Some memories are for a lifetime. And, with an India-Pakistan ICC Cricket World Cup match upon us, it is hard not to cast the mind back to each of the seven earlier contests, bringing forth a tapestry of memories and emotions to relive.
I have reported on three of India’s victories in the World Cup – the bitter quarterfinal clash in Bangalore in 1996, a low-scoring league game at Old Trafford in 1999 and a demolition in Adelaide in 2015. But the Bangalore match takes the pride of place among this lot, not just because it was the first but also because it made everyone go on a roller-coaster ride like none other.
All roads around the M Chinnaswamy Stadium were teeming with people, some with tickets and countless others with only hope in their hearts that they could somehow sneak in. Long before the toss, fans packed the terraces to the rafters. You did not need a Smart Watch to warn you of high decibel levels since you had to speak really aloud to be heard by the one sitting next to you.
It surprised everyone in the press box and beyond when Aamir Sohail walked out to toss with Mohammed Azharuddin, after Wasim Akram, the Pakistan captain, pulled out of the game, ostensibly with a shoulder injury. It was a blow to Pakistan that their spearhead and captain would not be on the field and some murmurs of discontent could be heard, with Javed Miandad feeling cold-shouldered.
Be that as it may, Navjot Singh Sidhu was the star of the Indian batting effort with a well-crafted innings. He fell to Mushtaq Ahmed, the wily leg-spinner, a few runs short of his hundred, but he had laid a solid foundation for India to aspire to cross the 300-run mark. But Azharuddin and Vinod Kambli could not get going and when they fell in quick succession, 275 seemed a long shot.
I can recall being needled by a colleague in the press box about Azharuddin’s form. The Indian captain had not enjoyed the best of World Cup campaigns, having scored just one half-century in the six games. He was finding his touch in the game when he fell to an attempted steer to third man off Waqar Younis that Rashid Latif anticipated to take an outstanding catch.
That was when Ajay Jadeja took charge. With Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath for company, he added 53 runs. Waqar Younis, who had bowled eight fantastic overs for 27 runs, was creamed for 40 in his last two overs, with Kumble cracking him for a couple of fours and Jadeja slamming him for 20 runs off four deliveries. The last three overs saw India’s total swell by 51 runs.
The 45,000 people, who had been screaming themselves hoarse in delight, were soon stunned into silence by the fireworks unleashed by Pakistan’s left-hand openers, Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar. You could feel the crowd’s collective stress when India’s bowling was taken to the cleaners with field restrictions in place.
Sohail and Anwar hit eight fours in the first five overs from Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad to force Azharuddin to beckon Kumble earlier than expected. Even that did not stop the rampaging Pakistani openers who hit six more boundaries, including two sixes, in the next five overs. The fans groaned in agony as Pakistan raced past 100 in quick time.
They were in such a dominant position that Sohail, the stand-in skipper, allowed his emotions to get the better of him. One delivery after Prasad bowled him a bouncer, he stepped down the track to drive the ball through the covers with such ferocity that the leather would have come off the cricket ball had it not been scorching the grass.
In wanting to exercise control over Prasad’s mind, Sohail then played a stroke he probably still regrets. Seeking to clout the final delivery of the 15th over on the leg-side, he missed the line and heard the crack of the ball striking the off-stump. It was the moment in which the Chinnaswamy Stadium exploded in cheers that could be heard miles away.
The celebrations continued through the fall of Ijaz Ahmed and Inzamam-ul-Haq, both to Prasad. Salim Malik, Miandad and Latif stemmed the rot somewhat, but Kumble and Venkatapathy Raju were on top of their game and made things harder for the team from across the border, making it easy for the home fans to anticipate victory with throaty roars.
Miandad, a pale shadow of the batter who had been a thorn in the flesh for Indian bowlers for many years, was run out when attempting a non-existent single. I recall that he took the longest time on his way back to the pavilion, his shoes appearing to be made of lead. He knew he was out but waited for the TV umpire’s decision and trudged ever so slowly off the field.
It was not sympathy or awe that was the dominant emotion when he fell. We did not know it then, but the sly old bat was walking off a cricket pitch for the very last time. Disgusted with the team’s showing and the fact that he had been overlooked to lead when Akram was unavailable for the game, he announced his retirement on the bus ride back to the hotel.
The writing was on the wall and Pakistan, docked an over for slow over rate, surrendered rather meekly in the end. The decibel levels rose in direct proportion to India’s ascendancy in the game. It was the kind of a contest that left not just the players, but also those who watched, physically exhausted and emotionally drained.
The following day brought along the cherry on the cake, or Payasam (kheer), to be more accurate. Kumble invited me for lunch at his home. I am not sure if his mother, Mrs Saroja Kumble, knew that it was my birthday, but to have a mother-made Payasam that day was a blessing indeed. It was a wonderful way to sign off from Bangalore, and a match like no other.