It was almost 28 years ago when Javed Miandad converted a low full toss off Chetan Sharma for a six to snatch a last ball victory for Pakistan in the Austral-Asia Cup final in Sharjah in 1986, but the ghosts of that match still haunts the former India seamer. In a candid confession with DrCricket7, the former Test international, who represented India in 23 Tests and 65 ODI’s, still clearly remembers that last ball which he bowled to legendary Javed Miandad and the kind of reception he received after that match back home.
“It was absolutely a devastating phase of my life! I was broken from inside and didn’t knew what to do at that time. I even feared of stepping out of my home in Chandigarh as I thought people would discuss the same thing with me” said Chetan Sharma, who over the years has realized that it was just a part of the game and not his mistake after all. But have the Indian cricket fans too appreciated that after so many years? Not exactly, as Chetan Sharma points out that fans still bring that topic whenever they get a chance to do so.
“ I remember that when India won the 2011 World Cup, I was going back home after completing my show with a TV channel, when a group of fans saw me in my car and stopped me near Mehrauli in New Delhi to celebrate the World Cup victory. They later said to me – Sir, aaj humne apke uss six ka badla le liya ab humein aapse koi shikayat nahin (We have taken revenge of that six. Now we have no regret). Later that night, even my friends texted me saying that we have now taken revenge of Miandad’s six by beating Pakistan in the semi-finals at Mohali and also by winning the World Cup” he said.
“It actually took me many years to come out of it. I never saw that match recording till few years back when I’d to do a TV show with Javed bhai. Whenever I met him, and when we discussed about that incident, he said the same thing. Had it been someone else in place of me, he would have got the same treatment as he was batting on 110 and it was impossible to stop him from making a big hit.” added the former Indian pacer who was then only 20 years old.
“We’d a camp in Mumbai before the Ind-Eng 1986 series and after spending few days at my home-town, I landed in Mumbai for the camp along with my team-mates. As soon as we came out of the Mumbai airport, Maninder Singh pointed to a big hoarding which showed a woman dressed in a saree holding her ‘pallu’ with Javed Maindad standing behind her with a Cricket bat and written on it – MIAN ki DAAD se SHARMA gaye ”, recalls Chetan.
He further added that it took him many years to overcome that hurt and anguish and was only because of his team-mates and coach that he was able to make a strong comeback in his career.
“I think the credit goes to my coach late Desh Prem Azad ji, Kapil Paaji who fought for my place in the team for the Ind-Eng series, and my team-mates especially Maninder Singh who kept on motivating me. They never discussed that match with me as they knew it would only hurt my confidence which had already gone down after that match” said the 48-year-old.
Chetan, who has the record of taking the first World Cup hat-trick and also is the first Indian to grab 10 wicket haul in a Test match on English soil, recollected his superb comeback on India’s tour of England in 1986 which was right after that unforgettable Sharjah match. He gave some lion-hearted performances on that tour and grabbed 16 wickets to guide India to a 2-0 Test series win.
Now a popular cricket expert and commentator, he believes that MS Dhoni led team has the best chance to win the Test Series in England as they have done well in the practice matches and have the right mix of combination and talent to deliver in English conditions.
“Side games are really important to have a successful overseas tour as it helps you to adjust your game in local conditions. India has so far done well in the practice matches especially the batsmen but the onus would remain on the fast bowlers duly supported with spinners, who have to combinedly take wickets in order to win matches.”
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