Pakistan pace legend Wasim Akram fondly remembered the historic 1999 Chennai Test against India during a discussion on his autobiography Sultan: A Memoir with eminent journalist Gideon Haigh and N. Ram, Director of The Hindu Publishing Group, at The Hindu Lit for Life Literature Festival here on Saturday.
“The Chennai Test is very special to me... It was very hot and the pitch was bare, which suited us because we relied on reverse-swing. We also had one of the best spinners at the time in Saqlain Mushtaq. Nobody could pick the doosra delivery that he had invented at the time.
“Sachin [Tendulkar] played him well after the first innings. Every time he bowled the doosra, Sachin went for the lap shot just behind the ‘keeper. A very odd shot to play against the off-spinners doosra but he mastered it and that’s why Sachin was one of the greatest of all time,” Akram said.
Tendulkar was the thorn in Pakistan’s flesh after Mushtaq, Akram and Waqar Younis had reduced India to 82 for five in a 271-run chase. But with 17 runs to win, Tendulkar’s dismissal triggered a precipitous collapse that saw Pakistan clinch a thrilling 12-run victory.
“I remember how close the game was. They [India] needed 20-odd to win, the great man [Tendulkar] was batting on 136 and I remember talking to Saqlain just one ball earlier. Every fielder was on the boundary, Sachin was facing and I told Saqlain to bowl his doosra outside off-stump and give it some air as Sachin would probably try to hit it through midwicket. That’s exactly what happened. He went for a six through midwicket, top-edged it and I kept repeating to myself ‘balance, eye on the ball, balance’ as I got under the ball.
“Forty-thousand people were screaming while I was talking to myself in the split-second just before the catch... Winning in India was a massive deal, but what struck all of us was the standing ovation we got from the Chennai crowd. That Test will be special forever because of the drama, the standing ovation, the tour and the circumstances – one of the best Test matches I have played. So, thank you to the people of Chennai,” he added.
Jubilant Pakistani cricketers at a victory lab after defeating India by 12 runs in the first test cricket match at Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on January 31, 1999. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU ARCHIVES
Akram also recalled an incident related to Chennai involving his late wife Huma, who died in a hospital in the city in October 2009.
“I was flying to Singapore with my late wife and there was a stop in Chennai for refuelling. When he landed, she was unconscious, I was crying and people recognized me at the airport. We didn’t have an Indian visa. We both had Pakistani passports. The people at the Chennai airport, the security forces, and the customs and immigration officials told me not to worry about the visa and take my wife to the hospital while they sort the visa out. That is something I will never forget, as a cricketer and as a human being.”
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