MUMBAI: Back in September 1986, when Australian batsman Dean Jones, suffering from severe dehydration during the tied Test against India at the Chepauk in Chennai, requested his captain Allan Border if could retire hurt because of exhaustion, the Australian skipper taunted him back: “We'll get a real Australian, a Queenslander, Greg Ritchie, if you're not up to the job.".” It was a comment which hurt the proud Victorian. Fired by the jibe, he grinded it out for perhaps the bravest double century in the history of the game, which saw him suffer from ‘involuntary urination’ and being hospitalized later.
37 years later, suffering from severe cramps, another Victorian, Glenn Maxwell, cramping severely and batting on virtually one leg, or at times, no legs, brought back memories of Jones’s gallant knock-though this one -coming in an ODI-was more of a blitzkreig, sending bowlers to all the parts of the ground in the face of adversity.
