Memories Of Greatest Cricketers - - #8 Shane Warne

[Murali Srinivas]

I had written about 1986 Australasia Cup being a grudge match for the Benson & Hedges cup of 1985. There was one more tournament in 1985 April at Sharjah (Asia Cup?). In the finals, the sub continent rivals clashed. It saw one of the most hostile spell of bowling from Imran when he single handedly demolished India for a platry score of 125 and his analysis read 6 for 14 in 10 overs which was a record untill Aquib Javed claimed 7 wickets in 10 overs in the same sharjah (including a hatrick) in 19991. Records apart, the spell of Imran on that day was awesome. Nobody could even play a correct shot and even the 14 runs came through edges. India only after his spell was over could breathe easily and piled up 125. But the pakistani batsmen let Imran down and with Kapil marshalling his resources well, Pak was shot out for 89 and we won by 36 runs. So the 1986 triumph (from the jaws of death) was a very sweet one for Imran.

When 1987 dawned, Imran made public his 4 desires. The first one was to beat India in India, second was to beat England at England, the third one was to beat WI in Windies and last to win the World Cup. These have never been achieved by any other Pak team. Pakistan was scheduled to tour all these three countries and participate in the World Cup of 1987 to be joint hosted by India and Pakistan.

Indian tour turned out to be a watershed in Pak cricket's history. in the First Test at Madras, Srikaa scored 123 to set up a decent Indian score. Imran who could not take part in the later part of Indian innings due to stomack upset was on trips. But when Pakistan innings began to crumble, he came out to bat. What an innings he played. He scored 135 which not only pulled Pakistan out of trouble but also effectively ended any hopes India had in mind. This man without any solid food intake stood for 4 hours and also hit 5 sixes, which showed what he is made of.

He could inspire the fellow players. During those times, the Tests and one dayers were interwined and so the first two one dayers were held after the tests. In the second test at Calcutta, Roger Binny opened up the Pak batting and captured 6 wickets. [This was the Test that Sunny opted out citing the reaction of Calcutta crowds towards him. Arun Lal who came in scored two half centuries but had to sit out in the next Test as Sunny "rightfully" reclaimed his place]. But Imran made sure that there was no hiccupps and again draw resulted.

Coming to the second one dayer at Calcutta (the first having been comfortably won by Pak), Srikka again scored 123 and when Pak started chasing, wickets began to tumble but imran found one man for the occasion. Salim Malik simply toyed with the Indian bowling and in 40 odd balls scored 70 + runs to set up an improbale win. The one dayers ended in favour of Pak with the score line reading 5-1, the only victory for India coming at the third match at Hyderabad but that could be called pyrrhic because India won on a technical point.

With the third and fourth tests meandering to draw, it boiled down to the fifth and final test at Bangalore. The curator Kasturi Rangan had prepared a pitch which turned out to be a minefield of a pitch. Imran on reading the pitch choose Iqbal Qasim and Abdul Quadir. Pak won the toss and elected to bat but Manninder spun a web around the Pak batsmen by claiming 7 wickets and Pak was bundled out for 116. India stared off well and finished the day at 72 for 2. The chances were bright for India. But Imran had a long team meeting and lot of strategies were discussed. Iqbal and Abdul Qadir as a part of the strategy went and met Bishen Singh Bedi and asked for tips Bedi gladly gave the same. his main advise was dont try anything extra. Pitch the ball in the right area and the turf will do the rest. On the next morning India overtook the Pak score and were 119 for 4 when the collapse happened and we ended up at 145, with just 29 runs lead. In the second innings, Pak batsmen fared better and they scored 249. Set 221 to win, India started disastrously losing Srikanth and Mohinder very cheaply. imran opened up with Wasim and Iqbal Qasim and his strategy started paying off. Sunny alone was waging a lone battle while wickets were falling at the other end. End of the day, we were 113 for 5 with Sunny and Azhar at the crease. The next day was rest day and the entire Pak team were working on so many plans. 5 wickets stood between Imran and his dream.

He started with Wasim on the fourth day and Azhar started with his customary wristy flicks which fetched him some runs thus by raising the hope of India. But it was not destined to be. Azhar fell and soon Shastri was gone. Sunny after battling the pitch and the bowlers finally fell for 96 which turned out to be his last outing for India, the writing was on the wall for India. Binny scored some lusty blows but Imran was not to be denied his due and we ended up at 204 falling short by 16 runs. I still remeber the glee and euphoria in Imran's face as the final wicket fell and for us who were watching it live on TV, it was a shattering blow (same emotions we had when we were watching the last ball 6, in the previous year) but here was a man who showed what leadership is and we could understand what does it mean when people say leading from the front.

Will come back later.

Regards