2023-09-03 14:06:48
Led by captain Azharuddin, the Indian Blue Army traveled to England with the ambition of the World Cup that day. The year is 1999. The Indian team at that time was totally unpredictable. Sometimes they put on a terrific performance and lose the next game horribly. Unpredictable. However, the hopes of the fans were not satisfied. That’s how it is, the fans cheered for this team and players without any certainty of winning and taking the cup. Win or lose, the Indian team is in the thick of things.
In the first match of the Anna tournament, India lost to South Africa by 4 wickets and in the second match to Zimbabwe by 3 runs. Kaimuda only won by 94 runs against weak Kenya. If India wants to enter the Super Six, they have to win the fourth match against Sri Lanka. That match was on May 26, 1999. Arjuna Ranatunga, the Sri Lankan captain who received the toss, chose to field. The match started with fire spitting balls from Chamindawas. Sadagopan Ramesh and Ganguly opened the innings for India. Two left-handers. The fifth ball of the match that he came out to win, but Sadagopan Ramesh’s offstump went. Wicket in the first over. Trembling, grief and shock. Are you asking if the story of a World Cup ending in disaster is being told? Then the story has not yet begun. Rahul Dravid is going down as one. And now the story, nay, the history, begins.
The tiredness of losing wickets in the beginning was evident in the next overs, but in the fourth over, Dravid and Ganguly hit a boundary each to break the deadlock. Dravid brought out his world form in Wickramasinghe’s sixth over. The first ball that came offside was given the punishment it deserved and a boundary. Second ball overpitched to leg stump and next boundary through mid-on. Flicks the fourth ball and through square leg for the third boundary. Chamindawas, who bowled the next over, also caught the heat of Dravid. Dravid hit two boundaries in that over as well. After ten overs, India’s score was 71 for one. India’s score had crossed 90 when Dravid completed his half-century by hitting Upashanta for a boundary in the 15th over. That half century was accompanied by 10 boundaries from 43 balls. Ganguly completes his half century in the 23rd over.
With Dravid in beast mode, Dada scored his half-century off 68 balls with the help of six straight boundaries. The game went with Dravid’s strikes and Ganguly’s Nisseema support. So is Dravid the hero? Dravid is a hero, but Dada. How long can he remain a spectator? The second ball of the 32nd over was bowled by Arvinda D’Silva, who took two steps forward with rhythm and crossed the Dada Stadium with a stylish shot. Not even grass has sprouted on the path where the ball went.
Those two innings were a masterclass of footwork. Bouncy balls are either footed and hit with the bat, or measured and cut for line and length and flicked to cover, extra cover and point. Even though it is Panthetra mass, the sight becomes zero in front of the class. No runs scored due to luck or bowler’s mistake..
The ground was filled with fours and sixes. Dravid celebrated his century in the 36th over by hitting Aravinda D’Silva to long off and taking a single. With the gallery full of applause, Dravid took a 360-degree spin around the field to greet him. In the 38th over, Dravid hit Muralidharan for a beautiful six over cover and remained unbeaten. Seeing this, remember that Dada is standing on the other side. Dada also completed his century by taking a double in the thirty-ninth over. It was Dada who faced Murali in the fortieth over. Stepped out on the very first ball for a great four. Things seem to have gotten out of hand for Murali. The next ball was wide as he looked at Dada who was ready to hit it. Dada stepped out again on the next ball. A great shot. If you see that shot, you know that the ball has hit the world.
There is beauty in Dada stepping out. He is a Bengal tiger who is ready to pounce on his prey. Not sure if the bowler is aware of it from the outside, but the decision is already made as soon as the bowler leaves the ball out of hand. A measured and cut two steps later, the bowler will know he’s gone wrong and the cameraman’s heart pounding. After the ball hits the bat, the only option is to look up at the sky, and while everyone is looking at the sky, Dada pulls the bat back and walks back in slow motion as if he doesn’t know anything. It was the same every time Dada stepped out in the Anna match, even the umpires had to line up the door to find out where the ball had gone.
The Sri Lankans could only watch as Murali, who was Ranathunka’s trump card, was beaten. Dada kept Dravid as a spectator. In the forty-second over bowled by Murali, two huge sixes and a four were born from Dada’s bat. Dada’s bat was on fire leaving behind Dravid, who had been ahead till then. Dravid got in front of Dada again by sending Chamindawas three times to the boundary in the 43rd over. Upashanta’s next over was Dadak’s. The first four of that over when the Sri Lankan fielder was troubled by the second ball which bounced back from the sky. With that, the Indian score crossed 300. Boundary on the next two balls. Next ball Dada’s signature shot over mid-wicket. A beautiful six. Dada crossed 150 runs with that six.
In each over, Dravid and Ganguly were having a blast. Dravid was unfortunately run out in the forty-sixth over when he was expecting something like that. That return was 145 runs off 129 balls with 17 fours and a beautiful six. The Rahul Dravid partnership that started when it was standing at one wicket for six runs broke up with that. There were 324 runs on the scoreboard then. That is a partnership of 318 runs. No partnership above 300 was recorded in the history book of ODI cricket till then. And so Dravid left the field, albeit disappointed, with history sewn up.
Sachin replaced Dravid at the crease. Dada had no time to think about who was going and who was coming. Two Gadagadian sixes in the next over bowled by Jayasuriya. It is still unknown where one of them went or where it fell. On the fifth ball of Jayasuriya’s over, Sachin’s middle stump was thrown by Jayasuriya, but the crowd did not feel that sad. That was the only time Sachin’s wicket did not leave the fans exhausted. Dada was standing there looking like he was dying. Any fierce prince would be nothing in front of him that day.
Jadeja and Robin Singh are out in the next over bowled by Wickramasinghe. So the final overs turned out to be disappointing. The only consolation was a six off Azhar in the 50th over. Ganguly, who attempted a six on the fifth ball of that over, was caught near the boundary line and got out. Ganguly, who opened the innings and had a feast on the field till the last over, scored 183 runs. 17 boundaries and 7 massive sixes. At the end of fifty overs, India’s score was 373 runs.
Dada left the field with the biggest partnership with Dravid and his highest ODI score in the record books. And gave the team a total that could win the crucial match.
It was Robin Singh who broke the backbone of Sri Lanka who batted in reply. Robin Singh claimed five wickets. Sri Lanka’s resistance ended with 216 runs in the 43rd over. A commanding victory for India by 157 runs. The confidence boosted by that win played a big role in defeating England in the next match and then entering the Super Six. That match is one of India’s best ever wins. It is exciting that it was also on the stage of the World Cup. In the crucial match, Ganguly and Dravid first resisted, then stormed and finally dominated against a world-class bowling line-up that included Chamindawas and Muralidharan. It is a heroism to be remembered forever.
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