It Was Not Just A Six From Miandad’s Bat…

Mistakes are obvious but there are some mistakes that cannot be perished from memory. Let’s come to the point… we are talking about Javed Miandad’s ‘last ball six’ tie which strived every Indian cricket lover for days.

But have we ever thought that was it India’s one of the greatest seamers, Chetan Sharma’s mistake, or just the talent of Javed Miandad which made him a legend in a single day?

It was April 18, 1986. The Austral-Asia Cup finals between traditional rivalry–India and Pakistan. Batting first, India had got to a score of 245 as Kris Srikkanth made 75 runs while Sunil Gavaskar went on to register 94 runs from 134 balls.

Pakistan needed four runs off the final ball to win the Cup. Miandad, ever the gladiator, decided to turn on the pressure on 18-year-old Chetan Sharma by standing out of his crease

Sharma decided to go for the yorker. But instead of a ball that should have been tough to hit, it turned out to be a full toss that Miandad calmly struck for a six. But other than the six, not much is remembered.

For Chetan Sharma, it was a moment he never forgot. Rather, a moment he has never been allowed to forget.

“I try to forget that six but people do not let me. People do not forget things – either good or bad – that happens during India-Pakistan clashes. People won’t remember the hat-trick against New Zealand in the 1987 World Cup or the good performance against England but that Miandad six is one thing they will never forget, I tried to bowl a yorker but that turned out as a low full-toss. But people should also remember that I was just an 18-year-old boy then and was facing a batsman of the stature of Miandad. Kapil trusted me. No one in the team said anything to me but I myself was upset.

The day is still remembered by every ardent cricket fan in both India and Pakistan. That defeat crushed the whole Indian side’s confidence for the next four years and was very difficult to make a comeback from there.

The Indian public back then didn’t spare Chetan and despite being one of those rare Indian bowlers to have a five-for in a Lord’s Test and recording the first ever hat-trick in ODI World Cup, people remember that single delivery.