How India Felled The World Champions!
India’s current form in the league
matches of the ICC World Cup 2015 belies their disastrous tour of Australia which
concluded only a month ago. The World Cup always evokes emotions from my school
days. March is always a tough month for any school kid, more so when exams are
knocking on your doors. But even such important things are sidelined when the
World Cup wave sweeps your city. What could be bigger in this cricket crazy
country? The tournament had returned to India for a second time in almost a
decade. India’s performance had been quite dramatic throughout the tournament.
After the league stage, India qualified for the knock-out round and their
opponents in the quarter final was none other than our neighbours and
oft-hailed ‘arch’ rivals, Pakistan. The contest offered mouth-watering
prospects. And it transpired that the quarter final fell in Bangalore’s kitty!
What more could anyone in the Garden City ask for? All roads led to Chinnaswamy
Stadium that fateful day.
On that Saturday morning a school boy
was trying his best to shut out all the euphoria around and concentrate on his
books for the upcoming class 9 annual exams. But he could not keep his mind on
it and soon it turned hazy. After sometime the door of his room opened suddenly
and jerked him out of his doze. His mother walked in with a beaming smile. He
looked quizzically. She told him to get ready as his father had come in with a
surprise – he could not believe his ears when she told him that match tickets
had been arranged! He jumped in joy and was ready in a jiffy!
I can feel the thrill of that moment
till date! Father and son duo proceeded towards the stadium. A huge crowd had gathered outside and the consequent
cacophony was only natural. We joined the queue for entering the stadium.
Inspite of the large turnout we were able to make our entry reasonably quickly.
What a spectacular sight greeted us. The lush green ground with players
practicing at the side. Every time I visit the stadium I find it more beautiful
than the previous occasion. This time was even more special – floodlights had
been installed and it was the first day-night match here. Everyone, me
included, was quite curious. The floodlights had been switched on every night prior
to the match and even the distant view from my terrace in Indiranagar was
awesome, making me wonder more than once what it would be
like to watch the game under it! I looked up at them fondly now – it seemed
like a trance!
Our seats were positioned perpendicular
to the pitch so we could see a single wicket (instead of 3) at one end of the
pitch. We had got in around 12.30 with the stands still filling up. By the time
the captains came out for the toss around 2 o'clock, the capacity crowd cheered
them wildly. There were no electronic screens or live displays back then, so we
relied on field gestures of the players to comprehend as to what was
transpiring on the field. Azharuddin indicated a batting motion soon after and
we knew that India was to bat first. The Pakistani players took the field a few
minutes later. Soon after the Indian opening batsmen, Siddhu and Tendulkar came
out in full game gear. The roar of the crowd still rings in my ears!
The first ball was bowled and was
dispatched carefully. India had got off to a decent start. The first wicket of
Tendulkar somewhat silenced the stadium. India were 90 at that time. Early runs
helped India to reach a decent score but some loss of wickets put a brake on
the rapid run progress. A patient knock of 93 by the eventual man of the match Siddhu,
who held forte from the start helped to anchor the Indian innings till the
middle overs. But what made the difference was a late burst by Ajay Jadeja who
smashed Waqar Younis for 22 runs in his penultimate over. It was not over yet,
the 50th over cost Pakistan 18 runs! Contributions from all the
batsmen ensured India heaped a collective misery on Pakistan and piled on 287
runs.
During the break when we went down to
pick up some food, the reaction of the others in our section was mixed. Some
were very happy with the performance. But considering the immense form of the
then reigning world champions, yes indeed at that time Pakistan was the
defending champion, others were skeptical. I had a lot of hope since this was
the highest score (and hence the highest total to be chased) till date on this
ground. My heart had been pounding with excitement and I kept my fingers
crossed throughout.
Post the break, by the time my father
and I maneuvered the crowds to grab a bite and returned to our seats, the
players (blue and green looking very refreshing in comparison to the regular
white) were ready to start. And what a shocking start it was. Aamir Sohail was
at this very best and gave Pakistan an electrifying start. My heart sank at the
blitzkreig that followed. They raced to 84 in the first 10 overs leaving
everyone dumfounded. Saeed Anwar who was equally offensive departed soon after,
bringing in tremendous joy. The relief, however, was short lived since Aamir
Sohail continued the onslaught. The crowd was slowly growing restless now. I
was losing hope with every over getting them closer to the target at a rate
higher than the required run rate. With the Pakistani batsmen going great guns,
the game, it appeared, was surely slipping away and something needed to be done
quickly.
In the meanwhile, there were some
gestures among the players but we could not make out. The next moment came the
relieving ‘crack’ sound of the breaking willow! Venkatesh Prasad had uprooted
Aamir’s stumps. The crowd was on its feet in a flash! Later on when we got to
see the replays on television, we realized that this was the moment when Aamir
Sohail had gestured to Prasad to the effect that ‘you pitch the ball here and I
will send you to the rope’, but Prasad was not incited and kept his cool. He
had the last laugh when the very next ball extracted revenge and sent Aamir
packing to the dressing room. It was 113 for 2.
There was no looking back after that.
Some minor hiccups in the next few overs but the same could not rattle the
Indians. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals now and the drumbeats
increased with every fall. Whenever Tendulkar was around, the all in the block
behind him were chanting his name in unison! Vinod Kambli, who was fielding
just before our enclosure, kept turning around at us and raising both his hands
in up and down motion to encourage our section, which was fully behind the
Indian team. Everyone was anticipating an Indian victory now.
The fortunes of both teams had swung
like a pendulum throughout the match and it was riveting to see how India
changed the course of the match with determination and grit. The magical moment
came when the last ball of the Pakistani innings was bowled with their score at
248, 40 runs short of the target. The deluge was deafening now – shouts,
plastic bottles, firecrackers and what not! The reigning champions had been
felled and history repeated itself. India kept the record intact – never having
lost to Pakistan in a World Cup Match, a record which it holds till date.
The
revelry that I was witness to both inside and outside the stadium was unparalleled.
The whole city was perhaps on the streets that night. The momentous win sparked
never ending celebrations all through the night. The walk from the stadium till
crossing of MG Road and Old Madras Road had never given me so much delight.
That day no autoriskshaw was charging any passenger and we had a free ride
home. It was a red-letter day for me and a dream come true. Unfortunately in those days time there were no mobiles, so I have no photos or selfies of that historic event, only memories in my mind which I often relive!
With India having qualified
for the quarterfinals in this edition of ICC World Cup and their unbroken
winning spree, it will only be befitting that they remain unconquered. I join
the nation in wishing Team India the very best for retaining the coveted trophy.
Go India Go!
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| Image source - http://livecricketscore.io/ |
(A shorter version of this article originally appeared in the inhouse website of an MNC)
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