World Cup Unforgettables – India v Australia 1992

The 1992 World Cup was one of the most memorable in history. It was the first World Cup to be played under artificial lights, colored clothing and a white ball. However, this was also a world cup marred by a stupid rain rule. In an effort to simplify goal calculation, should the match be cut short due to rain interruptions, the organizers really screwed it up with the most ridiculous rule ever. The absurdity of this rule was not realized until after the matches had started and the rules were actually implemented. We are hosting one of those matches now. It was also the first and only World Cup in which the teams were not divided into groups and was therefore held in a round robin fashion.

India reached the world cup after a lousy tour of Australia. They had lost the test series 4–0 and were soundly beaten in the final of a triangle tournament by the hosts, the other team being the West Indies. The world cup was taking place at the end of that tour and the Indian team seemed unmotivated. Before facing the Australians, India had already lost to England and their match against Sri Lanka was rained out.

Australia, on the other hand, came into the world cup as the firm favorites to lift the tournament in their own backyard. However, they started badly and came into the match against India having lost their first two matches against New Zealand and South Africa.

Allan Border won the toss and chose to win. They started very badly. They were 2-for-38 at one stage when Dean Jones joined David Boon and the recovery began. The two brought the score to 102 with an impressive run between the wickets. After Boon fell for 43, Jones continued to further the Australian cause with partnerships first with Steve Waugh and then with Tom Moody. However, Australian innings fell apart after Jones’ sacking, putting India on a target of 238 runs.

To say that the Indian persecution began disastrously would be an understatement. Srikkanth went out for a duck when the team total was only six. The way Ravi Shastri beat it then defied logic. When he came out he had taken 75 balls for his 25 runs and the Indian total at that time was a measly 58 with almost half of the overs already lost. Tendulkar was next and was fired for 11 trying to pick up the pace. Kapil Dev came in next and scored a quick 21 from 26 balls, providing a much-needed boost to the innings. When he left India he was still in a precarious position at 4 for 128.

Then came the superb partnership between Azharuddin and Sanjay Manjrekar. The two took the score to 194 before Azharuddin set off for a well done 93. The partnership was broken in the only way that seemed possible, through a run. Then the rain began to play its part in the game. 3 overs were cut from the Indian innings while only 2 runs were cut from the goal. After the interval of rain, India continued to lose ground as it inched towards the objective.

Outside of the last ball, India needed 4 runs to win with 1 wicket in hand. Javagal Srinath was facing the pitcher with Venkatapathy Raju at the other end. To this day I vividly remember Bill Lawry commenting on that last dance as he watched it on television. Tom Moody launches the latest installment. Srinath hits the ball powerfully and hits it high and long. Bill Lawry yells “he’s a SIX!!!”. He started jumping like crazy (he was 14 at the time). But suddenly I froze when both Lawry and I realized that they weren’t going for six, but in fact passing into the hands of Steve Waugh. Incredibly, Waugh drops the catch. euphoria again!!! Waugh recovers quickly and shoots the ball past the goalkeeper. Raju dives into the third run, which would make the match a draw. Lawry momentarily forgets that he is Australian and yells “RUN!!! RUN!!! RUN!!!” The pitch is wide and everyone, including me, is praying for Raju to make a superman. But the goalkeeper recovers quickly enough to take him out and I was left with the greatest heartache of my life. That was the first and only time. He had tears in his eyes after watching a cricket match. He just couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed!