Category Sports

You might have never heard the name Neville Francis Fitzgerald Chamberlain. But it is through Chamberlain that the origins of snooker, a cue sport has an Indian connection.

Stationed in Jabalpur in 1875 as part of the British Indian Army, 19-year-old Chamberlain invented the game of snooker by experimenting with an existing game-a form of billiards – and adding more colour to it. In 1885, John Roberts, the then British Billiards Champion, visited India and met with Chamberlain during a dinner with the Maharajah of Cooch Behar. After enquiring about the rules of snooker, Roberts decided he would introduce the game back in England. Although it took many years before the game became widely played, by the end of the 19th century the manufacturers of billiards equipment had realised the commercial potential of snooker.

Snooker started growing in popularity from the 1880s and rose to prominence in the next half a century or so. While Chamberlain was busy working his way to become Sir Chamberlain, speculation regarding the game’s origins increased.

On March 19, 1938, The Field carried a letter from 82-year-old Chamberlain staking his claim to inventing snooker. It helped Chamberlain that he had the backing of author Compton Mackenzie, who supported Chamberlain’s claim in a letter to The Billiard Player in 1939. Chamberlain’s claim as the inventor of snooker hasn’t been disputed since then, forever cementing a link between the sport and our country.

Credit : Sky history

Picture Credit : Google 

On February 2, 2021, Manchester United played Southampton in an English Premier League game. United came out on top in stunning fashion, pumping nine goals past their opposition in a 9-0 victory.

This was only the third time in Premier League history that a side won by a nine-goal margin.

Manchester United achieved a 9-0 margin victory for a second time when they achieved the feat in February 2021 Southampton, unfortunately, had the ignominy of being on the receiving end of such a defeat for a second time.

United also equalled the all-time Premier League record for most goalscorers (7) for a team in a match, a record set by Chelsea when they beat Aston Villa 8-0 in December 2012. While Anthony Martial scored twice. Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani, Scott McTominay. Bruno Femandes (right in right and third from left above) and Daniel James all scored one goal Southampton’s Jan Bednarek scored an own goal.

Manchester United were the first team to win a Premier League match by nine goals. They did it in March 1995 and it was Ipswich Town at the receiving end.

United had four different goalscorers in this 9-0 victory. Andy Cole (left and centre in right) was clearly the hero of the match as he scored a phenomenal five goals himself. A brace from Mark Hughes and a goal each from Roy Keane and Paul Ince was also part of the rout.

The five goals scored by Cole was a record for the most goals scored by a footballer in a single Premier League game. The record still stands, but Cole now shares it with Alan Shearer, Jermain Defoe, Dimitar Berbatov and Sergio Aguero.

More than 24 years after Manchester United had set their record it was finally equalled by another team when Leicester City ran riot against Southampton.

The match played at Southampton in October 2019, and 0-9 as Leicester City had five different goalscorers. While there were hat-tricks for both Ayoze Perez (right in left) and Jamie Vardy, Ben Chilwell, Youri Tielemans and James Maddison also got on the score sheet.

This victory, which is the biggest away win in the history of English top-flight football, remains the only 90 margin win achieved by an away team.

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In the first Test between Pakistan and South Africa that took place in Karachi, Pakistan, late in January 2021, South African speedster Kagiso Rabada took his Test wickets tally to 200. He did it in style, as he became the third fastest, in terms of balls bowled, to reach the landmark.

Kagiso Rabada took three wickets in the first Test between Pakistan and South Africa. Even though it came in a losing cause, Rabada had something to celebrate as he became the third fastest, in terms of balls bowled, to reach 200 Test wickets.

All three of Rabada’s wickets in the game came in the first innings. Rabada accounted for both of Pakistan’s openers in the first innings. He had Abid Ali bowled, while Imran Butt was out caught, as Rabada took his tally to 199. His 200th wicket came when he cleaned up tail-ender Hasan Ali.

Rabada’s numbers as he enters

The 200-wicket club

Having made his debut against India at Mohali in 2015, Rabada has raced to 200 Test wickets in just over five years.

Rabada might be the third fastest to 200 Test wickets in terms of balls bowled, but he comes only 13th in terms of matches played. Rabada reached the milestone in his 44th Test match. Pakistan’s Yasir Shah (33), Australia’s Clarrie Grimmett (36) and India’s Ravichandran Ashwin (37) are the three fastest to 200 Test wickets, in tents of matches played.

Rabada has the best strike rate in the history of Test cricket for bowlers with 200 or more wickets – a phenomenal 41.1. Rabada’s compatriot Dale Steyn, who finished his Test career with 439 wickets at a strike rate of 42.3, and Pakistan’s Waqar Younis, who finished with 373 wickets at a strike rate of 43.4, come second and third in this list.

