A view from the Gully (2 June 1999)

2 June 1999

A view from the Gully

Tawfiq Aziz Khan

There is more than meets the eye.

The law of averages was only the cue, the actual works came from the cricketers themselves. It was not a mere flash in the pan nor a manna from the heavens, but an achievement through sheer force of will, utmost discipline and enormous talent. It was a remote possibility, a hope against hope one that could be dashed, could also be true. The tigers were determined rather than pretentious. They had a point or two to prove to the cricketing world and they did that with aplomb. Call us not 'minnows' anymore, for this word is so hackneyed and disgraceful. There are lot of other words in English language which are more dignified. We are no longer 'small fishes'.

This victory is very important for this nation in more ways than one.

In our struggle for survival, in our fight against poverty and illiteracy, we have forgotten the brighter side of life, we have forgotten how to smile, how to laugh. Thanks to our cricketers who have given us something to cheer about, a precious little to rejoice.

To the history of Northamptonshire is now added the greatest achievement of Bangladesh who convincingly defeated the 1992 world champions Pakistan on Monday 31 May 1991 in a World Cup match. This has been the happy hunting ground for Mushtaq Mohammad, a former Pakistan captain, Sarfaraz Nawaz, a Pakistani fast bowler and Bishen Bedi, the classical slow left-arm bowler from India.

Promotion to first class status in 1905 was gained on the persuasive latents of George Thompson, the first from Northamptonshire to be selected by England and regarded as the finest local-born cricketer.

The ground was formed from land in the Abingdon district on the east side of Northampton and laid out by the Northampton County Cricket and Recreation Grounds Co Ltd in 1885 for £2000 under the guidance of H H Stephenson, an old Surrey cricketer who captained the first ever England team to visit Australia, according to Wisden. In 1968, a new stand was built for members, which provides a press box. In 1979 a new partition was erected in place of the old ladies pavilion.

On Monday it was a different game, a different proposition. For Pakistan this was almost a practice match, having booked a place in the Super Six; for Bangladesh it was their last chance to redeem themselves in this tournament after their poor show against New Zealand and two more losses to West Indies and Australia. So as they strode into the middle they had hardly anything to lose against a stronger opponent and that gave them the strength to play their shots without any pressure involved. Akram's logic of putting Bangladesh in suited the latter well because they would have done so had they won the toss. Naturally, it did matter little who won the toss. The decision also meant that Pakistan were expecting a reasonable total from Bangladesh for a chase.

Bangladesh more than obliged Akram and his team. The fearsome trio of Akram, Yunis and Shoaib had little impact on Shahriar and Mehrab and at past fifty the Pakistanis panicked a bit and despite two quick wickets the middle order reasonably held out the challenge and with sloppy fielding and a generous dose of wides and nos Bangladesh crossed the 200 mark for the first time in the tournament. Akram Khan found his touch quite late in the day and held the innings together. Even a five wicket match have by Saqlain could not halt the progress of Bangladesh.

Pakistan appeared to be a hobble horse in a steeple chase as Bangladesh medium pacers Mahmood and Shafiuddin ran through the Pakistan top order without much fuss and when Azhar was brilliantly run out by Aminul, the end was in sight. Mahmood, who until then had a bad tournament made it up with the bat and ball to become the man-of-the-match, the second Bangladeshi to achieve this honour in their first World Cup.

It was a day for Bangladesh, a rare one, when everything went their way and the boys accepted them with both hands.

It was the finest hour in our cricketing, nay, sporting history and will remain so till the day of resurrection.

The Kiwis beat the Aussie calculators and booked their berth in the Super Six ahead of Australia with two crucial points. Scots were beaten comprehensively at Edinburgh by New Zealand on Monday by six wickets in their allotted 20 overs.

Source :: The Daily Star