It was a keen contest, fight to the finish and an exciting encounter that is the spectators delight to say that the hard ball tilted the balance against Pakistan, is partial truth. Of course it was hard luck for Pakistan as was the second life gifted to Shahid Afridi.
The beauty of the game is that advantages and disadvantages even cut in the ultimate analysis. To put the match in its proper perspective I wish to make the following observations.
The National Stadium strip was a batting paradise as 531 runs were scored in a reduced match. Bowlers like Waqar Younus, Aquib Javed, Kulkarni could not match their Hyderabad performance.
The pacemen of either side were at the receiving end which helped both the teams get good start to lay sound foundation.
Pakistan could not set the desired target for their opponents as some miscreants tried to spoil the game by throwing missiles on the Indian fielders. The game was interrupted three times before the Indian players walked out on the fourth interruption.
The miscreants disturbed their own batsmen, as their concentration was destroyed in the slog overs when Inzamamul Haq and Moin Khan were scoring on every ball. The last 16 deliveries played a very vital role in the setting of the target. The spectators did not realise that by their act they did not only damage the performance of the team, it also damaged the reputation of the country as the match was being telecast live internationally.
Another thing which made all the difference to the home team was the change of ball. As the old ball had changed the colour and when Pakistan's tempo for outright win was building up the Indian players pointed out the change of colour.
Umpires replaced the old ball with a semi new ball which made all the difference. Saeed Anwar had exhausted the quota of Waqar Younus and Aquib Javed as he wanted to have spinners in the end. It was a surprise for Saeed Anwar that he was placed in a dilemma.
What was amazing that the authorities had provided all fresh balls to the reserve umpire. In other parts of the cricket world, reserve umpires are given used balls so that they can be as close as to the ball being replaced.
Saeed Anwar could not control his sentiments at the award ceremony and openly blamed the umpires for giving a hard ball which made scoring easier for the Indians. It became difficult for Saqlain Mushtaq to contain Robin Singh and Saba Karim. Saqlain bowled a full toss to Chauhan who hit him over the ropes. It reminded me of Miandad's famous six at Sharjah.
Saqlain had been bowling earlier as a world class spinner leaving the Indians guessing at times. His bowling analysis in the first seven overs speaks volumes of his calibre. But one cannot imagine him bowling a full toss when India needed eight runs to win in the last over.
For Pakistan Shahid Afridi scored brilliant 72 runs of 56 balls which was a treat to watch. He showed his new approach to batting by applying himself but never lost an opportunity to punish loose deliveries.
Inzamam's experienced knock of 74 not out and Moin Khan's 32 of 33 balls were sensible and fine knocks. It was after a long time that one could see Inzamam taking cheeky singles. He tried to keep the scoreboard moving all the time by taking singles. In fact he alongwith Moin Khan accelerated the run-rate which was the mainstay of the Pakistan innings.
For India left-arm leg-spinner Kulkarni and off-spinner Chauhan restricted the Pakistani batsmen after they had taken a flying start. They were well supported by their fielders, especially Azharuddin, who held a brilliant catch of Ijaz at point off Kulkarni.
The Indians going in to chase the Pakistan target were off to a brisk start when opener Ganguly and Tendulkar faced no problems in facing Waqar Younus and Aquib Javed.
In the first six overs they scored 58 runs with an average of more than nine runs per over. Ganguly, 89 off 96 balls, was a treat to watch. He executed some beautiful cover-drives and square-cuts giving no chance to the fielders whatsoever. Our bowlers failed to assess the situation and tried to go all out with some hope of bulldozing the Indian batsmen instead of trying to contain them.
In the absence of Rahul Dravid, Robin Singh and Saba Karim paved the way for India's victory. At one stage the match had tilted in favour of Pakistan when Azharuddin and Kambli were run out. At the fall of Ganguly's wicket the match swung in favour of Pakistan but it took another turn when the ball was changed.
Pakistan's fielding still needs improvement. I had mentioned after the Hyderabad match that Pakistan should not take the Indians lightly as they have the potential to pull their socks which they did to level the series 1-1 and will go all out at Lahore.
Now the Lahore match will be the decisive one and it will need steel-nerves to face the situation. Still there is time to recall in form Saleem Malik and experienced Aamir Sohail who besides being a specialist opener is a very useful left-armspinner. I would even go for Rashid Latif as an experienced batsman in a match which will be more of nerves.
The third umpire, who was under tremendous pressure, today took a lot of time in giving his decision on Shahid Afridi and Saleem Elahi. In fact the time he took in giving his verdict would have been good enough to bowl two overs.
It was for the first time that I have seen any third umpire taking so much time when he has all the facilities to reach a conclusion in no time. I am sorry to say that the umpires of the sub-continent do not enjoy a very good reputationin cricketing world. If they make any decision which is doubtful, they are branded inefficient. But when similar mistake is committed by a reputed umpire it is called a human error. I feel that our third umpire should be quick to assess the situation and promptly deliver the verdict otherwise the ICC may refuse to appoint third umpires from the Third World.
Tendulkar hit a six of Aquib Javed's delivery which turned out as the shot of the day and demonstrated his calibre as a world class batsman.