Saturday, 19 March 2016

Re-living Indo-Pak World Cup Rivalry: 2003 - the year of the Fantastic Indian Chase!






As an Indian, and more importantly as a cricket fan, World Cup clashes between India and Pakistan have always been special for me. Not only because it’s my team that has gone on to win each time – as I’m hoping it would in their super 10’s match on Saturday in the World T20 – but also because I have some indelible recollections about them. Especially of the ones held in the new millennium.

While I was too young to appreciate what it meant for India to play against Pakistan in 1992 – the start of the rivalry as such – 1996 became synonymous for the team’s disastrous semi-final against Sri Lanka. Just as 1999 was more about the start of Australia’s domination in World Cups that lasted for the next two editions.

Not surprisingly, it’s the 2003 match-up that I remember quite clearly. For one, the scheduling of the tournament created a lot of ruckus with irate parents and teachers, who were worried about 10th Grade students not concentrating on the Board exams. To worsen the issue, the Indo-Pak match was to be held on 1st March, four days before the start of the Boards, which were to start on the 5th March.

Since I too was giving my Boards that year, the worrisome nature of the tournament had penetrated into my home as well. What however made it even more worrying that instead of revising for my exams, I was constantly mulling about the permutations and combinations of the Indian team composition and the statistical significance of India winning it.

My pondering about the tie intensified all the more during the course of the match. When Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first, it felt as if the omen was against us. It didn’t help that Saeed Anwar unleashed himself upon our bowlers, who seemed to be clueless as to what needed to be done to pick wickets.

The Pakistani openers, Anwar and Taufeeq Umar kept the run-rate steady at around five – which, in those days, was a huge thing – and it was only in the 11th over that Zaheer Khan managed to end the opening run stand of 58 runs by scalping Umar’s wicket. His fierceness was visible in his celebration and it’s one that I’ll never forget. Anwar went on to score a century, before he was sent packing by Ashish Nehra for 101 runs. Looking back it then, a century seems just an ordinary score, but back then, it looked momentous for our opponents. As did the total Pakistan propped up at the end of 50 overs, 273 runs.

Again, 273 will barely make anyone gasp looking at how teams are chasing 400-plus scores. It’s another example of how cricket, and time, has changed in little over a decade. 273 was then a formidable total to defend, even though India did have a full-strength squad to chase the target down.

And Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag started out by making merry against the Pakistani bowling line-up that included Shoaib Akhtar. Each ball was sent soaring, either beyond the boundary ropes or into the stands as the Indian openers presented their version of aggressiveness. Though the then-Pakistani skipper Waqar Younis took the wickets of Sehwag and his Indian counterpart Ganguly (who was out for a duck) in quick succession, Tendulkar was relentless.

Akhtar picking Tendulkar’s wicket – who, once again became a victim to the ‘nervous 90’s’ – made hearts skip a beat, with almost 90-odd runs still to get. But then we also did have our Wall to reassure us.

Then there was Yuvraj Singh too. Singh’s performances during India’s winning run at the 2011 World Cup have been well lauded, but his being an integral part of the Indian team was set almost eight years before, in 2003. And his partnership with Dravid in India’s chase against Pakistan was yet another example of this. Singh provided an aggressive counterpoint to Dravid’s assertiveness, with their duality setting the remaining tone of the match that allowed India to get a relatively comfortable win in the end.

While India wasn’t able to win the World Cup, falling short – yet again to Australia in the tournament – the manner in which the team played throughout the event, after overcoming its nerves, was remarkable. As for me, in spite of my family members thinking that I wouldn’t get good enough marks, I did pass out with distinction.

As I’m hoping India would do so again today, in a different format with an altogether different, but no less important, legacy to chase...

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