What goes through a batsman's mind when dismissed on 199
Every cricketer dreams of representing his country in the international arena someday and if he’s a batsman, he always has that one dream to score a century. A double-century have become quite common in Tests as well as in ODIs with the sort of performances the current crop of batsmen are putting on these days.
Scoring a double-century in Test cricket is always a great achievement and over the years, there have been a number of batsmen who have achieved this. However, there have been a few instances when the batsmen have to go through the pain of being dismissed at 199. The most recent one of them came during the India-England Test series when KL Rahul got dismissed by Adil Rashid for 199 which prevented him from a glorious and well-deserved double-hundred.
The likes of Sanath Jayasuriya, Younis Khan and Mohammad Azharuddin have also been dismissed on this score during some time in their illustrious careers.
Being dismissed on 199 is perhaps even more painful than being dismissed on 99, especially for a player who has just begun his career because getting a double-century during the early stages of your international career is a morale booster.
Here are five thoughts that might pass through a player’s mind when he gets dismissed on 199.
#5 Why did I have to play that shot!
One of the first things that go through a batsman’s mind when dismissed is “Why in the world did I go for that shot”. When a batsman gets dismissed for 99 or 149, the batsman gets disappointed but a dismissal on 199 does make him sick to the stomach and probably more painful than being hit on the body by the cricket ball.
He keeps on wondering why he had to play that particular shot, and that he could have kept his calm and simply defended that delivery and tried to reach the milestone a few deliveries later.
Or he could have just plainly grounded the shot and taken a run or two or he could have done a Virender Sehwag by going for the glamour shot to bring up the glorious double-hundred. These thoughts always go through the batsman’s mind when he sits in the pavilion pondering about what could have been.