Former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq on Thursday (August 13) shared his experience of playing an ODI against India in 2004 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata which was specially organised by BCCI to mark their Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Inzamam said: “India had invited Pakistan for the celebrations of platinum jubilee of BCCI. It was organised in a grand style. Former players from Pakistan were invited, politicians were also there. Imran Khan was there. BCCI had invited all Indian captains. When the first innings ended, they made them take rounds of the ground in small batches.”
In that match, the Sourav Ganguly-led Indian side won the toss and opted to bat first. Riding on Yuvraj Singh’s 62-ball 78, Virender Sehwag’s 65-ball 53 and important contributions from Ganguly (48) and Laxman (43), the hosts posted 292/6 in 50 overs.
Since the target was a daunting one, Inzamam revealed the organisers were so confident that they had written India’s name on the trophy during the innings break.
“So there was a lot of pressure for that match. BCCI had arranged for a big trophy for the winners. India won the toss and batted first. They scored 292 for six. 293 was never chased before there. I remember they wrote India as the winners of the platinum jubilee cup. They were so confident because they had a very good team. India always had a good team. That score had never been chased there before so they were confident of winning. The celebrations began at lunchtime,” he stated.
In reply, Pakistan overhauled the target with six wickets and an over to spare. Opener Salman Butt (108 not out off 130 balls) was the hero in the chase while Inzamam (75 off 75 balls) and Shoaib Malik (61 off 55 balls) also played scintillating knocks.
“It was just one match so the pressure was much more. The second big pressure was of Imran Khan, who was watching the match from our dressing room. I have played under Imran bhai. He had kind of taken over captaincy. Salman Butt was batting with me. He suffered cramps. So a teammate came running in with a message. I thought I’m the captain who is sending me messages. He told me that Imran bhai has said Salman Butt is having troubles with his hamstring. Tell him to retire hurt, take treatment and then go back onto the field. I sent Salman back. He came back and scored a hundred.”
“I remember Younis Khan who was our best at that moment had got out for a duck in the chase. Shoaib Malik and Salman Butt put together a good partnership and then I walked in when Malik got out. I took time in the beginning, couldn’t score freely in the first 30-40 balls but gradually upped by scoring rate. Salman at the other end was playing really well. He scored a hundred,” recalled Inzamam, who led Pakistan in that iconic game.
