India's legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has recently recalled the 1998 Coca-Cola Cup – a tri-nation tournament featuring Australia and New Zealand as well in Sharjah in 1998.
The tri-series was won by India and while Tendulkar won the man of the tournament award for his master knocks in the ODI tournament, but it was never been easy for India to emerge winner especially because of the horrible weather calculations in Sharjah.
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Recalling his famous “Desert Storm” knock of 143 against Australia to help India to seal a final spot in the tri-nation tournament despite losing the match by 24 runs, Tendulkar revealed the emotions he went through and how it was physically tough to play, as the storm hit the stadium.
On April 22, 1998, Sachin hit a magnificent hundred (143 off 131) to set the tone for India to storm into the tri-series final but their chase was interrupted by a ferocious Desert Storm and what was more frustrating for Tendulkar – the revised target, as India needed 276 runs in 46 overs, with only nine runs being deducted from the original target of 285 from 50 overs.
Well, India became the victim of the horrible calculations losing the match by 24 runs to Australia but managed to book the final spot against the same opposition and it was again the master blaster’s 134 off 131 balls that helped the Team India to defeat the Kangaroos and clinch the Cup on April 24, 1998.
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Tendulkar recalled on the Star Sports' show ‘Cricket Connected’, “We went inside the dressing room thinking of the new revised target, what it would be. Eventually (when play resumed) we had 46 overs but if I’m not mistaking only 8-9 runs were deducted from the target so I was quite upset. When we plan a chase we do it according to the full quota of overs and suddenly 4 overs are taken out and only 9-10 runs are deducted That is where your calculations go for a toss.”
The batting legend further recalled that how he was even ready to hold former Australian wicket-keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist fearing that he would be blown away in his first-ever desert storm experience.
He signed off, “This was my first ever experience. I had never seen a desert storm like that. When I saw that, the first thought was that I was gonna get blown away by this. Adam Gilchrist was standing right behind me. The storm was so strong that I decided to forget about all social distancing and was ready to hold on to him because if the storm blows me away then at least there will be 80-90 kilos, Adam Gilchrist, with me, so I was thinking literally like that, that’s when the umpires decided to leave the field.”
(With India Today Inputs)
