Having made his ODI debut under Sourav Ganguly earlier in the year, Mohammad Kaif had the audacity to disobey him during the final match of NatWest Series 2002. Considering the importance of the occasion, calling the shots on his own was a bold step by the youngster.
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Batting alongside Yuvraj Singh with his team in deep trouble in a hopeless situation, Kaif was at the receiving end of one particular suggestion from Ganguly. In spite of the captain wanting him to give the strike to Yuvraj, Kaif decided to take the mantle into his own hands.
Chasing a 326-run target, India were reduced to 146/5. Despite a solid sixth-wicket partnership between the two, the required run rate was still 7.58 in the last 12 overs. It was in the 39th over when Ganguly was seen instructing Kaif from the Lord’s balcony to run a single. However, Kaif pulled the very next Alex Tudor ball for a thumping six over mid-wicket.
If truth be told, Ganguly was not at all wrong in his advice to Kaif. Before that ball, Kaif was batting on 30* (37) as compared to Yuvraj’s 58* (55). Apart from Yuvraj being more aggressive than Kaif at that moment, the former also carried with him a reputation of hitting big shots at will.
Probably in the zone of getting his team over the line in a knockout contest, Kaif didn’t put on display an animated reaction after hitting a six. Ganguly, meanwhile, was seen applauding the shot along with VVS Laxman.
“If that was a signal to get a single from the captain, he has taken it to the other extreme and planted it to the stands,” one of the commentators had said on air.
Mohammad Kaif, And Not Yuvraj Singh, Had Sealed The Run-Chase
Kaif, however, did change gears after that shot to never look back in his successful attempt to register a historic Indian victory. Once Yuvraj was dismissed in the 42nd over, Kaif astutely batted with specialist bowlers before sealing the run-chase with two wickets and three balls remaining in the match.
Playing a couple of dot balls when India needed two runs to win in the last over, Indian pacer Zaheer Khan tried to nudge an Andrew Flintoff full toss in a bid to bring Kaif back on strike. That said, an overthrow powered India to a memorable win. Kaif, who ended up scoring 87* (75), clinched the Player of the Match award for the first time in his international career.
In an interaction with DD India earlier this year, Kaif had admitted losing all hopes, much like everyone else present at the ground, after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar‘s dismissal.
“When Sachin [Tendulkar] got out, I thought it’s all over. We cannot win this game because five down, Sachin is not there, the biggest match-winner in the world, but it was the belief in your game, belief in your ability,” Kaif had said.
Interestingly, Tendulkar getting out was enough for Kaif’s parents to miss their son scripting history. Instead, they decided to watch Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Devdas’, released a couple of days ago, in a cinema hall.
As much as a 326-run target in an ODI sounds attainable nowadays, the same wasn’t the case back then. India’s highest successful ODI run-chase at the time, what had made it all the more worthy of celebrations was the team losing nine multi-team ODI finals in the last three years.
Although opposed by Tendulkar, Ganguly’s glorious shirt wave remains fresh in every Indian cricket fan’s heart till date. There is also another memorable celebratory photo where Ganguly can be seen hugging Kaif by literally jumping on him.
