From The Vault: My Favourite Boxing Day Knocks by Visiting Batsmen

Boxing Day, which occurs just a day after Christmas, i.e., on 26^th December, is an occasion which is celebrated in most of the Commonwealth countries with great fervour and a big part of these celebrations is the concept of attending some kind of professional sporting games in those parts of the world. In Australia, the Boxing Day Test Match which is usually held at Melbourne is a heavily-attended fixture and over the years, it has produced some brilliant individual displays of batting as well as some fabulous bowling spells. In this article, I would be recollecting my memories of some of the best Boxing Day knocks I’ve seen from a visiting team batsman. The knocks aren’t ranked in any particular order and you’re free to agree/disagree with my views and your suggestions are certainly most welcome.

1.      Sachin Tendulkar- 116 vs. Australia in 1999-2000: -

o   The 1990s was that time in Indian cricket where essentially, Sachin Tendulkar was the pillar around which the batting order revolved and essentially, the hopes of an entire nation. The Indian team’s tour of Australia in 1999-2000 was one of the most disastrous tours of the Indian team in recent memory as they failed to register victories in any of their games bar one first-class game and an ODI against Pakistan in the subsequent tri-series. But then-Captain Tendulkar showed class as he battled an Australian bowling attack containing Glenn McGrath, Damien Fleming, Shane Warne & a tearaway quick on debut going by the name of Brett Lee. Amidst the smouldering ruins of his team which was wrecked by the hostility of Brett Lee, Sachin stood up and played a Captain’s knock of 116 which till date, ranks as one of Sachin’s best centuries for me and also one of my most favourite Boxing Day knocks, for the sheer fact that he stood amongst the burning deck of his team’s ruins and as Captain, showing the manner in which a batsman could tackle one of the best bowling attacks of the world. It’s a knock which I can still recall fondly, even if the remaining memories of the tour aren’t so fond enough to recall.

2.      Virender Sehwag- 195 vs. Australia in 2003-04: -

o   It would be criminal to talk of great Boxing Day Test innings at Melbourne and not mention this knock. If there was an innings which could be called as the making of “Virender Sehwag: The Test Opener”, it was this blazing 195 that he scored on the opening day of the 3^rd Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2003-04, which India was heading into with a rare 1-0 lead. India won the toss on a track that was the typical MCG track and Sehwag decided to make hay of the conditions and hit the Aussie bowling attack consisting of Jason Gillespie, a returning Brett Lee & leggie Stuart MacGill out of the park. It was only an ill-timed slog against part-time spinner Simon Katich that found the fielder at the midwicket fence that ended the innings, but for a greater part of the day, the MCG was enthralled by one of the most dominant displays of batting by an overseas batsman and it was at that moment, that we realised that the job of an opening batsman was no longer just to see the new ball off and play solidly, but now opening batsmanship was a weapon that can be used not only to blunt the bowling attack but to wreak havoc on the opposition and make it a weapon of mass destruction, which Viru would eventually become at that spot.

3.      J. P. Duminy- 166 vs. Australia in 2008-09: -

o   South Africa had hardly ever made a mark Down Under and expecting a young 24-year old batsman playing only his second test to really do a job was asking a bit too much. But the Proteas approached Boxing Day on the back of a 414-run chase at Perth while registering the second-highest successful chase in test cricket history and Duminy happened to score an unbeaten half-century, on what was his debut test. At the ‘G’, South Africa was in an almighty mess at a score of 184-7 chasing a first innings total of 394 and Duminy, in only his second test now had only the tailenders for company. What followed then was a display of batsmanship of the highest quality from the left-hander as he rallied the tail around him and with Dale Steyn, added a massive 160 runs for the 9^th wicket and scored his first test century in the process, and single-handedly took South Africa into a first-innings lead and in the process, marked himself up as a potential star in the making for South Africa and landed up a massive $950,000 IPL contract with the Mumbai Indians in the 2009 IPL Auctions.

4.      Ajinkya Rahane- 147 vs. Australia in 2014-15: -

o   Yet another Boxing Day test for India at the MCG & yet another classic from an Indian batsman. Ajinkya Rahane had been noticed for his solidity during the tours of South Africa & England in both the tours, he emerged with a very glowing reputation for being a batsman who would be able to keep his composure intact even in the face of relentless pressure. The Boxing Day test in India’s tour of Australia in 2014-15 saw him play one of the most glorious counter-attacking innings ever played by an Indian middle-order batsman in an overseas test against a top-class Australian bowling attack which boasted the likes of Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazelwood, Ryan Harris & Nathan Lyon as well as the all-round talent of Shane Watson. Rahane had shown us at Lords that he had the ability to dig in and perform in tough conditions, but at the ‘G’, he showed the untapped counter-attacker in him as he along with Virat Kohli, battled the Aussie bowling attack which was not only making the ball talk but also were involved in several verbal jousts with Virat Kohli, which frankly isn’t a great idea. But the reply to those jousts came through “Jinks”, who decided to take the attack to the Aussies as he unfurled one glorious stroke after another on the way to a spell-binding 147 from just 171 deliveries and for me, this stands out as one of the most brilliant innings from an Indian batsman in my recent memory.

5.      Alastair Cook- 244* vs. Australia in 2017-18: -

o    The 2017-18 Ashes Series in Australia was thoroughly dominated by the Aussies but this Boxing Day Test saw the MCG roll out its worst-ever pitch, which didn’t help matters for either team. England’s Alastair Cook was coming into the series under a cloud of bad form hanging over him, which was becoming an increasingly difficult feature of the latter half of his career. But at the extremely placid MCG track, he reaffirmed himself as one of the modern-day masters of test cricket as he held the English batting order together like he had done on a countless number of occasions before and marched on to a superb 244* against a slightly-less-than full-strength Aussie attack which sorely missed Mitchell Starc, but that in no way diminishes the sheer beauty of the knock as Cook pulled the entire weight of the batting order on his own shoulders and took England into a valuable first-innings lead.

This is my list of my favourite Boxing Day knocks at the MCG. Please feel free to suggest which innings would be part of your favourites and bouquets and brickbats are always welcome. Here’s wishing everyone a very happy New Year in advance and I hope that the year 2019 brings happiness and prosperity for all of you.