Mirchi Masala

Before DRS. Before T20. Before we forgot.
Cricket's greatest stories. Retold!

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

Edgbaston, 1999.

AUS 213. SA 213.

Klusener needed 9 off 6. Got 8 off 2. Then the last ball nobody in South Africa has ever fully recovered from.

A tie that felt like a funeral.

Still the greatest ODI ever played. Nothing close.

#WorldCup1999 #Cricket

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

Brisbane, 1992 World Cup.
Rain took an over from India. Gave back just 2 runs.
Azhar made 93. India needed 5 off 4.
Steve Waugh’s throw. Raju run out. Last ball.
Australia won by one run.
The rain rule didn’t delay that match. It decided it.
#WorldCup1992 #INDvAUS #CricketHistory

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

Perth, 2000. WACA lights on.
Wagar steaming in at 139. Sachin answering with the straightest bat in the game.
Short knock. Didn't matter.
Class does not always need a century.
Sometimes it needs four balls.
This rivalry was cricket at its purest.
#Sachin #Waqar Younis #Cricket

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

Hobart 2008. Must win game.
Sri Lanka set 180. Sachin took it personally.
63 off 54. Ten fours.
Murali finally set him up and got him out.
But you cannot dismiss a man who has already won.
#SachinTendulkar #Murali #CBSeries2008

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

World Cup final. Chasing 360.

And Sehwag is batting like it’s a practice game.

Zero tension. Zero pressure. See ball, hit ball.

The stage never mattered to him. Only the ball did.

#Sehwag #Cricket

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

Dussehra, October 7, 2000. Nairobi.

Second ODI of his career. Steve Waugh on strike. Australia chasing.

Zaheer Khan bowled a yorker the world champion never saw.

Festivals celebrate good over evil.

Nairobi burned its own Ravana that evening.

#ZaheerKhan #Dussehra #Cricket

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

I’ve watched this a hundred times and it’s still on loop.

18-year-old Sachin. Grown men bowling. And the ball just races away before the fielder moves.

Some fours are runs. Some fours are announcements.

#SachinTendulkar #VintageCricket

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

Ian Healy built a career on taking every half-chance behind the stumps.

Junior Murray was stranded. Easiest wicket of the day.

Healy refused to take it.

The 90s were the hardest era of cricket. And even then, some lines weren’t crossed.

#IanHealy #Cricket #Sportsmanship

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

Brisbane 2002. Australia chasing 257 at home.

44 for 1. Comfortable.

Then Shoaib Akhtar ran in.

83 for 6. Five wickets. 25 runs.

That same batting order won the World Cup nine months later.

Against Shoaib that night, they were just names on a scorecard.

#ShoaibAkhtar #Cricket #FastBowling

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

@ClassicCrickMP4 ❤️

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

Sydney 2004. Sachin’s series: 0, 1, 37, 0, 44.

His fix was strange. He banned his own cover drive.

Brett Lee bowled 150. Sachin played everything off the back foot and legside.

436 balls later he walked off on 241 not out.

Genius is knowing which shot not to play.

#SachinTendulkar #BrettLee #TestCricket

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

New Year's Day 1996. SCG.
Australia 6 down for 38, chasing 173.
Roger Harper dropped Bevan on 14.
Last ball. Four needed. Same bowler.
Bevan hit it straight back past him for four.
Some catches cost a run. That one cost a match.
#Cricket #MichaelBevan
#VintageCricket

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

Sydney 1991.
Marshall was 33. Written off.
Boon out. Next ball, Dean Jones out.
10 overs. 4 maidens. 4 for 18. Career best.
West Indies still lost by 9 runs.
Cricket gave him his greatest spell and took the win away.
#MalcolmMarshall #WestIndies #Cricket

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

Australia in the 90s feared power hitters.

Then Azharuddin walked in.

No muscle. No slog. A flick of the wrists and the ball was in the stands.

Some sixes are hit. Azhar’s were whispered.

#Azharuddin #CricketHistory

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

Sydney 1992.
South Africa’s first World Cup game after 21 years in exile.
First ball, Donald gets Marsh’s edge. Umpire says not out.
They shrug. Bowl Australia out. Win by 9 wickets.
Some teams wait for luck. Some teams don’t need it.

#Cricket #CWC1992 #SouthAfrica

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

Young Steve Waugh digs one in short.

Gavaskar waits until the ball has almost passed him. Then opens the face. Four past slip.

No helmet. No panic. The latest late cut you’ll ever see.

Happy 77th birthday, Sunny.

#Gavaskar

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

Everyone quotes the 36 off 174.

Brisbane 1986. Gavaskar hits 27 off 17 at the Gabba. Strike rate 158.

T20 cricket was 17 years away. He was already playing it.

The blocker was a choice, never a limit.

Happy 77th birthday, Sunny.

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

MCG 1989. Akram hit Alderman on the helmet.
Border declared the innings immediately.
Richardson faced him without a helmet. Once.
Allan Lamb took one to the head and went to hospital.
Captains declared. Batsmen prayed.
Akram did not bowl bouncers. He served warnings.

#WasimAkram #Cricket

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

@CricketopiaCom Legend ✨

[Mirchi Masala @imirchimasala]

MCG 1981. Australia needed 143.

Kapil Dev had a strained thigh. Missed all of Day 4.

Final morning he strapped it up and bowled.

5 for 28. Australia all out for 83.

Gavaskar said a 50 percent fit Kapil was still worth picking.

That day proved him right.