1995
A Winning Hundred at Sharjah
Since his debut in 1989, it was only in the year 1991 that Sachin Tendulkar had failed to score a century in a calendar year. In 1995, the Asia Cup century at Sharjah against Sri Lanka was his only three-figure knock. It was a year that saw him play just three Tests at home against New Zealand and 12 one-day internationals. Yet, for the record books, that sole century of the year was his first at a neutral venue, Sharjah. He got only one other 50-plus score in ODIs but he did have six scores in the 30s and 40s in the shorter format. In Tests he had one fifty – 52 not out against New Zealand at Chennai.
A Century in the Desert Takes India to Final and Asia Cup
‘Technically, you can’t fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow, nothing is a problem - Geoffrey Boycott, rediff.com, 14 November 2009
THE SITUATION
The other teams in the Asia Cup at Sharjah were Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. When India met Sri Lanka for the fifth game of the tournament, Pakistan had won two matches while India and Sri Lanka had won one each and Bangladesh none. Tendulkar had scored 48 in India’s win against Bangladesh but failed in India’s loss in the first match against Pakistan. The fifth game was a must-win for India while Lanka still had one league game against Pakistan. India won and made the final, as did Sri Lanka by beating Pakistan in the next game.
RELIVING THE CENTURY
Arjuna Ranatunga won the toss and elected to bat, but the hosts never really got going. There were no big innings - 48 by Hashan Tillakeratne was the highest - and the best partnership was 71 between Tillakeratne and P.K. Dharmasena for the seventh wicket as the Lankans managed a modest 202 for nine in 50 overs.
Tendulkar and Manoj Prabhakar (60) were on song from the start, giving the hosts no chance. They put on 161 runs and virtually killed the match. Javagal Srinath was sent up the order after Prabhakar’s and Sidhu’s dismissals and India won the match with 16.5 overs to spare in one of their most comprehensive wins.
Tendulkar was brilliant, reaching his first fifty of just 44 balls. His 112 came of 107 balls.
Tendulkar’s match-winning 112 not out helped India top the table as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in the next league match. Along with India, it was Sri Lanka who entered the final. Five days later, India met Sri Lanka for the second time, and for the second time India won by eight wickets and took the Asia Cup. In the final, Tendulkar got 41 of 41 balls.
Did you know…
» Sachin Tendulkar’s century against Sri Lanka was his first at a neutral venue: Sharjah.
» India’s top order batting clicked so well - Sachin Tendulkar (205 runs), Sidhu (195 runs), Prabhakar (122 runs) and Azharuddin (101 runs) - that India lost more than two wickets only once in four matches. That was against Pakistan in their 97-run loss in a league match.
PARALLEL LIVES
Viswanathan Anand: It was Anand’s first real shot at the World Championship, albeit the rebel PCA title. He finally overcame his nemesis, Gata Kamsky, beating him in the Candidates final at Las Palmas, Spain. That put him up against the one and only Garry Kasparov. In a classic encounter, Kasparov after eight draws lost a game to Anand, but then proceeded to outplay him at the World Trade Center, New York. Ironically, the match started on 11 September 1995 with a symbolic move by New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Six years to the date, terrorists blew up the twin towers.
Leander Paes: Paes was still not a force on the ATP singles circuit and was finding his feet in the world of doubles. He reached the Australian Open doubles quarter-finals with Kevin Ullyett. But the Davis Cup once again set the stage for more daring deeds.
India had been pushed to the Zonals after their defeat at the hands of South Africa, despite Paes’ wins, the previous year.
Now, in 1995, Paes won both his singles and doubles matches against Hong Kong and the Philippines to steer India into the World Group play-of s once again. There India ran into much higher-ranked Croatia with Goran Ivanisevic in their ranks. The big-serving Ivanisevic had reached the Wimbledon finals in 1992 and 1994, besides taking bronze in singles and doubles (beating Paes and Ramesh Krishnan in the quarter-finals) at the 1992 Olympics.
But on 24 September 1995, with the tie poised 2-2 at Delhi’s National Sports Club of India, it was Paes’ hour. He first beat Sasa Hirszon in straight sets and then won the doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi, now his regular partner. He added a third point against Ivanisevic, rallying from a two-set deficit to give India a stunning 3-2 win and a passage to the World Group once again.
THIS ALSO HAPPENED IN 1995
The International Year of Tolerance saw Austria, Finland and Sweden join the European Union, but in Asia, an earthquake virtually destroyed Kobe, killing more than 5,700 people. Japan was also rocked by the infamous nerve-gas attack in Tokyo’s subways on 20 March.
Boxer Mike Tyson came out of jail after three years and resumed his career. This was also the year when the legend of Tiger Woods began to gather strength with the second of his three US Amateur titles and his first appearance at the Masters, where as an amateur he made the cut.
In March 1995, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was formed and over the next decade and a half it would become the best thing to happen to the Indian capital.
In September that year, the phenomenon of Ganesha statues ‘drinking’ milk hit the headlines. Spoonfuls of milk, when held up to the trunk of the statue, disappeared. Scientists explained it as capillary action: the surface tension pulled the milk up and out of the spoon before gravity caused it to run down the front of the statue. But the faithful believed it was God drinking all that milk.