The Multan Test between India and Pakistan in 2004 was one of the most iconic Test matches between these two arch-rivals. Virender Sehwag became the first Indian to score a Test triple century in that match, where he scored 309 runs with the help of 6 sixes and 39 boundaries. However, this test is also known for the infamous declaration by Rahul Dravid.
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Team India decided to declare their first innings at 675/5, and interestingly, Sachin Tendulkar was batting at 194* at that time. The call surprised everyone as Tendulkar was just 6 runs away from his double-century. Dravid was criticized a lot for his decision, and Yuvraj Singh, who was the last man out also said that the Master Blaster could have scored those 6 runs.
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Yuvraj revealed in an interview with Sports 18 that there was a message from the dressing room to play aggressively as the team was looking to declare, but he said that Tendulkar could have scored those runs quickly. He insisted that a couple of overs would not have made much of a difference in a Test match.
Sachin Tendulkar expressed disappointment at Rahul Dravid for infamous declaration
During the launch of his biography ‘Playing It My Way’, Tendulkar was there at the event along with Dravid and Sourav Ganguly. All three of them had a laugh about the Multan incident, and Sachin also revealed what exactly happened in the dressing room.
Tendulkar agreed that he was very upset as he was playing for the team only, and when Dravid to came visit him, he expressed his feelings to him as well about the same. He insists that the decision was not in the best interest of the team. This would have been Sachin’s 3rd double-century in tests, but it was not meant to be.
“Rahul finally came to me and said he had heard that I was upset and wanted to have a chat. I was indeed upset and asked him what the thinking was behind the declaration at that time. I was batting for the team as well. Yes, I had scored 194, but the 194 was meant to help the team and it was my individual contribution to the team’s cause. So to say that the decision was taken in the best interest of the team, wasn’t correct,” Tendulkar had said.
In the end, India won the match by innings and 52 runs. Anil Kumble took 6 wickets in the 2nd innings of Pakistan to seal the win for India. Even after so many years, this incident is still talked about in the cricketing fraternity.
