Thursday, March 13, 2008

Captaincy and Turning Point of 1992 World Cup Final

English Captain pushes the field back, changes the course of the match

In cricket, quite often one talks about a change that a break brings(drinks break, tea/lunch break).

This took me back to memories of the 1992 World Cup played in Australia and New Zealand and more specifically to the finals. Though not spoken about, I believe a blunder right after the first drinks break in the World Cup final, changed the course of the match.

Wasim Akram's 2 wickets in 2 balls
Over the last 15 years, there have been several discussions and reports on Wasim Akram’s 2 beauties when Imran brought him back for a short 2nd spell to send back Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis in successive balls. And the consensus has been that those two balls was the turning point of the match.

To me, the turning point came much earlier that afternoon, in fact in the 2nd hour of play and right after the first drinks break. Noted in those years as a tough, disciplined and shrewd captain, Gooch, to me, made a big blunder that turned the match.

Great start by England
Derek Pringle and Chris Lewis had got England off to a great start with a superb first spell. Rameez Raja, who was earlier caught off a No ball (England also tried to run him out when Rameez, unaware of the No ball call, made his walk back to the pavilion), did not last long.

First 10 overs went for just 25 and Pakistan had lost both its openers. Not for the first time, Imran promoted himself up the order and with Miandad, struggled to force the pace.

England were right on top. The first 17 overs cost just 34. In 9 overs, the two veterans in the team had put on just 12 runs. Pringle had possibly bowled the best new ball spell of the World cup.

First Drinks break
Once again, Imran had taken a big gamble of playing himself in. This time though he played himself in for much too long. And Pakistan had scored at just 2 runs an over in the play before drinks.

And quite inexplicably, Graham Gooch, pushed the field back (with the 15 over restriction gone) and offered Javed and Imran easy singles, which was previously (before the drinks break) not on offer.

The score card will never reveal the role captains play. And again in this one, the scores will always reflect Inzamam Ul Haq’s knock at the end of the Pak innings and Wasim’s double blow later in the evening in the middle overs of the English innings.

The Turning Point
This phase between the 18th over and the 35th over was when the English Captain released the pressure and allowed the two senior pros to ease the singles and twos and the odd boundaries. During this period, Pakistan added 80 without losing another wicket, thus setting the stage for Inzy and Wasim in the last 5-10 overs.

Sometimes in cricket, one should not be unduly disturbed by rules. In this case the ‘15 over restriction’ made Gooch think about pushing his fielders back when he possibly should have continued with the 9 men inside the circle and made Javed and Imran force the pace and take chances against the tight bowling of Philip Defrietes and Ian Botham.

Instead, Gooch gave in and soon after the mandatory field restrictions( 15 overs in those days) ended, pushed the field back.

And that to me was the turning point of 1992 World Cup Final.

14 comments:

nambirajan said...

thank you for your information

Anonymous said...

Hi Prabhu,
This is Sravani. I am planning to visit the Nitya Kalyana Perumal Temple on 14th(Friday) & 15th(Saturday) of October, 2011 for getting married quickly.
1)Is Thiru Kalyanam done on these two days?
2)Do we need to visit the temple only when Thiru Kalyanam is done?
3)Do i need to participate in the Thiru kalyanam? Please let me know the timings & other details.

Please provide me the above information at the earliest possible.

PRabhu S said...

1. Kalyana Pooja will be done on those days.

2. If you are talking about doing Kalyana Pooja, you can visit the temple on any day, buy pooja items there ( the temple will guide you reg the items to be bought and the process to be followed)

3. Yes, for Kalyana Pooja, you will have to be present and follow the simple process they tell you.

Prabhu

Anonymous said...

hi.. its yamini
thank u mr.prabhu.. i had visited the temple... on monday... i did all the pooja in peace fully thank u for guideing me... thank a lot.. i wish my wish will b soon.. once again thank u

haribabukarpagam said...

Kindly let me know the buses from West Tambaram

priya

PRabhu S said...

Madam,

This is a story on cricket where you have posted a comment.

Where do you want to go from West Tambaram?

Prabhu

Unknown said...

we am searching bride from last 6 years. and i am from delhi and want to come temple on 28 feb 2014. is Kalyana Pooja will be done on those days. and i want to come alone

pls help.

PRabhu S said...

Yes, You can.

Prabhu

Unknown said...

Hi Prabhu,

Thank you for your valuable guidance.

We want to visit temple next Saturday (14-09-2014), is that good day for Pooja.

Also please guide me how to reach temple from Chennai railway station.

Thanks
Sai

PRabhu S said...

am assuming you are referring to Thiru Vidanthai Nithya Kalyana Perumal temple.

Yes 13th Sat or 14th Sunday is fine.

From Central, you can go to Broadway / High Court/ Parrys Corner bus stand and take a Mahabalipuram bound bus ( via beach road) and get down at Thiruvidanthai in front of the temple.

This will take about 1 1/2hours.

You can also board Bus No. 1 to Thiruvanmiyur bus stand from where you can take Mahabalipuram/ Pondy bound mofussil bus as well to get down at Thiruvidanthai.

This could be a little quicker.

Cab from Central station will take you to the temple in 45minutes.

Prabhu

Vasuki said...

Prabhu sir,

We are going to Nithya Kalyana perumal temple. Kindly can you let me know the nearest low budget hotels to stay. If possible their contact numbers pls.

Thanks
Vasuki
Bangalore

Unknown said...

i am priya from mandavelli,which day is better for pooja, either saturday or sunday and please tell me the bus route from mandavelli to this temple

thanks
priya
mandavelli

Prabhu.S said...

which temple madam.
Prabhu

KUMAR said...

i am traveling from MYSORE, Karnataka reaching by train to Chennai central. Please guide me how to reach temple from Chennai railway station. Both by train and bus.

Regards
Kumar
Mysore