What is the first thing that comes in your mind when you think of cricket highlights? Fast bowling wickets compilation? Catches Win Matches? Stylish Cover drives?
How about classic commentary highlights? Well, today we will discuss exactly that!
Last week, we created a Fantasy team of Commentators XI. Harsha Bhogle was our team captain, Gaurav Kapur the opener, and the dynamic duo of Simon Doull and Pommie Mbangwa as the fast bowlers.
So naturally we asked our Twitter audience to respond with #BestCommentary for:
Best #IPL2020 Commentary Highlights
Most Favorite Iconic Cricket Commentary Memory
Commentators come in all shapes and sizes—a few serious, others insightful, and some extremely hilarious.
Who is your favorite commentator? Bill Lawry, Michael Holding, Tony Greig, Ian Bishop, Richie Benaud, Ravi Shashtri? COMMENT BELOW AND LET US KNOW!
Anyway, here are their twitter responses! So, sit back, relax, and watch some of the best cricket commentary videos!
There are lots of videos. Like a lot. Watch till the end for all the good ones.
The Tweets – Commentary Highlights
Here are the favorite IPL and cricketing memories from the fans in their own words. We have categorized the commentary in categories—The Jaw Drop, The Heartbreak, and The Critical, and then, some more.
The Jaw Drop feat Ravi Shastri
Here are some of the jaw dropping moments in recent cricketing history captured by iconic commentators.
My Fav. #BestCommentary will be Ravi Shastri commentating on Yuvraj Singh Six sixes in an over to Stuart Broad in first T20 World Cup. And best #IPLT20 will be First time I saw sunny sir doing Hindi Commentary that was really an awesome moment for me
Yes Really It was very nice especially I was watching this match Live… So still remember those exciting sixes and commentary by Ravi Shastri.
What a great day for cricket. One just imagines what would have happened had Flintoff kept his cool to Yuvi that day?
IPL comms just wash over me a bit. Sunny Gavaskar is the master of the box as much as he was at the crease, especially when he’s annoyed. KP’s ‘Pingo Pongo’ moments are fun. Best ever is Fazeer Mohammed “Why did he do that?!” to Gabriel’s brainfade against Yasir #BestCommentary
Try #RCBvSRH on 21 September as I checked and mentioned it that day. Also you’ve got to have Richie Benaud from Botham Headingley 1981 – “It went in to the confectionery stall and out again…”
For me, #BestCommentary All-Time – by Ravi Shastri Sir on India WC 2011 wining moment (Dhoni’s 6) ~ ” Dhoni finishes off in style..A magnificent strike into the crowd…India wins after 28 years…& it’s the Indian capt who’s been absolutely magnificent in the night of the final
The Ian Bishop
Ian Bishop recently celebrated his 53rd birthday at the IPL. With Harsha Bhogle, Mark Nicholas, and JP Duminy, the banter among the group was hilarious!
He has had so many iconic moments in recent times, that he deserves a category by himself.
My fav in #IPL2020 Bish, Danny M, Mark Nicholas, Sanga . All time Nasser H. Favorite moment :normally love all the 3rd man and Masterclass segments(Nasser and Murali) in sky sports. But generally I think it’s Bishop calling brathwaite and Ravi S in natwest series #bestcommentary
Mine from ipl is AB v steyn(SRH one) 2014.. Simon doull & ramiz raja in comm… All time fav.. Bit biased, will select two: 1) Ravi shastri calling Dhoni’s six, wc 2011 final 2) Bish in manchester 2019 wc “Surely the hopes have been ignited enough for them to be extinguished!”
“Can he? Can he really?” “The dream has diminished for CB, here in manchesterrr..”
Watching late at night.. Was preparing for the exams..but couldn’t take my eyes off.. Even after the fall of 7th wkt.. For some reason didn’t switch it off… Treated with a phenomenal & memorable game.. The heart sank but was a special knock from brathwaitte..
#BestCommentary for me is certainly by Ian Smith from CWC 2019 Final written below:-
“This is the moment – it’s Archer to Guptill. Two to win. Guptill’s got to push for two, they’ve gotta go! The throw’s gotta go to the keeper’s end. He’s got it! England have won the World Cup – by the barest of margins. By the barest of all margins.”#BestCommentary Chilling!
