DHAKA, Jan 18: With just six balls separating India from one of its greatest victories ever on a cricket field, a young Bangladeshi fan gently knelt down to pray on the top floor of the National Stadium. He was quite oblivious of the bonfires sprouting all over the stands outside, or of the tension searing through the rest of the 40,000 here.Then, just after young Hrishikesh Kanitkar delivered the final line for India in this thrilling drama, he got up to ask just one question: ``What happened?'' The answer had him look up to the Heavens once more, before sprinting down the stairs to watch Mohammed Azharuddin blinking under the flashbulbs with the Independence Cup in his hands.
The rest of the Indian team was couped up nearby, almost as numb as the Pakistanis were. There were no flamboyant high-fives or other exuberant displays of celebration even after smashing a world record during their exciting chase of 315 runs. That, anyway, would come much later after the significance of this amazing three-wicket
victory sinks in gradually. Azharuddin, for one, did not quite seem to understand what all the fuss was about. ``It was a great win, but we still need to improve our bowling and fielding,'' he said later. It was almost an anti-climax after Srinath and Kanitkar pulled out the incredible with those nine runs from Saqlain's final over. But, the Indian skipper definitely had a point there, when he said that Pakistan would not have got 314 runs in the first place if all those five catches were taken.
In the event, as the Indians fumbled their way through a painful thrashing from Saeed Anwar and Ijaz Ahmed in the morning, there was hardly a soul in the venue who gave them even the slightest of chance in this tie. But Sachin Tendulkar obviously had different ideas. So did Saurav Ganguly. And, with Robin Singh deciding that he wouldn't want to be left out either, the match crackled alive under a gloomy cloud cover.
At one stage, Tendulkar almost seemed to have Sanath Jayasuriya in mind when he surged ahead with
six boundaries off just eight balls. But just as the Pakistanis heaved a huge sigh of relief at the Mumbaikar's mishit to extra cover, came Robin Singh; promoted to No 3 and aware that his career was on the line. Then, as he had done during that famous Karachi win last year, Robin settled down at one end, while allowing Ganguly to flower at the other.
It was now the turn of Bengal's joy to delight the crowd with some adventurous strokes that blended in nicely with those silken swishes to the off-side. 179 runs from the ninth over to the 39th. Looking back, if there was one turning point in the whole affair, it was this Indian tie-up for the second wicket. There was no real pressure to step on the gas, thanks to Tendulkar's early efforts.
But still, they had to do something which the Indians have not been able to for most of last season. Hold up the middle and set up the final assault. And, while Ganguly got the odd boundary to keep the target within striking distance, Robin got the Calcuttan to run some
hard ones while craving out a smooth 82 in the bargain.
Not surprisingly, Ganguly was finally forced to ask for a runner to help him through the final phase of his second century in 54 one-dayers. But the fact that he lasted virtually till the end was a tribute to the kind of determination that he has brought into his game of late.
However, the only jarring note in those final moments when India was up against the wall, was the kind of pressure which Kanitkar was put through when Ajay Jadeja and Navjot Sidhu should have taken charge much earlier. As for the Pakistanis, it was quite unfortunate that those wonderful centuries from Saeed Anwar (140) and Ijaz Ahmed (117) faded away under the brilliance of the Indian batting. In their third-wicket stand of 230 runs, they not only induced their fans into premature displays of exuberance, but also exposed the pathetic state of India's bowling attack.
The way Anwar and Ijaz tonked them around, it often seemed that India had only one bowler out there in Javagal
Srinath. Harvinder Singh was lofted out of the attack, while the rest including debutant left-arm spinner Rahul Sanghvi were smashed out of it. And, with Robin Singh just about holding fort and Ganguly surprisingly pulled out after two decent overs, India finally had Sachin bowling the final over. As Pakistan captain Rashid Latif said in the end, "Our total was a winning one any time...but on this day."
SCOREBOARD
Pakistan
Saeed Anwar c Azharuddin b Harvinder (133b, 15x4, 2x6) 140
Shahid Afridi c Robin Singh b Harvinder Singh (20b, 1x4, 1x6) 18
Aamir Sohail c Mongia b Harvinder Singh (17b, 1x6) 14
Ijaz Ahmed c Sidhu b Srinath (111b, 7x4, 1x6) 117
Azhar Mehmood c Azharuddin b Tendulkar 10 (6b, 1x4) 10
Mohammad Hussain not out 2 (2b) 2
Extras: (lb7, w6) 13
Total: (for five wkts, in 48 overs) 314
Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Afridi), 2-66 (Sohail), 3-296 (Anwar), 4-301 (Ijaz), 5-314 (Mehmood)
Bowling: Srinath 10-0-61-1, Harvinder 10-0-74-3,
Robin 8-0-47-0, Ganguly 2-0-5-0, Kanitkar 6-0-33-0, Tendulkar 7-0-49-1, Sanghvi 5-0-38-0
India
Saurav Ganguly b Javed (139b, 11x4, 1x6) 124
Sachin Tendulkar c Mehmood b Afridi (26b, 7x4, 1x6) 41
Robin Singh c Javed b Hussain (82b, 4x4, 2x6) 82
Mohammad Azharuddin c Sohail b M Ahmed (11b) 4
Ajay Jadeja b S Mushtaq (9b, 1x4) 8
Navjot Sidhu lbw S Mushtaq (4b, 1x4) 5
Hrishikesh Kanitkar not out (12b, 1x4) 11
Nayan Mongia run out (6b, 1x4) 9
Javagal Srinath not out (3b) 5
Extras: (b1, lb11, nb2, w13) 27
Total: (for seven wickets in 47.3 overs) 316
Fall of wickets: 1-71 (Tendulkar), 2-250 (Robin), 3-268 (Azharuddin), 4-274 (Ganguly), 5-281 (Sidhu), 6-296 (Jadeja), 7-306 (Mongia)
Bowling: Aaqib 9.2-63-1, Mehmood 8-0-55-0, Afridi 6.4-56-1. Saqlain 9.5-66-3, Hussain 10-0-40-1, Akhter 4-0-24-0.
RESULT: India won by three wickets.
Final series result: India win 2-1
Man of the Match: Saurav Ganguly
Man of the
Series: Sachin Tendulkar
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
