Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar recalls the time when ex-Pakistan skipper Javed Miandad joined him to play a prank on Ian Chappell. The incident is from the time when both the legendary cricketers were leading their nations.
It was time for the toss before another India vs Pakistan clash, but instead of usual tensed situation, Gavaskar and Miandad were in a fun mood.
ALSO READ: 'I wish both BCCI, CA manage something to get it underway': Rohit Sharma on Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Chappell was the commentator in the match and he got delayed for the toss for some reason. That's when Gavaskar and Miandad left the Aussie in panic.
Speaking on the Sony Ten show Pit Stop, the cricketer-turned-commentator said, “Both of us were down for the toss which normally has to take place half an hour before the match.
“The cameraperson was there but there was no sign of Ian Chappell, he had got delayed somewhere. We were waiting for him and suddenly saw Ian coming in from the boundary near the sightscreen.
“You give Javed half an opportunity to play a joke on anybody and he jumps on it. I said to him, ‘Shall we pretend that we are done with the coin toss. We can pretend that we were waiting, we will look at our watches and start walking away.’"
Gavaskar continued the story with Ramiz Raja and revealed how the cameraman also helped them make the prank successful.
“The cameraperson also played along. I pretended to spin the coin up, Javed pretended to pick it, we shook hands and then we started walking towards the changing room. Then suddenly Ian Chappell started putting on his jacket and running towards us asking us to wait.
“It was great fun, we actually hadn’t done anything so we did the toss. I won’t use the words (Chappell) used first and then he said, ‘you guys gave me a heart attack’.”
Even though India and Pakistan were always fierce rivals, but Gavaskar said at that time, they were good friends too.
“Credit for that has to go to the tournaments held in Sharjah. Those tournaments started in 1981 and India and Pakistan had gone there for a couple of seasons. Those were day matches and in the evenings, players of both teams would be invited to a common place and there you got to know each other. Therefore we got along very well off the field. Friendships were made which are there even now,” he said.
