it’s about those days When totals of 270 were considered big and players who batted at a strike rate of 90 were called explosives. Scores above 320 were not in fashion then forget chasing a target of 350.
But this India Pakistan cricket match was way ahead of its time. The first match of the Samsung Cup series in 2004 was special in more ways than one. India was visiting Pakistan after a seven-year-long gap. This cricket series was considered to play a major role in improving the social and political relations between India and Pakistan. India had never before won a cricket series on Pakistani soil but the hopes of the Indian fans were sky-high under the charismatic captain Sourav Ganguly.
When this much-anticipated series premiered on 13 March 2004, it was a unique experience for the viewers. Not only were there nearly 700 runs scored in that match, in fact, there were many dramatic and exciting turns in that match.
So come with me on a pleasant trip down memory lane to that extraordinary match.
Winning the toss on a wicket conducive to batting, Pakistan surprised everyone by opting to bowl. Sachin Sehwag’s opening pair made an explosive start. He hit Pakistan’s directionless bowling badly. Just look at these predicted scores…
Significantly, 400 was a fictitious score at the time…
After the dismissal of Sachin-Sehwag, Saurabh Ganguly also maintained the run rate by playing a fiery innings. On the other hand, Dravid was observed playing in his normally controlled way. Even before the end of the 25th over, India had touched the figure of 200 runs. But as soon as captain Ganguly was out, the run rate started falling badly. In such circumstances, the innings were handled by Kaif and Dravid.
Between 25 and 40 overs, only 70 runs could be added in the innings. But in the last 10 overs, both the players tried to increase the pace and India reached the score of 324-4 after 45 overs.
Dravid was very close to a historic century but then something happened that left all the viewers heartbroken. A slower yorker from Akhtar denied him a century. Nonetheless, that brilliant innings by Dravid took India to a mammoth score of 349/7. Pakistan now had to chase down a (at that time) world record target to win the match.
In response, to Zaheer and Balaji’s strong opening spells, Pakistan lost both their opening batsmen early. Pakistan’s score after 10 overs was only 40-2. But then that stadium became witness to one of the most powerful efforts in the history of cricket. Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq became the troubleshooter for his team, who together with Mohammad Yusuf (then Yusuf Yohana) added an important 134 runs for the third wicket. Sehwag eventually broke this dangerous pairing. But there was no break for Inzamam-ul-Haq. He kept teasing the Indian bowlers. Inzamam-ul-Haq and Younis Khan were playing cool
And the equation was gradually tilting towards Pakistan. It now seemed possible for Pakistan to achieve that unimaginable goal.
Murali Karthik then took two of the most crucial wickets of his career. He brought some relief to the Indian camp by dismissing both Inji and Younus one after the other. Despite being a staunch Indian supporter, I believe it was probably one of the best innings in the history of cricket. Chasing an unimaginable target against arch-rivals with the pressure of captaincy at home.
But now the question was, was it enough?
By current standards – yes… But according to that time the equation of 45 runs to win in 32 balls, It was considered an insurmountable task for the batsmen. But the difference between runs and balls seemed to be decreasing continuously.
Abdul Razzaq had now taken over the reins of the innings to reach the target. Now 35 runs were needed in 25 balls. In such a situation, Zaheer Khan put an end to Razak’s short-explosive innings 27 (16).
When Pakistan simply needed 10 runs in 8 balls, Then Mohammad Kaif took a sensitive catch and dismissed Shoaib Malik. Kaif narrowly avoided colliding with Hemang Badni during that brilliant catch
And showing immense skill, he took that spectacular catch.
Read Also – We are going to play World Cup in India, not just play with India only – Babar Azam
Last over of the match…. Need 9 runs to win. Excitement at its peak… Rana Naved and Moin Khan at the crease. Ball in Ashish Nehra Ji’s hands. The only question was who would be able to handle the pressure better now.
Pakistani coach Javed Miandad, From the window of the dressing room, was constantly seen pointing to the batsmen. Seeing him in this form brought back memories of the heart-wrenching six that he hit off the last ball in Sharjah. And 6 runs were needed on the last ball. Moin Khan definitely raised the ball in the air but the ball stopped in the hands of Zaheer Khan And India beat Pakistan in this match by 5 runs.
In the context of that time, this match was a wonderful and extraordinary match for the whole world of cricket. Despite losing the match, Inzamam was named “Man of the Match” for his outstanding effort.
However, the interesting thing is that in the very next Indo Pak match, the roles changed. That time the Indian team came to chase Pakistan’s target of 300+. And due to the magical innings of Sachin Tendulkar, almost reaching the door of victory-2 remained. Well, that story some other time…!