Not all commentary is hilarious or heartbreaking. Some commentary moments deal with serious cricketing issues.
Vandit – West Indies T20 League Exodus
2011 Pakistan Vs West Indies ODI.The highlight was Michael Holding exclaiming, “I was told he played in the IPL this morning. I almost fell over. A feather duster could have knocked me over”
2. Here is another serious commentary by Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain on Muhammad Amir’s comeback following the Spot Fixing ban. Do watch the full interview here.
#BestCommentary Harsha Bhogle: “Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seat belts. We are ready for the take-off.” This was when AB started his innings with a bang in one IPL match.
Did not find the exact Harsha video but here is Harsha Bhogle at his very best.
2. Tony Greig – Sharjah Sachin Tendulkar
3. YouTube – Best Commentary
4. Richie Benaud – BBC Tribute
Here is the BBC Tribute to Richie Benaud’s marvelous career, both as a player and a commentator. Here are some of his other Benaud’s other best moments.
5. My Personal Favorite – That. Is. Very. Good.
Any other videos or memories? Comment below and send us your favorite commentary highlights!
What did you think of the videos, the tweets, and the article? Please let us know by commenting below. Subscribe to our blog for more such articles and follow us on twitter/facebook!
“Is there any player you do not like?” asked a friend.
The question stumped me.
I have always remembered loving the game and enjoyed watching cricket on TV, no matter what team or player was playing. One of my fondest childhood cricketing memories was even playing a Bangladesh vs. Zimbabwe Test Series with a friend although we were not from either country. We would memorize every players’ names, imitate each bowling action, and change our batting styles accordingly.
This got me thinking. Why not create A World XI with favorite players from every major cricketing nation?
Today’s Twist – Unity in Diversity:
Create a World XI squad consisting of exactly 1 player from each country. Here are the rules:
Pick a player from each of the 12 Test playing nations
Pick one more player from an Associate Nation for a total of 13 players.
The team should be able to field in an actual match – at least one wicketkeeper and 5 bowlingoptions are necessary
The Catch:
The team should be diverse enough to represent any format – Test, ODI, and T20. Alastair Cook and Shivnarine Chanderpaul are two of my favorite players. Although they would be ideal candidates for an All-Time Test XI, they may struggle in the T20 era.
Who are your favorite players from each country? Comment below with your XI!
The choice for the Associate player would be interesting to see. Maybe it is from a Netherlands team that surprised England in the 2009 T20 World Cup or from the classic Kenya team from 2003? Steve Tikolo, the Obuyas, and Odoyo, remember?
Without further ado, here is my All-Time Favorite XI.
NZ: How does one not like every player from New Zealand? Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill, Dan Vettori, and all the rest. Lockie Ferguson – KKR fans?
WI – Chanderpaul, Brian Lara, the Universe Boss, and captain Darren Sammy
ENG – Marcus Trescothick, Cook, Ian Bell, Jimmy Anderson, Jos Buttler, KP
I love underdog stories and love discussing cricket at every opportunity.
Whether it is the IPL or a hard fought day of test cricket, The Ashes or the India-Pakistan rivalry, a World Cup Final or the group stage of a qualifying tournament, women’s or men’s cricket, be assured, I will be following.
Diversity is such a beautiful thing. It is completely okay to be a fan of various different players from different countries. As long as the on-field battle is competitive, the game is fair, sportsmanship moments are abundant, and cricket continues to grow, that is all we need.
LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ON CRICKET, COMMENT Below on your All-Time Favorites, and SUBSCRIBE!
This week in our segment, Cricket ABCs -For New Future Fans, we will relive some of the most popular cricket videos in the last decade. The goal of this section is to try to explain the game of cricket to your new friends. And the best way to explain is by Videos.
Last time, we went over the rules of cricket. So now, let us learn cricket by watching some videos in different categories – fielding, bowling, and batting.
We are only using videos over the last 10 years for two reasons: (1) since the game has evolved over the years, and (2) enhanced video quality.
Below each video is a description and the number of views on YouTube (and still rising) for your reference. Here is my compilation of the most popular cricket videos.
Comment below on your favorite videos, and share this with new fans who are trying to learn cricket.Enjoy!
