final test, and to no one’s surprise, The Australian Crowd is all over him, booing him to the crease. The team is enduring a troubled phase and Starc and Bird are causing all kinds of problems, but Du Plessis digs in. Nobody else makes more than 40, but Du Plessis goes on to make a century.

It was a day night test and the ball is swinging all around the place. But nothing could trouble Du Plessis. He was, as great players like to call it, in the zone! He raised his bat after his century, but the crowd boo him further.

Surely this was getting ridiculous, isn’t it? But on that day, nothing seemed to budge him. He had the yogic ability to shut off the outer nonsense and gather hidden mental reserves required to pull off such an epic.

The innings though was a one man show, and Usman Khawaja's 145 wrested the match back in Australia's control. Australia eventually won the match and though Du Plessis's outstanding innings couldn't help prevent a defeat, on a personal level he ended up unbeaten.

#4. Kevin Pietersen against India, 2nd test, England Vs India, Mumbai 2012

Image Courtesy - The Ring Side View

Kevin Pietersen has shredded world class attacks into pieces. His 149 on a bouncy pitch at Leeds against the best fast bowling attack in the world, in 2012 was the embodiment of the unbelievable talent he was! He could dismantle fast bowling like few others in the world.

But over the years, he had one nemesis.

Left arm spin and Kevin Pietersen just don't go in the same phrase.

Pietersen was abysmal against left arm spin for a large part of his career. Prolific bowlers like Daniel Vettori and Rangana Herath had the wood on him for a significantly long period of time. Paul Harris, Suleiman Benn and Yuvraj Singh had all piled on the misery.

Even a lesser successful bowler like Pragyan Ojha reduced him to a walking wicket in the first test of England's tour of India in 2012. It was in Ahmedabad, which was not a rank turner. England still had 3 tests left in the series. Surely Pietersen would be given a barrage of left arm spin to face?

MS Dhoni ordered a rank turner for the 2nd test in Mumbai. The pitch was a dustbowl in the true sense of the phrase. Surely this was going to be Pietersen's graveyard? Or was it?

In what was one of the greatest innings played in Indian soil by an Englishman, Kevin Pietersen launched a spectacular assault in Mumbai and scorched a breathtaking 186. He took the conventional off spinners apart but what was eye raising was the disdain with which he treated the left armer Pragyan Ojha as well. Pietersen's 186 came off just 233 balls and it turned the series upside down. It was a statement of intent and this went a long way in banishing the demons that had crept into his mind. The innings was hailed as a clinic in how to play spin in rank turners, and the fact that it came from a man not known to play spin well, affirmed his status as one of the most breathtaking players Cricket has ever seen.

The innings had far reaching implications, as India fell into their own trap and succumbed to Monty Panesar. The knock was the major reason England could level the series at 1-1, and would ultimately prove to be the turning point of the series, as England would go on to win the series 2-1 and hand India a first series loss at home in 8 years.

#5. Dale Steyn against India, South Africa vs India, Nagpur 2010

Dale Steyn has a bowling strike rate of 41.4 in Test Cricket. It is easily the best for anyone who has played more than 25 test matches. That he has managed to have that strike rate after taking 417 wickets in 85 test matches, is the reason why pundits across the world keep him in the same bracket as the fearsome pacers of the pre 2000 era.

But what sets him apart from other great fast bowlers of this era? What sets him apart from someone like James Anderson?

The answer to that is rather simple. More often than not, Dale Steyn takes the pitch out of action. While James Anderson generally requires some swing and purchase in the wicket, Dale Steyn doesn't need any such favors. His strike rate is less than 40 in Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, countries where the pitches are not traditionally suited for pace bowlers. His performance in Nagpur against India in 2010 was one of the greatest fast bowling spectacles of all time.

When South Africa came touring in 2010, they had one of the best fast bowling attacks the modern game has seen. They were thus provided with pitches that would negate the advantage and would give India some breathing space.

The pitch in the first test in Nagpur was flatter than a highway. There was absolutely no conventional swing in offer and there was no bounce either. Surely Steyn couldn't create in roads here, could he?

In what was one of the most majestic spells of fast bowling, Dale Steyn took 7-51 to help skittle India for 233 in the first innings. South Africa had piled on 558 runs on the same pitch. That Steyn could extract conventional swing and reverse swing in the same dead pitch is a tribute to his enviable repertoire of skills and abilities.

He came back in the 2nd innings to prize out the valuable wicket of Virender Sehwag, who was the only one to provide resistance to Steyn's deadly accurate bowling in the first innings. He took 10 for the match and helped South Africa register what was probably their finest victory in India. No other bowler took more than 4 wickets in the entire match.

The performance enhanced Steyn's reputation of being arguably the most complete fast bowler the modern era has seen.