1916
Merv Wallace, one of New Zealand’s most underrated cricketers, was born on this day. Wallace scored two half-centuries on debut at Lord’s in 1937 and returned after the war to score 1722 runs on the 1949 tour of England.
1969
Nayan Mongia, a wicketkeeper-batsman for India, was born on this day. Mongia made 107 dismissals in 44 Tests. His most notable performance came against Australia in 1996, when he scored a match-winning 152 in Delhi. But his career was marred with controversies like accused of not trying to win a match, showing dissent at an umpiring decision, and named in the match-fixing scandal of the late 1990s.
1974
Ricky Ponting, one of the greatest batsman that Australia gifted to the world cricket, was born on this day. Ponting is the most successful run-maker for Australia after. In his Test debut against Sri Lanka at Perth in 1995-96, he scored a brilliant 96. Ponting was the master of pull stroke and effortlessly scored with that shot. Ponting became Australia’s one-day captain in 2001-02 and won the World Cup in 2003. In a career spanning for 168 Test matches, Ponting scored 13378 runs with an average of 51.85. In 375 ODIs he made 13704 runs.
1979
Geoff Boycott became the first man to be left stranded on 99 not out in a Test. This feat came against Australia in Perth.
2010
Sachin Tendulkar completed his 50th Test century against South Africa in Centurion. With India batting to save the match after conceding a 484-run first-innings lead, Tendulkar hit his ton.