Videos
1. Best Catches – WC 2019 Edition
Starting where we left off in our last article over Best Fielders, we relive some of the best catches of the 2019 Cricket World Cup. There were diving catches, acrobatic boundary efforts, wicket-keeper excellence, and much more.
Views: 10 million
2. Best Yorkers – WC 2019 Edition
Moving on tobowling. One of the ways of getting batsmen outis by hitting the wickets, known as – ‘bowled.’The most pleasing way for a bowled is for a toe-crushing ‘yorker.’ Enjoy this video on the Best Yorkers from the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
Views: 20 million
3. Mitchell Johnson – Bouncer Compilation
Continuing with bowling, we look at the ‘Bouncer.’ This is a tactic used by bowlers to intimidate the batsman, and in the process, driving a mistake out of them. Mitchell Johnson in 2013-14 became one of the best and scariest bowlers, when he single-handedly destroyed a generation of the English team.
Views: 1.7 million
4. Biggest Sixes – WC 2019 Edition
Moving to batting. While bowlers and fielders try to restrict the number of runs the batting team can score, the batting team tries to score as many as possible. The most runs that a team can get from one ball is from a six, when the ball goes out of the stadium without bouncing. Here are the biggest sixes from the 2019 cricket world cup.
Views:4.6 million
5. Dinesh Karthik’s Day Out
This one is also batting excellence.One of the best viewings of a cricket match happens when a game is thriller. This video is on a T20 game, where after 4 hours, there was little to separate the two sides. Bangladesh were ahead with just about 15 minutes to go in the Final of the Nidahas Trophy, when Dinesh Karthik scripted a once-in-a-lifetime comeback.
Views: 98.9 million (Let us see if we can take to a 100 million views!)
6. Dinesh Karthik Part II
Oh and that was not the end. You thought 98 million is a lot. How about 169 million views and counting? Watch Dinesh Karthik seal the tournament final with a last ball six.
7. The Most Epic Ending of All
Speaking of last-ball thrillers, how about leave the best for last? World Cup FinalSuper Over tie. For all the non-cricketing fans, both the actual match and the overtime, called the Super Over, were tied.
Ian Smith, the commentator, summarized it best, “7 weeks of cricket, 48 games, and one ball.”
At the 2019 Cricket World Cup (CWC) held in England, all 10 teams played against each other. In the 29th match at Manchester, New Zealand faced the mighty West Indies. Until that point of the tournament, West Indies had won 1, lost 3, and 1 no-result. New Zealand, on the other hand, were unbeaten with 4 wins and 1 no-result. With each team having 4 games in hand, the tournament was still wide open.
The Moment:
Chasing 291, West Indies collapsed to 164-7.
Comes in Carlos Brathwaite. Remember his name? Braithwaite and the tail launches a remarkable comeback. Twists and turns, wickets fall, spectators at the edge of their seats.
Brathwaite hits 3 consecutive sixes in the 48th over. Brathwaite scores his maiden ODI century. Brathwaite can do no wrong.
Brathwaite’s dream is alive. One wicket left, West Indies need 6 off 7 balls, Brathwaite on strike. Surely, it is their game now…
What Actually Happened:
The dynamic duo of Brathwaite and commentator, Ian Bishop, from that 2016 T20 World Cup final are back together. Jimmy Neesham runs it and bowls a short ball, Brathwaite heaves, and Trent Boult is near the boundary. (Yes, the same Trent Boult who would later do this in the Final). All you can see is the ball in the blue sky.
Ball comes down. Gravity happens. Boult catches it. West indies 286-10. New Zealand win with an over to spare.
Ian Bishop exclaims, “New Zealand win! The dream is diminished for Carlos Brathwaite here in Manchester!”
This is the turning point of the tournament. New Zealand go to the top the table. They qualify for the semi finals due to net run-rate despite losing 3 against Pakistan, England, and Australia. West Indies lose momentum and would eventually crash out at 9th place.
Just Imagine:
If Carlos Brathwaite had managed to hit the ball a yard further, or if Boult had lost his balance, what would have happened?
48.6 – Neesham to Brathwait, SIX!
Has he done it? Yes! Boult tips the ball over the boundary at long on for six. West Indies wins.
