The Tie That Binds – This Day That Age
India became part of Cricket History when it tied the Madras test match against the visiting Australians three decades ago to the date. Only the second Tied Match in Cricket History!The first one had been in Australia between the hosts and the visiting West Indies Team.
Our NewsTikka team member was just out of High School, attending the first few months of Junior College. It was the last day of the test match, we were all excitedly travelling home late in the afternoon, with game evenly poised. India needed a few more runs to win and had a couple of wickets in hand. We were talking about the surety of a result, a victory. Whose, we were not sure of. A few conjectured a draw. Only one of us spoke about the theoretical possibility of a tie. But the din of the majority buried that lone view.
Finally as the events turned out, a Tie, it was. Neither of the Captains greeted the result, each claiming they would have preferred a win, though they also felt nice about History being ‘re-created’.
Cool Chilli’s Comments
Such is Life. We are almost always keen on a win, at the expense of the other side. Our Winning by vanquishing the ‘other’ gives a big high. But the biggest feel good forever, as Kapil Dev and Allan Border (the Captains) would agree these days is the thrill of being tie-d together in History Books. Had Alexander not treated Porus graciously, history might well have been different. Technically Alexander won, but treated Porus as if it were a tie. There may not be very many comparable contests which ended likewise. We request our Readers to share with us, if so.
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