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InDepth headlines national business sports cricket regional entertainment technology world travel autos health | in-depth coverage > 2004 - The Year That Was > 2004 – A Year of mixed fortunes for Indian Cricket 00.26 IST 02nd Jan 2005 By Manish Kumar 
If the fantastic show in the Test series Down Under and the triumphs in Test and ODI series in Pakistan were the high points for Indian cricket, then the slump in the ODI form and losing the home Test series against Australia were the dampeners.India started 2004 on a very high note. With the Test series against Australia level at 1-1, India declared their first innings in the fourth Test at Sydney at 705/7 – the highest-ever score made by a visiting side Down Under. The previous highest was 636 by England at the same venue 75 years ago. It was the great Sachin Tendulkar who scored the first century for India in 2004 – a magnificent 241 not out. At that time it became the second highest individual innings by an Indian batsman after V V S Laxman's 281 in Kolkata in 2001. Sachin's knock was also then the highest-ever score by an Indian abroad. The mammoth 353-run partnership between Sachin and Laxman for the fourth wicket is the highest-ever fourth wicket partnership against Australia as India kept the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after the Test ended in a draw at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 6. Sachin was adjudged the Man of the Match for scoring 301 unbeaten runs (241 not out and 70 not out) in the Test. The Man of the Series award went to Rahul Dravid, who aggregated 619 runs, at an average of 123.80 in the series. Leg spinner Anil Kumble was the most successful bowler in the four-Test contest with 24 wickets. Kumble had three five-wicket hauls at an average of 29.58. But India lost badly in the one-day Tri-series in Australia, with Zimbabwe as the third team. India and Australia expectedly made it to the finals, the first of which was held on February 6, 2004 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Australia easily won the first final by 7 wickets. The second final on February 8 at the SCG was almost the repeat of the 2003 World Cup final between Australia and India. The Aussies, riding on Matthew Hayden’s fiery knock of 126, scored 359/5 in their 50 overs. India in reply, were bundled out for just 151 runs in 33.2 overs. Australia won the match by 208 runs winning the best-of-three finals 2-0. India then toured Pakistan in March-April 2004. It was for the first time since 1988-89 (the series in which Sachin had made his debut) that India was touring Pakistan for a full-fledged tour, which consisted of five ODIs and three Tests. India won the first ODI at Karachi by 5 runs even though Pak skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq made a superb 122. In the second ODI at Rawalpindi, Sachin became the first Indian player to hit a one-day century (141) but India lost the match by 12 runs. Pakistan took a 2-1 lead by winning the third one-dayer at Peshawar by 4 wickets. But India won the next two ODIs at Lahore to win the series 3-2. Laxman scored 107 runs as India won the fifth one-dayer by 40 runs. The one-day series over, the focus shifted to the Test series, with the first Test beginning in Multan on March 28. The swashbuckling Virender Sehwag became the ‘Sultan of Multan’ smashing the first triple century by an Indian in Test cricket. Sehwag along with his idol Sachin (194 not out) added 336 runs for the third wicket as India declared at a mammoth score of 675/5. Kumble took 6/72 in the Pakistani second innings as India won the Test by an innings and 52 runs. But Pakistan bounced back to win the second Test at Lahore by 9 wickets and level the series 1-1, even though Yuvraj Singh made a century in the Indian first innings. But Sourav Ganguly’s men created history by winning the third Test at Rawalpindi and along with it the series 2-1. After failing in the first two Tests, Dravid smashed a career-best 270, as India won the Test by an innings and 131 runs. In July-August’04, India went to Sri Lanka to participate in the Asia Cup. It was in this tournament that India’s ODI slump started. India did make it to the final of the tournament but lost to hosts Sri Lanka by 25 runs in Colombo on 1st August. India then went to Amstelveen, Holland to take part in the inaugural Videocon Cup, with Pakistan and Australia as the other two teams. It was just prior to this tournament that Sachin was ruled out of cricket for some time due to an injured tennis elbow. Rain played spoilsport throughout the tournament as Pakistan beat India in the first match by 66 runs by