Let’s gate together now!

The Sydney Cricket Ground authorities have paid Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara an apt tribute by naming their turfaccess gates for visiting team players after the two batting greats Both players have special affinity for the ground It was here in 199192 that Tendulkarrsquos 148 made him the youngest 18 player to score a Test century on Australian soilTendulkar was to carve another hundred in that series a blistering 114 in the final Test at Perth but Richie Benaud who commentated on both knocks opined in his Greatest XI DVD that Tendulkarrsquos Sydney knock ldquowas regardedrdquo by those who have seen a lot of cricket Down Under as ldquoquite possibly the best innings theyrsquoveever seenrdquoMeanwhile Lararsquos 277 at Sydney in 199293 was his first threefigure Test score under the maroon West Indies cap Benaud reckoned that the little Trinidadian ldquolit up the whole of Sydney with his knock thererdquo while Ian Chappell who also called that game from the commentatorsrsquo box revealed in an interview that his friend Sir Garfield Sobers who is not known to stay glued to the action watched every ball of Lararsquos sizzling knockInterestingly Lara played three more Tests at the New South Wales venue but his best effort in those visits was only 36 ndash in his last Test innings there in 200506 Tendulkar on the other hand came up with 241 not out in 200304 and an unbeaten 154 in the controversial 200708 gameAlso Read Sachin Tendulkar calls the 1990s one of the darkest phases in Indian cricketAustralia has taken the lead in naming turfaccess gates after overseas players who have come up with great deeds at a ground and I wonder if the rest of the world will emulate them I indulged in a bit of fantasy and wondered which Indian grounds who have staged 15 or more Tests would honour which overseas greats had they the desire to do so Here goeshellipIan Botham Wankhede MumbaiEnglandrsquos Ian Botham came up with an allround performance worthy of the Gods as he captured 13 India wickets and scored a hundred for the Mike Brearleyled side to clinch the BCCIrsquos Golden Jubilee Test in early 1980 No bowler claimed more wickets than Botham in a Wankhede Test before New Zealander Ajaz Patelrsquos 14 scalps in December 2021Rohan Kanhai Eden GardensLike Lara in Sydney in 199293 Rohan Kanhai the West Indies coach for that series got his maiden threefigure Test score in the form of a big double century 256 Kanhai was at the crease for six hours and hit 42 fours an effort which resulted in an innings defeat for India led by Ghulam Ahmed In 196667 Kanhai fell short of an Eden century by 10 runsNeil Harvey Brabourne MumbaiAustraliarsquos Neil Harvey figured in two Tests at this splendid venue and scored hundreds in both In the 195657 Test he worked his way to 140 in 73 overs He took 368 minutes to reach his hundred and delight the crowd In 195960 his 102 was part of a then record India v Australia third wicket partnership of 207 runs with fellow batting hero Norman OrsquoNeillVivian Richards Jaitley StadiumVivian Richards took no time in settling into international cricket with a memorable 192 not out in his second Test ndash at the Kotla in 197475 His knock played a role in India going 02 down in the series before they were resurrected through the batting genius of Gundappa Viswanath in Kolkata and Chennai In the 198788 game skipper Richardsrsquos unbeaten 109 out of 276 gave Dilip Vengsarkarrsquos Indian team no chance to prevent the West Indies from racing away to a fivewicket winMalcolm Marshall Green ParkMalcolm Marshall knew only one way to kick off the 198384 series at Kanpur ndash with an allround performance which would go down in the books as one of the finest in West Indiesrsquo touring history ndash eight wickets and 92 runs ndash to pierce the first nail of revenge for the 1983 World Cup final loss to India lsquoMarshall Law in Kanpurrsquo screamed a headline in a newspaper and it was so true Marshall and his fellow pacemen claimed 19 of the 20 Indian wickets to fallAB Narendra Modi StadiumSouth Africarsquos AB de Villiers has earned kudos for his batting in limited overs cricket But his 217 not out in the 200708 game added to Indiarsquos grief after they were bowled out for 76 on Day One of the Test South Africa followed up that Dale Steynfuelled bowling performance by putting up 494 India fared better in their second dig 328 but that was not enough to duck an innings defeat at MoteraYounis Khan Chinnaswamy BrsquolorePakistanrsquos Younis Khan 267 played a massive role in the InzamamulHaqled teamrsquos win over Sourav Gangulyrsquos side who were hoping to win the series The InzyYounis partnership of 324 helped Pakistan amass 570 Younis frustrated India in the second innings as well with 84 not out before India were bowled out for 214 succumbing to spinDeano Chidambaram ChennaiThis southern India venue has witnessed some great performances but Dean Jonesrsquos double century in the 198687 Tied Test was quite clearly an innings of a lifetime The Victorianrsquos knock had everything ndash guts skill application and temperament For a cricketer playing in only his third Test and batting at the critical No 3 position for the first time in Test cricket the late Jonesrsquos performance was more than just outstandingmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper