1977
An elegant left-hander is born. Kumar Sangakkara has been at the forefront of Sri Lanka's Test dominance at home - they have lost just three Test series out of 18 in Sri Lanka since the beginning of 2002. A wicketkeeper-batsman, Sangakkara has, along with Mahela Jayawardene, been the backbone of Sri Lanka's batting following the exit of the side's 1996 World Cup heroes. Superbly consistent, he added a world record 624 for the third wicket with Jayawardene in July 2006, against South Africa in Colombo; his share was 287. A smart thinker, Sangakkara is perhaps one of the finest exponents of "mental disintegration" in the game, as Shaun Pollock famously found out once. Sangakkara gave up keeping in Tests in mid-2006 - though he continues to do so in limited-overs games - and since then he has been Bradmanesque with the bat, with an average not far off from the Don's, and only four double-hundreds short of Bradman's record of 12. He was given the captaincy when Jayawardene retired from the job in early 2009. Sangakkara led Sri Lanka to their first home Test series win against Pakistan, the final of the 2009 World Twenty20 and the 2011 World Cup final. He gave up the captaincy at the end of the tournament.
1964
Birth of Mark Taylor who regained the Frank Worrell Trophy and inflicted on West Indies their first series defeat for 15 years a year after taking over captaincy from Allan Border. Taylor's nose for a hunch (how many times did he bring on bowlers like Blewett, Ponting and Co. and see them take a wicket almost immediately?) and aversion to stalemate - Australia drew only 11 of his 50 Tests in charge - made Test cricket more watchable than it had been for many a year. As an opening batsman he struggled at times, most famously when he went 21 innings without a half-century between 1995 and 1997, but a final average of 43.49 showed what a quality performer he was.
2000
Muttiah Muralitharan took India apart with 7 for 30 - the best bowling in ODIs at the time - as Sri Lanka eased home in a dress rehearsal for the Champions Trophy final in Sharjah. Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene both made centuries in a total of 294 for 5 and then, with India 99 for 2, Murali got to work - his seven wickets came for 23 runs in 50 balls. India played him better in the final two days later, when he only managed 3 for 6, but it didn't stop them being hammered by 245 runs.
1984
Birth of Irfan Pathan, whose early promise saw him fast-tracked into the Indian side after successful series with the under-19 and A teams, Pathan made an almost immediate impact, troubling Australian batsmen on India's tour there in 2003-04 - his first four Test wickets were Matthew Hayden, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting. He played a big part in India's one-day and Test series wins on their revival tour of Pakistan, and his batting soon took off; Pathan was regularly pushed up the order - his first stint at No.3 resulted in a spectacular 83 against Sri Lanka in Nagpur - and he often bailed India out of strife in the Test arena as well. However, regular and prolonged dips in form led to his being dropped and subsequent recalls ended in frustration, with Pathan being unable to cement his place after the odd flutter.
1986
Birth of the first cricketer since 1877 to make his Australia debut without having played first-class cricket. David Warner achieved the feat in Twenty20, and in that first match, at the MCG in 2009, having already landed an IPL contract, he smashed 89 off 43 balls against an attack that included Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis and Makhaya Ntini. He made his one-day debut a week later, but had to wait nearly three years to play his first Test. It was worth it when he scored an unbeaten century in his second Test, in a tense chase that Australia eventually lost by seven runs to New Zealand. Three Tests later, he broke the back of India's bowling with a 159-run 180 in Perth. Warner is second on the list of most domestic T20 hundreds, tied with Brendon McCullum.
An elegant left-hander is born. Kumar Sangakkara has been at the forefront of Sri Lanka's Test dominance at home - they have lost just three Test series out of 18 in Sri Lanka since the beginning of 2002. A wicketkeeper-batsman, Sangakkara has, along with Mahela Jayawardene, been the backbone of Sri Lanka's batting following the exit of the side's 1996 World Cup heroes. Superbly consistent, he added a world record 624 for the third wicket with Jayawardene in July 2006, against South Africa in Colombo; his share was 287. A smart thinker, Sangakkara is perhaps one of the finest exponents of "mental disintegration" in the game, as Shaun Pollock famously found out once. Sangakkara gave up keeping in Tests in mid-2006 - though he continues to do so in limited-overs games - and since then he has been Bradmanesque with the bat, with an average not far off from the Don's, and only four double-hundreds short of Bradman's record of 12. He was given the captaincy when Jayawardene retired from the job in early 2009. Sangakkara led Sri Lanka to their first home Test series win against Pakistan, the final of the 2009 World Twenty20 and the 2011 World Cup final. He gave up the captaincy at the end of the tournament.
 |
| Kumar Sangakkara |
Birth of Mark Taylor who regained the Frank Worrell Trophy and inflicted on West Indies their first series defeat for 15 years a year after taking over captaincy from Allan Border. Taylor's nose for a hunch (how many times did he bring on bowlers like Blewett, Ponting and Co. and see them take a wicket almost immediately?) and aversion to stalemate - Australia drew only 11 of his 50 Tests in charge - made Test cricket more watchable than it had been for many a year. As an opening batsman he struggled at times, most famously when he went 21 innings without a half-century between 1995 and 1997, but a final average of 43.49 showed what a quality performer he was.
2000
Muttiah Muralitharan took India apart with 7 for 30 - the best bowling in ODIs at the time - as Sri Lanka eased home in a dress rehearsal for the Champions Trophy final in Sharjah. Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene both made centuries in a total of 294 for 5 and then, with India 99 for 2, Murali got to work - his seven wickets came for 23 runs in 50 balls. India played him better in the final two days later, when he only managed 3 for 6, but it didn't stop them being hammered by 245 runs.
1984
Birth of Irfan Pathan, whose early promise saw him fast-tracked into the Indian side after successful series with the under-19 and A teams, Pathan made an almost immediate impact, troubling Australian batsmen on India's tour there in 2003-04 - his first four Test wickets were Matthew Hayden, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting. He played a big part in India's one-day and Test series wins on their revival tour of Pakistan, and his batting soon took off; Pathan was regularly pushed up the order - his first stint at No.3 resulted in a spectacular 83 against Sri Lanka in Nagpur - and he often bailed India out of strife in the Test arena as well. However, regular and prolonged dips in form led to his being dropped and subsequent recalls ended in frustration, with Pathan being unable to cement his place after the odd flutter.
1986
Birth of the first cricketer since 1877 to make his Australia debut without having played first-class cricket. David Warner achieved the feat in Twenty20, and in that first match, at the MCG in 2009, having already landed an IPL contract, he smashed 89 off 43 balls against an attack that included Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis and Makhaya Ntini. He made his one-day debut a week later, but had to wait nearly three years to play his first Test. It was worth it when he scored an unbeaten century in his second Test, in a tense chase that Australia eventually lost by seven runs to New Zealand. Three Tests later, he broke the back of India's bowling with a 159-run 180 in Perth. Warner is second on the list of most domestic T20 hundreds, tied with Brendon McCullum.
