Who was the first Indian batsman to be dismissed for 99 in an ODI?
(12 November 2002)

It is among the worst things that can happen to a batsman in any form of the game. To come in one-dayers when a class act is trying to establish himself in the shorter version of the game is a twist of fate so cruel you would not wish it to your worst enemy. When VVS Laxman came down the wicket to a fast delivery from Chris Gayle, in the second one-dayer, he was stumped with ease. No big deal. Except that the Hyderabadi stylist was on 99.

Struggling to come good in the limited-overs game, having just crossed the landmark of 1000 runs to reach 1045 runs at an average of under 27, Laxman will feel that he missed out on a golden chance to reach three-figures.

Such an occurrence is not, however, something new to Indian cricket. A pioneer in many ways in the crash-bang version of the game, Krishnamachari Srikkanth was the first Indian cricketer to suffer the fate of being dismissed one short of a century. Against England in 1984, Srikkanth and Ravi Shastri opening the batting put on a massive 188 before Srikkanth fell to Mike Gatting of all people! Undeterred, Shastri went on to make a century. History tells us that the English have been the unluckiest in this regard ­ with three batsmen being dismissed on 99. Geoff Boycott, Allan Lamb and Chris Broad were the batsmen who put England on the top of this list. In all, just fifteen batsmen have fallen on 99 in 1894 limited overs games played so far.