Perhaps luck turned its back on Pakistan on that fateful Sunday with the Dhaka Stadium packed with a mighty concourse in all the stands. India had lost seven wickets for 306 when Javagal Srinath skied a ball from off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq. It appeared to be a baby's catch. Three fielders were in position to catch hold of the ball but it fell to the ground right in their midst, baffling the players and the onlookers - and even Srinath, the stroke -maker. This fielding lapse at a critical juncture of the Indo- Pakistan cricket tussle swung the wheel of the match towards India and away from Pakistan. With two balls left and three runs to be had Kanitkar got the fifth one away, somehow towards somewhere which was the midwicket boundary. this put an end to the exc iting duel.
One can easily question the decision or the wisdom of match referee, Mike Denness of England, to allow the game to continue in poor light. Even the Zimbabwe umpire, Russell Tiffin, had earlier thought of suspending the match and had walked off the field along with his South African associate, Rudi Koertzen, the Pakistani team following them to the pavilion. At that time, the 40th over, India were 258 for 2 but still behind the asking run-rate.
Two many signals for wides - of even playable and straight balls - especially by Zimbabwean umpire Tiffin, added to Pakistan's problems. The rule says: ``If the bowler bowls the ball so high over or so wide of the wicket that, in the opinion of the umpire, it passes out of reach of the striker, standing in the normal guard position, the umpire, shall call and signal 'wide ball' as soon as it has passed the line of the striker's wicket.''
Thirteen runs from wide -balls lightened India's labour and effort. Then was Aamir Sohail caught by keeper Mongia off Harvinder Singh's delivery? It was clear to all on TV that Sohail had not touched the ball but the appeal by Mongia, who is usually in the habit of confusing the umpires, was upheld by Tiffin. Some of the umpires' misjudgments tilted the scales the other side and helped India's bid for victory.
Taking up the Pakistani challenge it was Tendulkar who set the tone and tenor of fast scoring hitting up 41 from 26 balls with the aid of seven drives to the fence and a towering six. Tendulkar set about the bowling, right form the first ball, the picture of belligerence and menace. In 48 overs the scoreboard moved with quickening speed and showed 71 when the former captain departed. In fact Saurav Ganguly, the centurion and later to be declared man of the match, took the cue from him to exhibit daring strokes. Robin Singh, sent earlier and who helped Ganguly to get 179 for the second wicket, played an innings of aggression and defiance. He was lucky enough on that day for it was a featherbed and he calmly made strokes for during the whole tournament he had not reached double figures.
It was inadvisable on the part of Rashid Latif, the Pakistani skipper, to follow the policy of Wasim Akram of not placing a sentry on the long on and long-off regions of the field. The error must have cost Pakistan many runs, which too gave the advantage to India. Azharuddin, by keeping the alert Sidhu or some one else there, saw to it that boundaries were cut into twos or ones. The Pakistani total must have soared beyond 340 had not the Indians guarded the fence. Little Master Hanif Mohammad had correctly blamed Pakistan's below par fielding as the main cause of the Dhaka upset. One stumping chance was missed and a bye that went to the boundary in the penultimate over spoiled Pakistan's chances.
Pakistan started in rampaging brilliance with Shahid Afridi hitting 18 off 20 balls. Later the thunder of the strokes of Saeed Anwar and Ijaz Ahmed earned multitudinous cheers of the crowd. They unmercifully pulverised the Indian attack. The Dhaka spectators enjoyed full flavour of cricket. The pair's batting may advance the cause of the game in Bangladesh. If a fair assessment was to be made of the day's batting the prize should have gone to Saeed Anwar, whose 140 had a maximum of controlled aggression, instead of Ganguly, a centurion of the winning side.
Many think that had Inzamam been sent after Ijaz's gutsy 117, instead of Azhar Mahmud and Mohammad Husain, perhaps the score may have further multiplied. It was a case of over - confidence on the part of the captain to have changed the batting order, possibly because the total was looking impressive after crossing the 300 mark.
On a dead wicket Saqlain Muhstaq tossed up fascinating off-breaks to the batsmen. He had started picking up wickets when that easy catch off his bowling - a skier - fell to earth. But in the whole tournament he bowled craftily and with resolution, sometimes sending unplayable spin. Saqlain was quickest to reach the milestone of 150 wickets in one-day internationals to prove his class in global cricket.
Pakistan lost three out of four encounters against India. They made a courageous bid to overtake the Indian total in the round-robin fixture but missed the target by just 18 runs. The match was over bar the shouting when Inzaman's gallant and hard -hitting innings of 77 came to an end, caught on second attempt by Tendulkar,the bowler. The later batsmen, including Rashid Latif, tried hard but failed in their effort. Perhaps the 19 runs given by erratic medium-pacer Fazle Akber in his initial two overs settled the issue in favour of India. One finds from Press reports that the bowlers' name was again submitted by the selectors for the African excursion but the board's council turned down the recommendation.
Many cricket enthusiasts have a feeling that if the heavy weaponry - Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram - would not have been ignored and would have accompanied the national team to Dhaka perhaps the outcome have been different. It is still unexplained why Waqar was left out of the pack; his galloping strides and electric pace would have sent panic in the Indian ranks.
Wasim's exclusion was also surprising when charges against him are yet unproved. He says he is fit. If there are doubts a medical panel should give the right verdict on his fitness or otherwise.
For Bangladesh the tri-nation competition was a test of their capability to stage a big cricket show. No untoward incident was reported and the independence silver jubilee tournament as a whole was a success organisationally. The match was held up for 25 minutes during third final due to insufficient lighting but this deficiency may hopefully be rectified before future contests are arranged.
As a team the ICC Trophy winners gave a good account of themselves in the opener against India. Somehow or the other the big occasion unnerved them in their second league tie against Pakistan. But they may improve and cause surprises in future matches under the guidance of such reputed technocrat as Gordon Greenidge of the West Indies.
The final was a heart -throbbing thriller and the characters in it will come to mind year after year. The game was undoubtedly played in its gayest spirit.