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Rohit Sharma
England vs India (Ageas Bowl, Southampton – 29 July 2014)
The heartbroken 23-year-old took to Twitter after Rohit Sharma was left out of India's squad for the 2011 World Cup. “I was really, really disappointed. [sic] I wasn’t part of the WC team…I have to move on from here, but to be honest it was a huge setback! ”
At the time, Sharma was considered a charming spendthrift who wasn't going anywhere fast. After 61 ODIs, he averaged 27. His three knocks as an ODI opener produced 29 runs. Living with his grandparents as his father's income was too low, Test cricket was a distant dream for the rural boy from Maharashtra, who was spotted by a talent scout while bowling off-spin as a teenager. It remained.
The turning point came in January 2013, when MS Dhoni won the argument to push Sharma into the opening ODI squad. Given time and support, Sharma changed. In his first innings he smashed 83 against England. He shined in the 2013 Champions Trophy in tough conditions in England. Later that year, he batted 141 runs (123 runs) for Australia in Jaipur. Two weeks later, in the same Australian series, he scored his first double of 158-209. At the end of a whirlwind year, he made his Test debut. He achieved 177 and 111* in his first two knocks.
A decade later, Sharma has won 48 International Hundreds, five IPL titles and earned the title of the most complete opener in the game. Without Dhoni, he might have sunk without a trace. P.W.
Moeen Ali
England v South Africa (The Oval, London – 31 July 2017)
No English cricketer has changed shape or redefined himself more this century than Moeen Ali. Last summer, when he returned for his final outburst, he answered Stokes' “Ashes?” “LOL” he texted as he resumed his Test career, which has taken on various guises since his debut 10 years ago.
Going into 2013, Moeen was seen as one of the more stylish players in county cricket and a stroke-maker with good numbers, but not enough to trouble the selectors. That year, Moeen scored his second 1000 runs for Worcestershire, and his prolific season continued. However, what really caught our attention was his off-breaks, which he had been casually developing on a whim since he was a child playing at Spark Hill. Throughout the year, Moeen took 31 wickets, enough to qualify for the Lions in the winter. Elsewhere that winter, Graham Swann was set to bowl his last ball in an England shirt.
Swann's retirement created a space. Mr. Moen also participated in the discussion. For example, Swann could see why. “He's a natural and he breaks it. Moeen has to play.” By mid-2014, Moeen was now a batsman-spinner and was in the Test team.
Despite a solid hundred that almost saved his team at Leeds, in classic Moeen fashion he never played such a knock again, but in the first two innings against Sri Lanka. The test was a struggle with the ball.
He was doing it on the wing. Ian Bell told him that he needed to bowl faster to be successful at Test level. Ahead of the Lord's Test against India, former Sri Lankan off-spinner turned ICC umpire Kumar Dharmasena gave him some valuable tips. Mr. Dharmasena advised him to grab his left pants pocket with his non-bowling arm after giving birth to put more of his body into the action without losing his flight. “I tried one pitch and immediately knew it worked,” he told ESPNcricinfo in 2015.
For four summers, Moeen was a dangerous Test off-spinner and at times a deadly batsman. After 44 Tests, he had scored five tons and 128 wickets. But England got too excited and abused his permanent wildcard by moving him up and down the table. By the time of the 2017/18 Ashes, he was batting in every position from number one to number nine. The result was a loss of identity.
The ashes were a brutal experience. Moeen was hit by a bomb, which left him bruised and dismembered. He also came around and had his say during last year's hot summer. But he could never be the same player again who defeated his free-flowing talent at Homespan and made hell out of it. P.W.
kevin petersen
Karnataka XI vs England A (Bengaluru, Jain International School Cricket Ground – February 7, 2004)
After taking four wickets in a 1999 tour match against England Eleven, Natal's beanpole off-spinner Kevin Pietersen sits down with England captain Nasser Hussain to discuss the 19-year-old's escape from South Africa We talked about how to do it.
Impressed by the kid's front and obvious talent – Pietersen had scored 61* in Natal's first innings, smashing four sixes from number nine – Hussain duly opened his contact book. Less than two years later, Pietersen arrived at Notts. South Africa's legendary all-rounder Clive Rice was the director of cricket.
Hearing the signature, he frowned a little. Pietersen appeared in the spring of 2001 with just two fifties (including 61 against England) and 23 expensive wickets in 10 first-class matches. However, the uproar surrounding his decision to defect to South Africa was such that Pietersen blamed South Africa's post-apartheid quota system for holding him back, saying that “off-spinners and lower-order batsmen” were more than the sum of these numbers. suggested something. Natal coach Phil Russell admitted he was “disappointed to lose a player with Kevin's potential”, but even Dr Ali Bacher, then the most powerful figure in South African cricket, did not dissuade Kevin. I couldn't do it.
Bacher's attempts at the idea behind the quota system, which was essential at the time, that one day non-white players would be able to maintain their rankings based on merit, fell on deaf ears. “It closed the door for me,” he told the Observer in 2006. “I don't think politics has a place in sports. We are entertainers.”
As for Rice himself, he knew what he was getting into. “There's something about him,” he said at the time. “I think there is certainly a chance that he could be in the England squad after four years of qualifying.”
Four years later, at the first opportunity, English cricket took the plunge. In his first match, Pietersen hit four tons in a week for England A (and bowled a few overs and took zero wickets). Inevitably, playing in his first high-profile senior series against South Africa in the ODI rubber, he defied boos and hit three centuries in six knocks.
Later that year, he played against Australia for the first time wearing a tattoo of three lions, and capped off his first international summer with two free masterpieces. First was the ODI at Bristol (65-91*) and then the Ashes decider. I was hooked on English cricket and very grateful for it. It took him six months. And he didn't throw a single ball. P.W.
Shortened version. For the full article, see Wisden Cricket Monthly Issue #77.
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