Cricket is not just about mastering technique; it's also about playing mind games to outthink your opponents. Some of the most memorable moments in cricket history have come from daring tactical decisions that changed the course of matches, and we will see times when the most daring tactical decisions were taken in cricket.
1. Clive Lloyd’s Pace Quartet
One of the best captains in test history, a two times World Cup winner, a legend of this game, he was one of the best captains. Still, there are reasons for that, and it was that one decision he took in 1976, in his second year of captaincy, changed the course of not just West Indies but how we would play test cricket in years ahead. In the series against Australia, they faced a humiliating defeat as they lost a six-series match five to one, which was very concerning for the board and the team.
Lloyd devised a plan to use raw pace from pacers like Andy Roberts, Vanburn Holder, Keith Boyce, and Bernard Julien. The pacers kept coming into the team like Michael Holding, Colin Croft, Sylvester Clarke, Malcolm Marshall, Courtney Walsh, Patrick Patterson, Curtly Ambrose, who would go on to play many matches for their national side. The four bowlers Lloyd used were Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, and Colin Croft. Andy Roberts was the mentor of this lineup, as he had the most experience in the team and genuine pace.
Michael Holding was the youngest one, but because of his height he could generate pace which was hard for batters to face. Joel Garner is often considered the most effective bowler, also the most under-appreciated in this lineup. Colin Croft, the most dangerous bowler in the lineup. All four of them played five series together, their first task was against Australia in 1979, when, for the time any team played four pacers, it was a success as they won the series 2-0. Colin Croft took 16 wickets, Michael Holding and Joel Garner 14 each, and Andy Roberts 11. In their second task, against England, they could only play one match together due to injuries to Colin Groft and Joel Garner.
It was a series against England, but it was at home, where all four of them played three matches together. Colin Croft led the bowling with 24 wickets, Holding took 17, Garner 10, and Roberts 8 in 3 games. They played two more matches together against Australia in 1982. It was the last time they played together, but this was enough to make an impact on the future of test and how it would play out.
2. Gamble Of Harbhajan Singh
One of the best spinners India has ever produced, and his numbers would help the case, in 103 test matches he has taken 417 wickets at an economy of 2.84, and in ODIs he has taken 269 wickets in 236 games at an economy rate of 4.31. A career with controversy, but that did not impact his career, that career wouldn't have taken off if Sourav Ganguly didn’t take the gamble. Harbhajan Singh made his first class debut for Services in 1997-1998 Ranji Trophy, and was later picked for his international debut against Australia, where he took two wickets for 136 runs.
In his fourth ODI match, he was reported by the referees for challenging the great Ricky Ponting, and he was banned for one match and got a hefty fine. He was also called for his bowling action, and after five months, he changed his action, but he lost his touch and became an average bowler, which India did not need in the team, and he was selected for the first batch of newly inaugurated NCA, where he would train under Erapalli Prasanna and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, but he was expelled from the academy on disciplinary grounds, and because of that his job from Indian Airlines was also reviewed.
This did not help the bowler who would often get overlooked by selectors, so Harbhajan Singh was reported and thrown out of the national side, kicked out of NCA, and blacklisted by the selectors, and he would lose his father as well. He had to find a way to support his five sisters and his mother, so he decided to move to Canada and drive a truck, but he got one last chance, as India wanted to find new spinners for the upcoming Australia tour of India, so they got a camp with 25 spinners from all over India, and Singh was one of them and the coach John Wright was so impressed by the bounce he produced and decided to play him the warm match against Australia.
Rahul Sanghvi took five wickets in the game, but VVS Laksam kept talking about Harbhajan Singh to Sourav Ganguly. Harbhajan Singh reminded Ganguly of himself, the same attitude and the arrogance, Ganguly wanted to get Harbhajan Singh in the team by hook or crook, and he went against selectors to pick him in the starting 11. In the first match in Mumbai, India lost but Harbhajan Singh took four wickets in the game, then came the famous kolkata test which needs no details and Harbhajan Singh took 13 for 196 runs in the game including a hat-trick in the first innings. The third test in Chennai, where he took 15 wickets for 217 runs, and he won the player of the series as he took 32 wickets, this gamble by Ganguly just did not save his captaincy but made Harbhajan’s career.
3. 2007 T20i World Cup Bowl Out
It was the inaugural T20i World Cup; India came to this tournament after crashing out of the group stage in the ODI World Cup, which prompted them to send juniors to this one, as most seniors didn't want to be a part of it. It was held in South Africa. It was the 10th match of the tournament between India and Pakistan. Pakistan won against Scotland before facing India, but India's first match against Scotland was washed out. This is not about the game, the game was tied and the super over wasn't introduced, so they used to have to bowl out, which is like penalties where five bowlers would try to hit the stumps.
Everyone thought the proper bowlers would be beneficial in this situation, but MS Dhoni thought differently. Where Pakistan got quickies Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Shahid Afridi, and all of them missed the stumps, where else India used bowlers like part-timer Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and batsman Robin Uthappa, and all of them hit the stumps, the only reason behind it was all three of them were accurate in practice sessions as well. It worked for India, as they went on to win the tournament as well.
4. Bazball Cricket
An approach taking test cricket by storm in recent times, under coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes. It is a mindset and approach taken by England on how to play test cricket. It was in May 2022 when McCullum became the test coach of England. This impacted their style, as they became the first side in Test history to chase three scores of 250-plus in back-to-back games against New Zealand and the first England side to ever win four consecutive Test matches batting last. With this style, they averaged a run rate of 4.65 per over, which is the highest in test cricket, and this allowed for fast-pace test matches to be played. The name was coined by ESPN Cricinfo UK editor Andrew Miller.