With 18 teams competing in the German Bundesliga, and each club playing the other 17 twice, every team plays a total of 34 matches each season. This means that clubs would have played 17 games each at the halfway mark of each season.

In the 1968-69 season of the Bundesliga, Germany’s Gerd Muller, playing for Bayern Munich, scored a record 20 goals in the first half of the season. That record stood for over 50 years, only to be broken in the 2020-21 season by Robert Lewandowski.

Polish striker Lewandowski, also playing for Bayern Munich now, notched up 22 goals in the first 17 league games this season.

 A look at Lewandowski and Muller..

Having drawn level with Gerd Muller’s record in Bayern Munich’s 3-2 defeat away against Borussia

Monchengladbach on January 9, Lewandowski made the record his own on January 17, with a goal in the seventh minute in their 2-1 victory over Freiburg.

 Lewandowski took his tally to 22 at the halfway mark of the season when he scored from the penalty spot to give his side a 1-0 win away against Augsburg.

Records, awards and goals have been coming thick and fast for Lewandowski, who, at 32, seems to be improving with age. He became just the third footballer to notch up 250 Bundesliga goals in December 2020, before he went on to pick up FIFA’S “The Best” prize being the top footballer of the year.

He seems to be continuing in 2021 from where he left off in 2020 as he first claimed the record for Bundesliga’s halfway mark and then scored his 500th career goal (club and country) in Bayern’s 4-0 win over Schalke on January 24.

With no signs of letting up, Lewandowski might well go past Muller’s record for most goals scored in a season, set in 1971-72.

Seen here in what looks almost like a ballerina pose, Gerd Muller surely did make opponents dance to his tunes. He set innumerable records in his Bundesliga career with Bayern, which included the 20 goals he scored in the first half of the 1968-69 season. His Bundesliga goals tally (365) is beyond reach for most and he also holds the record for most goals scored in a single Bundesliga season – 40 in 1971-72.

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India’s 2-1 series victory against Australia was historic in more ways than one and will be spoken about for a long time.

One of the reasons for why it is rated so highly is the fact that the win in the fourth Test was made possible by chasing down a big target away at Brisbane, one of Australia’s strongholds. The target of 328 achieved, in fact, is the third highest successful chase in India’s Test history.

• 406 for 4 (chasing 403) against West Indies at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad in April 1976. This is from July 1979 shows Gundappa Viswanath hot on the heels of Sunil Gavaskar as they walk on a rope at Birmingham during a Test series in England. Almost three years and three months before this photo was taken, the duo were literally walking on a tight rope as they helped India achieve a historic victory against the formidable West Indies. After Vivian Richards scored 177 to take his team to 359, India were bowled out for 228 in the first innings. Alvin Kallicharran made an unbeaten 103 next as West Indies declared their second innings at 271 for six, setting a huge target of 403 for India to win the Test. Gavaskar (102) and Visvanath (112) helped India achieve the unthinkable as both of them scored centuries in pursuit of the target.
• 387 for four (chasing 387) against England at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai in December 2008. Centuries by England opener Andrew Strauss (123 and 108) not only allowed the visitors to take a first innings lead of 75, but also helped them set a big target of 387 for India to win the Test. A swashbuckling counter-attacking 68-ball 83 by Player of the Match Virender Sehwag (above) set the stage for India’s chase. Sachin Tendulkar (103 not out, right in left) and Yuvraj Singh (85 not out, left in left) were at the crease when the winning runs were scored.
• 329 for seven (chasing 328) against Australia at Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane, Australia in January 2021. The latest entrant in the list of highest successful run chases achieved by India in Test cricket had a number of heroes. After Marnus Labuschagne’s 108 and captain Tim Paine’s 50 allowed Australia to post 369, their highest total in the series, India were in a spot of bother at 186 for six. Debutant Washinton Sundar (62, left in A) and Shardul Thakur (67, right in A), playing only his second Test, forged a 123-run partnership that pushed India to 336, much closer to Australia’s first innings total. Mohammed Siraj (5 for 73 in the second innings, left in C) and Thakur (4 for 61 in second innings, right in C) then picked nine wickets between them to restrict the Aussies to 294. Chasing 328 for an unlikely win on a fifth day track at Australia’s fortress, Shubman Gill (91, right in B) led the charge in the first session. Cheteshwar Pujara (56, left in B) was India’s rock, as he preserved his wicket at one end while the others continued to go for runs. After his dismissal in the first over with the second new ball, Rishabh Pant (89 not out, right) took the reins, taking India over the line for a magical victory.

Picture Credit : Google