Rajesh Chauhan has the record of never being part of a losing Indian test team. He managed to win a ODI match in Karachi of his bat. On the other hand, Hrishikesh Kanitkar has not hand a great international career as he would have expected. But, he would remember the match he helped his team pull off the then-largest chase in an ODI against Pakistan. Sourav Ganguly would again get the Man of Match award for both matches against Pakistan, continuing his prolific form against the neighbors. Saqlain Mushtaq suffered the ignominy of bowling the last over in both ODIs.
Going back to the first match, India were playing Pakistan after hectic parleys by the latter to get their neighbors on tour. Sachin Tendulkar was the captain of a team that had a strong batting lineup but an inexperienced bowling attack. Srinath and Kumble were missing again with the attack led by inexperienced bowlers like the Friendship Series (Kuruvilla, Mohanty, Rajesh Chauhan, Nilesh Kulkarni).
Shahid Afridi and Inzamam-ul-Haq scored seventies to take the Pakistan total to 265 when crowd trouble meant an early end to the innings. The Indians came out with Ganguly and Kambli going great guns. India suffered a mini-collapse that needed Robin Singh and keeper Saba Karim to do the repair act. It finally boiled down to the last over with Saqlain Mushtaq bowling the last over to fellow offie Chauhan who had earlier bowled a good spell to take two crucial wickets. Seeing an opportunity to become a hero, Chauhan hoicked Saqlain over mid-wicket to take India to win with three balls to spare. This was India's first win in Pakistan after 15 years - a momentous occasion for joy to the entire team.
The second match was the third final (rare occasion where there was a Best-of-Three finals) of Independence Cup. Azharuddin was back as the captain of the Indian team while Srinath was back as the head of the bowling attack. Saeed Anwar and Ijaz Ahmed scored centuries to post a challenging total. The Indian response was solid with Ganguly and Robin Singh adding 179 for the second wicket to take the team to 250. 65 runs were required with 10 overs to go and eight wickets in hand.
But, the Indians lost wickets continuously, mostly to Saqlain Mushtaq, to a situation where nine runs were required of the last over. Srinath and Hrishikesh were at the crease and the Cup was at stake. Thanks to Srinath's hoicks, India crept closer to the target but still three were required of the last two balls when Kanitkar took strike. Saqlain tried to york Kanitkar at the crease but he was upto the task. He smote Saqlain for a boundary over mid-wicket to take India to the target with one more ball to go.
Going back to the first match, India were playing Pakistan after hectic parleys by the latter to get their neighbors on tour. Sachin Tendulkar was the captain of a team that had a strong batting lineup but an inexperienced bowling attack. Srinath and Kumble were missing again with the attack led by inexperienced bowlers like the Friendship Series (Kuruvilla, Mohanty, Rajesh Chauhan, Nilesh Kulkarni).
Shahid Afridi and Inzamam-ul-Haq scored seventies to take the Pakistan total to 265 when crowd trouble meant an early end to the innings. The Indians came out with Ganguly and Kambli going great guns. India suffered a mini-collapse that needed Robin Singh and keeper Saba Karim to do the repair act. It finally boiled down to the last over with Saqlain Mushtaq bowling the last over to fellow offie Chauhan who had earlier bowled a good spell to take two crucial wickets. Seeing an opportunity to become a hero, Chauhan hoicked Saqlain over mid-wicket to take India to win with three balls to spare. This was India's first win in Pakistan after 15 years - a momentous occasion for joy to the entire team.
The second match was the third final (rare occasion where there was a Best-of-Three finals) of Independence Cup. Azharuddin was back as the captain of the Indian team while Srinath was back as the head of the bowling attack. Saeed Anwar and Ijaz Ahmed scored centuries to post a challenging total. The Indian response was solid with Ganguly and Robin Singh adding 179 for the second wicket to take the team to 250. 65 runs were required with 10 overs to go and eight wickets in hand.
But, the Indians lost wickets continuously, mostly to Saqlain Mushtaq, to a situation where nine runs were required of the last over. Srinath and Hrishikesh were at the crease and the Cup was at stake. Thanks to Srinath's hoicks, India crept closer to the target but still three were required of the last two balls when Kanitkar took strike. Saqlain tried to york Kanitkar at the crease but he was upto the task. He smote Saqlain for a boundary over mid-wicket to take India to the target with one more ball to go.
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| Thanks to sportskeeda site for this image |
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