CHENNAI: Test cricket. You would hear most cricketers call it an ultimate form of cricket. Contest with skills, temperament and patience at the core of it has to be the ultimate. A handful of cricketers- men and women- have had the experience of representing the country in the longest format.
A few of them belong to the state of Tamil Nadu as well. Sudha Shah, who went on to play 21 Tests for India, is one of them.
“I think I was born in the wrong generation,” Shah laughs. “When I started playing cricket, I just wanted to play for India. And that time I was not sure if I would play for the national side. I was young when I made my international debut. I never thought I would hold the record of playing the most Tests for India. We grew up playing Test and I have always believed that it is the best format of cricket. It is the Test of the character and ultimately of their game,” the former India all-rounder told this daily.
Shah was the part of the side that played India’s first-ever official Test match in Bengaluru and as luck would have it, the second match of the series was scheduled in her own backyard, at Chepauk.
The veteran cricketer who recently celebrated her 66th birthday knew how special it was to play in front of her friends and family. “It was a thrill because playing a Test match in front of your family and friends, especially when the matches are not televised, it was great. I was nervous but still excited because you wanted to play well in front of your people,” she added.
Another Tamil Nadu player and pacer Niranjana Nagaran could not play in front of her home crowd when she made her Test debut against England in Wormsley. But with so many Indian spectators supporting the team, it felt like a home away from home.
“Wormsley was as good as home because once we started dominating there, at one point with the crowd behind us, it felt like we were playing at home. When I finished my first spell and went to the boundary line, the cheer was so loud. The conditions were so good to bowl.
The ball was doing so much that we just needed to bowl in the right spots. Getting three wickets out of the top four England batters in the first innings is something I will cherish forever. Not every day a fast bowler gets the chance to bowl like that. And I loved batting as well. The 27 runs that I scored in the first innings, I think that is one of the most important knocks I have ever played in my career. We (herself and Jhulan Goswami) had a partnership there and batted overnight so that actually helped our team to take the lead,” Niranjana told this daily.
The second Test Niranjana played was in Mysuru back in 2014, which happened to be against South Africa. Her Tamil Nadu teammate MD Thirush Kamini went on to score 192 for India and shared a massive partnership of 275 runs with Punam Raut for the second wicket, which is still the second highest partnership in women’s cricket ever. “It was a very good innings. Even when the pitch was helping batters, to stay there and bat for a long time is something else. Poonam also scored a century. Both had a very good understanding and they batted with that understanding. It was great to witness our teammates bat for such a long time to get the team through,” she mentioned.
Recently, Niranjana announced her retirement from all formats after representing India in all three formats. She still rates playing Test above all. “Test cricket is the ultimate format of the game because it tests your character, patience and of course your skill level. Playing with the red-ball and wearing the whites for India is the best honour I could have asked for,” she said.
Starting tomorrow, when Harmanpreet Kaur’s India take on Laura Wolvaardt’s South Africa in Chennai, more players will get the opportunity to expand the legacy these women have built over the years.