Eye of the spectator: An emotional fan's roller-coaster journey with Indian cricket 

A trip Down Memory Lane

Lillee versus Miandad - the most famous picture of the 1980s

In cricket, the fan has seen all of it but some of them will be etched in memory forever.

G.R. Viswanath’s sporting gesture to call back Bob Taylor in the silver jubilee Test after the umpire had given him out in 1980.

Javed Miandad's wrestling with Dennis Lillee in the middle of the pitch in 1981

Trevor Chappel’s under-arm bowling in 1981

Mohinder Amarnath’s gritty batting on blood-soaked flannels in 1983

The greatest one-day innings ever played by an Indian - Kapil Dev’s 175 not out against Zimbabwe in 1983 World Cup

Kapil Dev, Gavaskar and Mohinder Amarnath - The Legends of Indian Cricket

# Kapil’s Devils stun the world in 1983

# Mohammad Azharuddin’s record of 3 hundred in his first 3 Test matches in 1984

# Ravi Shastri and the Audi car in 1985. But Ravi Shastri is more remembered for his expressive commentary “ Dhoni finishes off in style and India lift the World Cup after 28 years”.

# The second tied Test in the history of the game at Madras in 1986

# Sunil Gavaskar becoming the Armstrong to reach the summit of 10,000 Test runs in 1987

# Narendra Hirwani’s 16 wicket haul in the Madras Test in 1988

#Sachin Tendulkar’s baptism by fire against Wasim, Waqar and Imran Khan in 1989

# Kapil Dev becoming the highest wicket-taker in Test Cricket in 1994

# Sachin Tendulkar’s desert storm when he scored back-to-back hundreds at Sharjah in 1998 and his subsequent records in all formats of the game.

Sachin - The Icon of Indian cricket

# Sachin Tendulkar causing nightmares for Shane Warne in 1998

# Anil Kumble’s perfect 10 in 1999

# Dravid and Laxman’s heroics at the Eden Gardens in 2001

# Ganguly’s shirt waving at the Lord’s balcony in 2002

# India reaching the final of World Cup 2003

# Sehwag’s triple hundred at Multan and India’s first and only series win against Pakistan in Pakistan in 2004

# Team India’s record of 17 consecutive victories while chasing in ODIs in 2006

# Yuvraj’s 6 sixes in an over in the T20 World Cup in 2007 and his massive contribution towards India winning 2 World Cups.

Team India, the Champions in T20 World Cup in 2007

# Dhoni’s India winning the T20 World Cup in 2007, 50 over World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013. An emotional Dhoni in tears after India’s semi-final loss to Australia in 2015 was the only time that Dhoni had displayed any emotions in the public.

The most memorable moment for an Indian cricket fan - India winning the World Cup in 2011

# Anil Kumble’s 600 wicket haul in 2008

# The advent of the Indian Premier League in 2008

# Team India’s series win in New Zealand in 41 years in 2009

# Sachin Tendulkar scoring his 100th International century in 2012

# Sachin Tendulkar’s 200th Test match and his emotional farewell speech in 2013

# India’s unbeaten World Cup record against Pakistan

# Rohit Sharma’s 3 double hundreds in ODIs.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli - The best of the current generation

#King Kohli’s stature as the world’s best batsman and his unparalleled record while chasing

# India’s 10th successive Test series win at home when they beat West Indies 2-0 in 2018

The fan has some regrets too. India is yet to win a Test series in Australia and in South Africa. Of late, the game is driven more by technology. Phrases like reviews, umpire’s call, ball-tracking, and soft signal have a perplexing effect on the fan. Though technology is welcome on the cricket field, sometimes it denies the instant delight of a winning moment. But the progression is inevitable.