Duckworth/Lewis method on August 21. The second match of the tournament between Australia and India on August 23 ended without result due to rain and the third match between Australia and Pakistan had to be abandoned without a ball being bowled again due to rain. Australia and Pakistan made it to the final of the tournament for not losing a match. In the final played on August 28, Australia beat Pakistan by 17 runs to win the tournament. India then played the NatWest Challenge which had three one-dayers against England in September. India’s poor one-day form continued as England won the first two ODIs at Trent Bridge and The Oval to win the series. India won the third ODI at Lord’s though for a consolation win. With Sachin still out due to injury, India braced themselves for the ICC Champions Trophy in September 2004. But India couldn’t make it even to the semi-final of the tournament as they were beaten by Pakistan in the last league match by 3 wickets in Birmingham on September 19. India then hosted Australia for probably the most-awaited Test series of the year. The Aussies came to India to conquer the Final Frontier – to win a Test series in India. In the first Test of one of the most anticipated series, India were beaten by Australia by 217 runs at Bangalore as a new star Matthew Clarke was born smashing a hundred on his Test debut. Harbhajan Singh took 11 wickets in the Test but that wasn’t enough to stop the rampaging Aussies. Rain robbed off India of a likely win in the second Test in Chennai as the hosts were chasing a victory target of 229 runs. Anil Kumble took 13 wickets in the drawn Test. Australia took an unbeatable 2-0 lead after winning the third Test at Nagpur. Man of the Match Damien Richard Martyn missed his hundred in the second innings by just three runs after his first innings’ effort of 114. Sachin played in this Test with a paining elbow but couldn’t make a mark. India saved some face by winning the fourth Test by 13 runs at Mumbai on a crumbling pitch as Australia were bowled out for 93 runs in their second innings chasing a victory target of 107 runs. Though Murali Kartik was adjudged the Man of the Match for taking seven wickets, it were Laxman and Sachin with superb knocks of 69 and 55 respectively, that set up the Indian win. Australia won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2004-05 by winning a Test series on Indian soil after more than 30 years. This undoubtedly was the biggest loss on the field for Indian cricket. On November 13th was staged the BCCI Platinum Jubilee Match between India and Pakistan at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. India’s one-day woes refused to give way as Pakistan won the match by 6 wickets. India then hosted South Africa for a two-Test series in November-December 2004. The first Test in Kanpur ended in a draw but in the second Test in Kolkata, Harbhajan ripped through the South African batting line-up in their second innings taking 7/87, as India won the Test by 8 wickets. With the win India clinched the Test series 1-0. India then toured Bangladesh for their last tour of 2004 – two Test matches and three ODIs. Sachin hit a career-best 248 not out in the first innings of the first Test. But it was India’s latest bowling sensation Irfan Pathan who was given the Man of the Match award for taking 11 wickets as India won the Test by an innings and 140 runs. Gautam Gambhir and Dravid hit centuries in the second Test at Chittagong to set up an Indian win by an innings and 83 runs, as India completed the 2-0 whitewash. India won the first one-dayer at Chittagong by 11 runs on December 23, with Mohammad Kaif top scoring with 80 runs. But shock of the year 2004 came in the second ODI in Dhaka on December 26 as India lost to Bangladesh by 15 runs. The hosts pulled off a stunning upset win to level the three-match series 1-1. This was Bangladesh’s first victory on home soil in 36 one-day internationals. But on the next day a wounded, resurgent India played like champions and thrashed the hosts by 91 runs to win the third match of the series to clinch the series 2-1, to finish 2004 on a winning note. 2004 will be remembered fondly by Kumble as the year in which he broke Kapil Dev’s record for most Test wickets by an Indian and also by Sachin who joined Sunil Gavaskar at the top of the batting summit with 34 centuries. Dravid was the most successful fielder for India in 2004 taking 26 catches in 12 Tests. Overall, India played 12 Tests in the year 2004, winning 6, losing 3 and drawing 3. The year 2005 begins with India hosting Pakistan in February-March. in-depth coverage > 2004 - The Year That Was > |
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