‘We were shocked by the way he was behaving’: Waqar recalls World Cup face-off between Sohail and Prasad
After Anwar was dismissed for 48 in Pakistan’s chase, Sohail was expected to bat on but a rush of adrenaline led to his dismissal and Waqar feels it entirely changed the course of the match.
Former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis has revealed how he and the rest of his teammates were startled watching Aamer Sohail’s behaviour during the 1996 World Cup quarterfinal against India in Bengaluru.
The face-off between Sohail and Venkatesh Prasad is considered one of the best moments from India-Pakistan cricket, with the left-handed opener whacking a boundary off the former India fast bowler through covers before Prasad returned with a bang next ball to send Sohail’s off stump flying.
Chasing 288 to win in the quarterfinal, Sohail and Saeed Anwar had gotten Pakistan off to a wonderful start putting on 84 in 10. After Anwar was dismissed for 48, Sohail was expected to bat on but a rush of adrenaline led to his dismissal. Waqar feels it completely changed the course of the match.
“To be very honest, we were shocked by the way he [Sohail] was behaving on the field. He was tonking the ball all over the park, why did he need to do that? I guess, the pressure got to him,” Waqar said on The Greatest Rivalry podcast.
“He batted superbly, he was looking really good and I think he scored 55 off not many deliveries (55 off 46). And Saeed Anwar also. We lost our first wicket when Pakistan were 85-odd (84) in the first ten overs. We were cruising, and then once we lost Saeed Anwar and then Aamir Sohail straightaway, it just went wrong.”
Waqar explained how the dismissal left a negative impact on the remainder of the Pakistan innings. The middle order couldn’t do much, and even though Saleem Malik and Javed Miandad (playing his last tournament) tried, their low strike-rate did not help Pakistan’s cause. Besides, Prasad and Kumble picked up three wickets each to dent Pakistan’s chase and India won the match by 39 runs to advance to the semifinal.
“Inzamam-ul-Haq and Ijaz Ahmed, they went into a shell. And full credit should be given to Anil Kumble, when he came in and Prasad came in for his second spell, he sort of started nipping the ball a little bit. And Pakistan got so much pressure and once we lost Ijaz and Inzamam within an over or so, it became very very difficult,” Waqar said.
“We made quite a few mistakes in that game. Javed Miandad was there, he could have gone in at number four but we kept him at number six, there was no use because he was approaching the end of his career. We kept him for very late, he should have batted at number four. Overall, a good game for cricket and India were well-deserved winners.”