The Consequence:
West Indies wins, joins the middle-muddle in the Points Table, and sprints to the semi-finals. New Zealand lose momentum and fail to qualify for the semi-finals.
It is England vs West Indies in the finals. Stokes batting vs Brathwaite bowling final over—a reversal of fortunes from 2016. Stokes attempts to take his revenge. 15 needed from 6.
49.1 – Six, 49.2 – Six. He wants to finish with 3 sixes and complete the revenge.
49.3 – OUT! One shot too many. Still 3 needed from 3.
49.4 – 1, 49.5 – 0, 49.6 – Run OUT!
West Indies win by one run! West Indies have won by the barest of margins. By the barest of all margins.
Brathwaite’s dream is realized. Carlos Brathwaite is the Man of the Match. He is hailed as the best all-rounder of the century. Stokes is dropped from the England squad. Eoin Morgan plays out the rest of his career for Ireland.
Jofra Archer returns to the Barbados. He spearheads the West Indies attack.
West Indies returns to its glory days.
YouTube Link:
Inspired by Conversations with Vandit Trivedi and ESPNCricinfo’s Alternate Universe series.
Is there a thing such as the best ODI World Cup format?
Ireland Vs England, 3rd ODI. What a game yesterday. Twin centuries by the seniors Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie with ample support from Harry Tector and the evergreen Kevin O’Brien, Ireland chased 329 against the World Cup holders, albeit without the likes of Stokes, Butler, and Archer.
That certainly does not take anything away from Ireland and breathes life into the new ODI Super League. So it is ideal to reflect on the ODI World Cup Super League (WSL) and current World Cup format now.
Does the ODI Super League and the World Cup provide enough exposure to grow cricket worldwide?
In a scathing review of the 2019 Cricket World Cup (CWC) format, the late Martin Crowe wrote an article proposing an innovate format where the teams and audience both benefit while the game still grows. The 40-over World Cup would consist of a pre-tournament qualifier, a two group conference based competition involving 18 teams, followed by a best of three semi-final and a Grand Finale. Although we provide another solution, this is a good template to reference.
As a whole, I think the ODI Super League is a good idea. The top 13 teams in the world play a total of 8 three-match series (4 home/ 4 away) for a total of 24 games. The top 7 sides, along with the next World Cup hosts, qualify automatically for the World Cup, while the bottom five along with 5 associate play a qualifying tournament for the final two spots. This sounds a balanced format, unlike the World Test Championships, but the WSL still has major flaws.
Currently, the 12 test-playing nations are permanent ODI members, while the next 8 teams have temporary ODI status, with only one, the Netherlands qualifying for the ODI Super league.
In what world does this make any sense? If anything, the teams with temporary ODI status should have more exposure to the game so they can prove that they deserve the status. If only one out of the 8 teams is given a chance, it is likely that the one team will get better while the others lose their ODI status and eventually, their respective golden generations.
Finally, the qualifying tournaments in cricket do not provide any value. More often then not, the Associate Teams battle out the qualifiers, where several good teams miss out due to D/L method or a couple of tight games. Even Test-playing nations like Zimbabwe and Ireland missed out on the 2019 World Cup. Simply, the system is rigged against the Associate and lower-ranked nations.
What Should Happen
The current World Cup Super League should be expanded to all 20 teams, and the qualifying tournament should be eliminated altogether. More games should be allocated to the league so each team gets to play an equal number of opponents in each ranking tier (Tier 1: Rank 1-7, Tier 2: Rank 8-14, Tier 3: Rank 15-20). At the end of the four-year period, the top 15teams qualify for the world cup automatically.
ODI World Cup Format
Group Stage: 3 Groups, 5 Teams Each – Top 3 from group qualify to the next round (30 games)
Super 9s: 3 groups, 3 Teams Each – Groups contain teams that have not played each other earlier (9 games)
Semis + 3rd Place Play-off: Top 3 + 4th ranked team from Super 9s (3 games)
Grand Finale: 1 game
Benefits:
Each team plays at least 4 games, so neither do we see a repeat of the 2007 World Cup where both India/Pakistan were eliminated prematurely, nor do we see several one-sided affairs.
