The Coca-Cola Cup Final at Sharjah

Cricket is a great leveler. Pakistan won the first two games of the Coca-Cola cup as if the others were club teams. They were all full of themselves after those games with visions of the 1999 world cup. In the next two games they were brought down to earth. They were taught a lesson. No one is unbeatable and one always should be humble about one's success. They learnt their lesson. They refocused. What transformed them or motivated them was the desire of one man. India had broken the myth of Pakistan domination by breaking the streak of 8 consecutive losses to Pakistan. They had won handily and two men had done it almost single handedly. Both Dravid and Ramesh had brought India back the self-confidence they had lost. They were saviors of India till today. It took that one man only one over to dismiss the two Indian stars. What reduced the game to a no contest was the fact that it was the first over. Wasim Akram's desire is apparent and very contagious. He wants to win and win at all costs. The best form of defense to him is all out attack. He has been ducking and weaving from the barrage of match fixing allegations for too long. He has had it. A couple of years from now no one will debate with me when I say that he is the best fast bowler ever to play this game. They may even add-in his great leadership skills at that point. Right now he is past his bowling peak. Only just. But he is at the peak of his cricketing desire. His challenge to his team is simple. Show me that you have the heart and I will take you where you want to go.

It was simple to decide what to do after winning the toss till the last game of the tournament. Win and bat. India won the last game batting second and put themselves in a quagmire when they won the toss today. Azhar went with history and batted. I regard very highly my brother Ahmed's views on cricket and wanted to let him describe the game as he watched it back home.

"The first half is over. It belonged to Pakistan all the way. India has made 125, and we're hoping the memories of the Sharjah final way back don't return to haunt us. Imran Khan is there too for this match, but he seems a bit rusty with his performance as an expert commentator. At one time, Shastri said some thing regarding the Pakistani team coming back into its own stride once again and that some credit should also go to the coach. But Imran just changed the topic by saying that the main thing is the captaincy, on the field especially, and so on. Probably he's too blunt and didn't mean bad for Miandad, it's just the way he is.

OK, so Wasim bowls the first bowl and Ramesh is plumb in front, but Darrel Hair thinks otherwise. Second ball played awkwardly in front of the wicket, but the next one comes in a little and hits him on the back pad. Although in front, and nobody says there was any doubt, except myself, I thought it was a big inside edge. I could say that by the look on Ramesh's face and the body movement (when you can't see any sheepishness on the batsman's face, he knows he's not out). Anyway, on next bowl Dravid gets an inside edge on his pad. A huge appeal and he's gone. The Pakistanis are ecstatic. Although Wasim's running a temperature, he's bowling superbly.

Hey, I'm going downstairs, the 2nd half starts in a minute. Hope Pakis win. I'll complete this later on...

OK, so we won, what's the big deal!

So where was I? That first over probably played a decisive role. Another 3-4 overs go by and Shoaib gives Azhar a little leg cutter outside the off, he nicks it and is caught by Azhar Mahmood. At 15-3, it was dire straits for India, and the Indian crowd never woke up after that. Jadeja and Ganguly thought about settling down, but the average was on the decline. So Jadeja came down the wicket to Azhar and slashed an uppish cover drive.It was two yards too high for Saeed and was shaping to go over his head into the boards but to everybody's astonishment and India's dismay, Saeed leapt in the air and took it with both hands. It was a super catch and Imran mentioned it later on that this shows the spirit in the team (What did he mean? Even Saeed taking a great catch?). Srinath was sent in but Azhar got him caught behind for 3, and it was 50 odd for 5. Robin Singh played for 15 runs, but was run out taking a cheeky second on Afridi's dead accurate throw from deep fine, millimeter above the stumps. He was short by 4-5 inches. Mongia was run out too. Ganguly then played a reckless shot and was caught inside the rope by Youhanna on A. Khan's slow off spin, and from then it was 1 or 2 runs every over for 6-7 overs before Wasim got his 3rd clean bowling Agarkar.

Pakis started off comfortably, as Saeed seemed to be back in form, timing the ball superbly. The two took the score to 50 odd, when Afridi couldn't keep his cool, and lofted Kumble for a steep one, which was caught by Ganguly at mid on. Saeed and Ijaz then added 17or18 before Saeed misread a googly from Kumble (his googly spins more than his leg spinners) and was C & B. Inzi was in prime touch, played some scorching shots off Agarkar (in the ultimate over he was hit for 4 fours), and ended up not out on 39.

Akram was named Man of the Match. Fielder of the tournament went to Jadeja. Bowler of the Tournament went to Prasad for his 10 wickets, and the Man of the Series was Shoaib Akhtar for his 11 wickets, and got the car (Sierra probably). Akram was cool and said that there were news regarding match fixing when we had lost the last 2 matches. With this win we have again proven them wrong, and that Mr. Khalid Mahmood had backed them all the way. (After the loss to Eng & India, Rashid Latif said that betting and match fixing had started again)"

The last three tournaments that Pakistan has played they have looked really really good. Whether this will last or not, only time will tell. They have certainly done things right though. Hiring a great coach in Miandad and then sticking with him has helped. Wasim was the sane choice to lead Pakistan and he has started afresh. There is a lot of talent and depth in this side. Gauge that from the fact that they can afford to bench Waqar regularly. They have lots of backup for the world cup and will be a force in that tournament if they get off to a good start. India is faltering. They dearly miss Tendulkar but the leadership of Azhar has come under question as Jadeja has accrued a few wins as captain. It might be a good idea to let him lead while Azhar and Tendulkar can concentrate on their batting. They can of course give their input to Jadeja on the field. The batting is suspect apart from Tendulkar but when he is playing they all look OK. Their bowling is decent but not match turning. They need a good performance overall in a game to win. I don't see them as a force in England, but an upset or two they can manufacture. Early 1999 has seen Pakistan dominate India and cause the rivalry to pale a little. I think that is a good thing as Pakistan can now focus on getting the South Africa monkey off their backs. They need to beat that team consistently to lay any claim to being one of the best one-day teams in the world. They have certainly made a strong challenge towards that goal.