Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (48921)	8/21/2005 12:29:43 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Respond to of 50167

Cricket..The best cricket shot...walking down the memory lane..late eighties.. I was a little 14 year old back then. Sharjah finals on Friday, India v. Pakistan, can you imagine the excitement? I paddled as hard as I could my BSA SLR, the 2 odd miles from school to home. After gulfing my lunch down in record time I was off again on my trusted bike. Destination my friend's home. My folks were at work and I sure as hell was not going to watch the finals all by myself! What happened until that last ball is now a blur. I don't remember any of Gavaskar's masterful 92 or Kris Srikanth's 75, neither do I recall the details of the way Pakistani bowlers pulled it back during the slog overs after the top three Indians had scored 50s. I don't remember much of Miandad's first 110 runs which according to Chishti Mujahid constituted one of the finest one day innings of all time. I remember everything about the last delivery like it was yesterday. I remember the conference between Kapil & Chetan Sharma at Mid-off. The towering captain of the Indian team looking down on his diminutive understudy. Two Haryanvis. One already a legend in his own right, intensity his middle name, fiery red eyes demanding quite obedience, the other a fledgling youngster, not quite built to be a paceman... projecting confidence but fearing the worst. As we would learn later, with three to win off the last ball Kapil instructed "bowl a low full toss outside the off stump... we have everyone on the boundary.. he will have to hit it out of the park... and whatever you do.. don't bowl it down the legside"! As the conference went on, Chishti Mujahid lost for words sent down platitudes to the affect of 'no mater who wins this one it will be cricket that would have won' and then in ran Chetan Sharma. I thought about it for a moment but then decided not to close my eyes. As the bowler ran in, it seemed like for a brief moment, the only people left in the universe were the 15 on the field, the 20,000 in the stadium and my friend & I. As the juicy full toss was served knee height down the leg side; of the 20,017 people in the universe, the most surprised was Javed Miandad as he wafted it into the stands. I think the Pakistani's in the stands lost their voices in joyous disbelief and the Indians had their breaths knocked out of them as amidst deafening silence it was again Miandad who reacted first. Arms raised high, bat flailing mightily he ran towards the pavilion letting loose a wild shriek of delight that to this day torments me! Such was Javed's excitement that he had gained about 10 yards on poor Tauseef by the time the hapless tailender took the most cruel of spills you would ever see, his bat flying off yards as he crumbled in a heap of tangled arms & legs. I distinctly remember failing to see the humor in that slap stick moment. I distinctly remember barely nodding at my friend before walking out. I distinctly remember biking back home in what seemed like an hour long uphill ride. And I remember my inability to hold back the tear that fought its way through my left eye and down my cheek. I was on the wrong side of the single greatest shot in cricket history. Judging by the intensity of my disappointment, I could later appreciate the boundless joy the event must have brought the Pakistani fans. That one shot would lay the foundation of a long and amazingly consistent domination of India by the Pakistanis. Many of my Pakistani friends compare Jadeja's onslaught on Younis in Bangalore to the Miandad six. I humbly disagree. If I ever see another shot like that under those circumstances again in my life, I will consider myself truly blessed. [Reply to interact #13]