15 teams participate – the game grows
Each match is meaningful
Tournament is 43 matches long, five less than current format. Not quite Martin Crowe’s 18-team vision, but still a valid proposal.
Conclusion
The argument for the 2019 World Cup was that it would be competitive. At the end, only about 10 out the 48 games were close, it took Sri Lanka upsetting England 2 weeks in the tournament for the world cup to open up, and the 4-pre tournament favorites made the semi-finals. If we could just detach ourselves from that final, we could sum 2019 CWC in one word— Predictable.
Meanwhile, Ireland chased 300+ vs England (2011) and West-Indies (2015), Scotland upset England on the eve of the World Cup, and Afghanistan’s rise is a shining example. What else do the Associate nations need to do?
What is your ideal ODI world cup format? Please comment below and don’t forget to share and subscribe for more!
Create an All-time XI with the twist that you can pick only one player from each World Cup. Since we have 12 world cups to choose from, we will create a XI with a 12th player. There are multiple players who have shined in each of cricket’s finest ODI tournament, but who do you pick-the best batsman, bowler, player of the series, or the inspirational captain?
The catch:
How would you go about choosing between Martin Crowe and Wasim Akram in ’92, Lance Klusener and Shane Warne in ’99, or more recently between Kane Williamson, Rohit Sharma, Mitchell Starc, and the infallible Ben Stokes in 2019? Whatever it is, this is bound to be a fun ride.
Before we reveal our XI, let’s refresh our memory with relevant statistics regarding the highest run-scorer, wicket taker, player of the series, and captain of the winning team from each cricket world cup.
World Cup – Year
Most runs (runs scored)
Most Wickets (wickets taken)
Player of the series
Winning Captain
1975
Glenn Turner (333)
Gary Gilmour (11)
N/A
Clive Lloyd
1979
Gordon Greenidge (253)
Mike Hendrick (10)
N/A
Clive Lloyd
1983
David Gower (384)
Roger Binny, Ashantha de Mel (18)
N/A
Kapil Dev
1987
Graham Gooch (471)
Craig McDermott (18)
N/A
Allan Border
1992
Martin Crowe (456)
Wasim Akram (18)
Martin Crowe
Imran Khan
1996
Sachin Tendulkar (523)
Anil Kumble (15)
Sanath Jayasuriya
Arjuna Ranatunga
1999
Rahul Dravid (461)
Geoff Allott, Shane Warne (20)
Lance Klusener
Steve Waugh
2003
Sachin Tendulkar (461)
Chaminda Vaas (23)
Sachin Tendulkar
Ricky Ponting
2007
Matthew Hayden (659)
Glenn McGrath (26)
Glenn McGrath
Ricky Ponting
2011
Tillakarante Dilshan (500)
Shahid Afridi, Zaheer Khan (21)
Yuvraj Singh
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
2015
Martin Guptill (547)
Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult (22)
Mitchell Starc
Michael Clarke
2019
Rohit Sharma (648)
Mitchell Starc (27)
Kane Williamson
Eoin Morgan
ODI World Cup Statistics
Our All Time XI:
Graham Gooch (1987)
Sachin Tendulkar (2003)
Kane Williamson (2019)
Martin Crowe (1992)
MS Dhoni (2011) – WK
Clive Lloyd (1979) – Captain
Arjuna Ranatunga (1996)
Lance Klusener (1999)
Kapil Dev (1983)
Mitchell Starc (2015)
Glenn McGrath (2007)
Glenn Turner (1975)
Honorable Mentions: Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Wasim Akram, Kumar Sangakkara (most World Cup dismissals and 4 centuries in 2015)
Note, we chose MS Dhoni at the expense of Yuvraj Singh in order to have a wicket-keeper in the side. We decided not to factor great finals’ innings like Ben Stokes in 2019 and Adam Gilchrist in 2017…’Great World Cup Innings’ would have to wait till a later post.
In any case, choosing from the great 1975-1983 West Indian and 1999-2015 Australian sides was always going to be a difficult task anyway…
Agree? Disagree? In any case, let us know in the comments below what your ideal Cricket World Cup XI would be.
For more articles in our series World XIs – With Twists, check this page out!
Stay tuned for new fantasy teams, and please share and subscribe below!