January 11 down the years

The Wall

Rahul Dravid is born, and Hanif Mohammad falls one short of 500

Rahul Dravid scored over 13,000 runs in Tests and over 10,000 in ODIs  •  AFP

Rahul Dravid scored over 13,000 runs in Tests and over 10,000 in ODIs  •  AFP

1973
When Sourav Ganguly made a hundred in his first Test innings, at Lord's in 1996, Rahul Dravid, who was born today, made 95 - nearly the first instance of two new caps scoring hundreds in the same innings. The two went on to share a record one-day stand of 318 against Sri Lanka at Taunton in the 1999 World Cup. In 2002, Dravid made four consecutive Test hundreds, including a masterful 148 in tough conditions at Headingley to set India up for a rare overseas victory. That was followed by his awesome display on the 2003-04 tour to Australia: in the second Test he batted 835 minutes, scoring 233 and an unbeaten 72, and steered India to a famous win. He went on to feature in memorable overseas wins in Pakistan and the West Indies, and captained India to their first win in South Africa and first series win in England for 21 years. In March 2008 he became the third Indian to get to 10,000 runs in Tests, and by 2011 he was the second-highest Test run-maker after Sachin Tendulkar. That year he was the top Test run-scorer in the world, with five hundreds, including three on a tough tour of England, and four half-centuries, but he retired after a poor series in Australia in 2011-12. Dravid was the first player to take 200 catches in Tests. After retirement he had spells coaching India men's Under-19s and senior national sides.
1959
Mighty little Hanif Mohammad enjoyed occupying the crease. Batting for Karachi against Bahawalpur in Karachi, he tried to steal a run to keep the strike when on 499 and was run out. It was the highest first-class score at the time, breaking Don Bradman's mark from 1930, and stood as a record till Brian Lara went two runs better in 1994.
1994
Another huge score on the subcontinent, this time by a team, or at least most of one. Hyderabad declared at 944 for 6 against Andhra Pradesh in Secunderabad. Maturi Sridhar made 366, Vivek Jaisimha 211 and Noel David 207 - but Andhra held out for a draw with three wickets left and 502 runs to get.
1998
Muthiah Muralidaran didn't take ten wickets in any of his first 34 Tests, but after doing so for the first time on this day, against Zimbabwe in Kandy, he went on to do it more than 20 times over his career. Murali's second-innings 7 for 94 won this match for Sri Lanka by eight wickets.
1973
Needing only 158 to win the Sydney Test, Pakistan reached 83 for 3 only to collapse to 106 all out and lose the three-match series 0-3. Max Walker, in his perennial role as faithful third change, emerged from the shadows to take 5 for 3 in his last 30 balls to finish with 6 for 15 from 16 overs.
2023
Prithvi Shaw made 379, the second-highest Ranji Trophy score of all time, for Mumbai in a match against Assam. It was also the second-highest first-class score ever by an Indian. On both those lists, Shaw's innings put him in second place to Bhausaheb Nimbalkar, who made 443 not out for Maharashtra against Kathiawar in 1948-49.
1979
An Australian side deprived of its Packer players had little chance against a seasoned England team, but they'd pulled back to 2-1 before this fourth Test in Sydney - only for the Nelson to rear its accursed head. The England spinners bowled them for 111 to win the match by 93 runs and retain the Ashes.
2021
Epic fifth-day resistance by India to draw the Sydney Test after being set 407 to win over four sessions. Hanuma Vihari, nursing a hamstring injury, grew roots at the crease for a 23 that took 161 balls (and his strike rate could have been more majestically glacial still, had he not hit a couple of wanton celebratory fours in the final two overs). He was ably aided by R Ashwin, who took 128 balls for his 39. Earlier in the day, Rishabh Pant gave Australia a proper scare when he took the fight to them with 97, in the company of Cheteshwar Pujara (who faced 381 balls in the match for 127 runs). For Australia, Steven Smith shrugged off poor form to make 131 and 81, and Marnus Labuschagne had 164 runs in his two innings. At the other end, Nathan Lyon toiled 77 overs for just two wickets.
1996
The day Phil DeFreitas opened for England. Pinch-hitting was all the rage in advance of the World Cup, and though England promoted a glorified tailender, DeFreitas' 17, and a rumbustious 42-ball 55 from Graeme Hick, gave England the momentum to successfully chase South Africa's 263 in Bloemfontein.
1903
South African opener Jack Siedle, born today, made his debut for South Africa in 1928. He scored a century in his sixth Test, in Cape Town against England, who were his opponents in the first 13 of his 18 Tests. He was part of the 1935 side that won South Africa's first Test in England - after trying for 28 years - at Lord's but his only notable performance on the tour came in the first Test in Nottingham. The following series, against Australia at home, was his last and he scored two half-centuries - in Durban and Cape Town.
1927
Birth of tall right-arm New Zealand fast bowler Johnny Hayes. Genuinely quick on his day, Hayes could move the ball away from right-handers. The first of his 15 Tests came against England in 1950-51, and the following season he produced possibly his best burst when he removed Gerry Gomez, Clyde Walcott and Frank Worrell in eight balls. In 1955-56 he toured India and Pakistan, taking 35 wickets at 32.11 in the first-class games, where he used the new ball with skill. He was less successful in the Tests - his 13 wickets in six outings cost 46.61. He quit cricket in 1961 and served as Morocco's honorary consul general in New Zealand until his retirement in 2004.
1971
In his second Test, Sri Lankan medium-pacer Sajeewa de Silva, born today, took 5 for 85 against Pakistan in Colombo, a performance he couldn't replicate in the rest of his brief career. His one-day career was longer, but he never took more than three wickets in a match. In 2007, he was a contender for Chaminda Vaas' place in the Test side but lost out to Farveez Maharoof.
Other birthdays
1862 Frank Sugg (England)
1972 Julia Price (Australia)