Cricket conversations
By Siddhartha Vaidyanathan I grew up at a time when India won (nearly) every Test at home and lost (nearly) every Test abroad. The phrases that punctuated newspaper reports back then: ‘designer pitches’, ‘underprepared pitches’ and ‘doctored pitches’. The players were ‘tigers at home, lambs abroad’, prospering on tracks they
By Siddhartha Vaidyanathan Late in January, Australia lost a Test in Brisbane. The three words ‘Australia’, ‘lost’ and ‘Brisbane’ had last been uttered in combination in 1988. Of the 31 subsequent Tests at the venue, 24 had ended in Australia wins, the other seven in draws. Then along came a
Dear Reader, This website began as a blog where Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd) and I exchanged leisurely thoughts on Test cricket. When I suggested the name 81allout, Mahesh had said: “Can’t get a more symbolic name for a suicidal mission. Love it.” Soon we branched out into podcasting, inviting others to
By Rohit Naimpally Raging infernos aside, living in Berkeley, California has proven a blessing over the past few months. The weather is conducive to being outdoors at a time when indoor spaces are petri dishes. More importantly, it has allowed me to indulge two obsessions: a lifelong one of cricket
By Siddhartha Vaidyanathan Two years ago, I revisited the Chennai Test between India and Pakistan in 1999. To mark the 20th anniversary of that momentous match, I spoke to some of the players who had taken part, some journalists who covered it, and some fans who were at the stadium
By Aftab Khanna In mid-December last year, as I sat in a hospital room holding my two-day old son in my arms, I asked myself what kind of cricketing legacy I would be passing on to my children. You might wonder why among all the things in the world did
By Siddhartha Vaidyanathan One of the hardest things to explain is why one falls in love. You can list a few reasons, rationalize some emotions, articulate feelings, whatever. But you are unlikely to ever be able to put into words all that is happening within. Those unexpected jitters – brief
By Apurv Sardeshmukh Every cricket fan remembers the first game they witnessed live in a stadium. I do too. I was fortunate to watch the semi-final and the final of the Ranji Trophy in the 90/91 season at the Wankhede Stadium. The final is probably the greatest first-class game played
By Srikanth Natarajan Everybody has an SRT story. Some will talk about Desert Storm as if it happened last week. Others will talk about his last over in the Hero Cup game against South Africa. Others still will recollect the four sixes off Abdul Qadir. Stories that will make them
By Srikanth Natarajan My earliest recollection of a Test match that I followed was when I was probably 8. I had the privilege of growing up with two grand fathers and an aunt, who were all huge cricket buffs. My paternal granddad was the Late Prof S Sivasubramaniam, (big granddad)