Of all of Pakistan’s test victories in recent memory, perhaps none has left as much of an impression on the hearts and minds of Pakistani fans as the famous 1999 Kolkata test against India. Twenty four years later, lets revisit that encounter.
6-min read
The start of the year 1999 had already turned out to be a memorable one for fans on both sides of the Indo-Pak border, as the two rivals – facing each other in Tests after a twelve year gap – played out an exciting series. After registering a nerve-wrecking victory in the first test at Chennai, Pakistan completely lost the plot at Delhi and crashed to a comprehensive defeat, leaving the series deadlocked at 1-1. A few weeks earlier, the Asian Cricket Council had, along with ICC, decided to launch an Asian Test Championship and the decider – to be played at Kolkata – was converted into the first match of that competition. The idea behind the Asian Test Championship was to eventually introduce an Asia Cup (and later a World Cup) for test cricket. Through a points system devised by the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Majid Khan, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka were to play each other once before the top two sides were to compete in the final in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The context did not matter much in the end, as this series had become more about adding another fascinating chapter to the Pakistan-India cricketing rivalry. As Wasim Akram’s men took the field at Kolkata, they made two changes from the last game. Young Wajahatullah Wasti was handed his first test cap as the took the place of an injured Inzamam ul Haq. The second change was to replace an out-of-form Waqar Younis with a young rookie who had started to make headlines on the world stage – Shoaib Akhtar.
A DISASTROUS START
Saqlain Mushtaq and Anil Kumble had been the star bowlers for the two teams in the series so far, but what was unexpected was the way Javagal Srinath and Venkatash Prasad ran through the Pakistani top order in the first hour of play. Within the first nine overs, Pakistan slipped to a shocking 26-6 and were well on their way to being skittled out for their lowest total in history. None of the top five could reach double figures, number seven Azhar Mahmood lost his middle stump to Srinath and Pakistan were in disarray. There was no recovery from here. Or was there?
THE COMEBACK
Moin Khan and Salim Malik, in their contrasting styles, absorbed the pressure and played out the opening bowlers before Moin started targeting Kumble and Harbhajan and played some lovely shots. Wasim Akram, too, chipped in and Pakistan ended up with a relatively respectable 185.
India started steadily and crossed the 100-run mark on Day 2 with both young Sadagoppan Ramesh and the experienced Rahul Dravid looking fluent and comfortable against Saqlain. As Pakistan’s lead dropped below 50, Wasim turned to his young pacer Shoaib, perhaps expecting a miracle.
SHOAIB’S DATE WITH DESTINY
There come certain moments in a player’s career which, if seized, push them into the realms of greatness. For Wasim, it was his spell in the 1992 World Cup final which took out Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis. Waqar Younis, for all that he achieved in his playing days, might even have had a bigger fan following if he had kept India to an achievable score in the 1996 World Cup Quarter Final. Shoaib made his mark in the 1999 World Cup but his moment had already arrived at Kolkata. Near-perfect yorkers off consecutive deliveries crashed into the stumps of Rahul Dravid and then Sachin Tendulkar, and India were suddenly on the backfoot. They started to lose wickets and ended up with 223 – a lead of 38.
ANWAR’S CHARGE
The start of Pakistan’s second innings on the morning of Day 3 could not have been more different than their first’s. Saeed Anwar, who had had a quiet series so far, came into his own and launched a scathing attack, racing to a century off 139 balls. Nightwatchman Saqlain and later Yousaf gave him good company, and at one point, the scorecard read 256-3. With nothing going India’s way, Azharuddin took the second new ball. Yousaf was dismissed almost immediately, and things started happening.
Pakistan’s late order collapse almost mirrored their top order meltdown on Day 1. No one after Yousaf could reach double figures and Pakistan lost their last seven wickets for 60 runs. Anwar remained stranded on 188 – his highest test score – as Srinath recorded career-best test figures of 8-86. Pakistan finished with 316 and India needed 279 to win.
SACHIN’S CONTROVERSY
Indian openers Ramesh and VVS Laxman took the attack to the Pakistani bowlers in commanding fashion and raced to a 100-run opening partnership in the fourth innings. For a while it felt like India would easily run away with the game. But then, there was another twist in the tale.
Saqlain dismissed both openers in quick succession, and Sachin Tendulkar walked in. A fierce cut for four was followed by a flick towards the leg side but while going for his third run, Sachin collided with Shoaib at the non-striker’s end. And as luck would have had it, substitute Nadeem Khan’s throw from the deep hit the stumps directly and Sachin was found short of his crease. The stadium had fallen silent when Sachin had been yorked by Shoaib on Day 2. It fell silent again.
India managed to reach 214-6 by stumps on Day 4, but they lost Azharuddin, Dravid and Mongia in the process. They were only 65 runs away from victory, but the tide seemed to have turned in Pakistan’s favour.
GAME OVER
The start of Day 5 was marred by crowd trouble after Wasim struck twice and India quickly slipped to 231-9. People started burning newspapers in the stands and threw stones on the ground. The match had to be stopped for over three hours. There had been similar trouble after Tendulkar’s controversial run out on Day 4, but Sachin himself had come out to appease the crowd and play had resumed after a short break. The crowd turned more violent this time and the stadium had to be completely cleared. The game resumed after three hours and Shoaib immediately got rid of Anil Kumble. Pakistan had won by 46 runs in extraordinary circumstances.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Full highlights of the match are available on YouTube.
Image Credits: Twitter
