Kaif said that July 13 will always remain close to his heart.
On this day, 18 years ago, on July 13, the Indian cricket team led by Sourav Ganguly defeated England in one of the most dramatic finals to clinch the Natwest Trophy at the iconic Lord’s.
India’s memorable victory over England in the NatWest series final is one of the most epic encounters in Indian cricket’s history – which is remembered for many reasons – from captain Ganguly’s epic celebration to the evolution of the two new batting heroes in Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh.
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With the help of Kaif, Ganguly and Yuvraj’s half-century each, India gave fans a victory to cherish for a lifetime, as they chased down England’s target of 326 to brought a miraculous two-wicket win over the hosts led by Nasser Hussain to lift the Natwest Trophy at Lord’s back in 2002.
Recalling the historic victory, Kaif, who scored 87* off 75 balls, as well as, involved in a match-winning partnership of 121 runs for the sixth wicket with Yuvraj (69 off 63) in the final, said it was a very special day for him that changed his life and decided to make it memorable by retiring on the same day.
Kaif said: “July 13 will always be close to my heart. It changed my life. I wanted to make that day memorable, so I announced my retirement on July 13, 2018. It will always remain a special day for me.”
Recalling the most significant innings of his career, the former batsman added: “It was a completely new situation for me. I hadn’t faced something like that before, where you were playing a crucial final. Back then, there was a trend that India would qualify for the final but would eventually miss out on the title. It appeared that we were the best team till the final, but somehow things would go incredibly wrong in the last hurdle, so we were desperate to break the jinx.”
He continued, “Ahead of the final, there were a lot of discussions on how to tame the home team. But in the end, all that meant very little as England posted a mammoth 325. Those were the days when anything above 300 looked like an uphill task. So, as England piled on the runs, the Indian camp looked dejected and we knew that we failed to get the monkey off our back. After all, who would have thought that we could script a turnaround!”
Recalling the celebrations and welcome at his hometown when he returned to Allahabad, Kaif said he felt like Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan.
He added, “I remember another special image. When I returned home to Allahabad, I was put on an open-jeep procession. It took us nearly three-four hours to travel the five-six km to our home. People lined up on the roads. Garlands, chants, happy faces. When I was a kid, I had seen Amitabh Bachchan in an open jeep after he had won an election in my hometown. That day, I felt like Amitabh Bachchan.”
(With Sportstar/The Indian Express Inputs)