Dubai: A walk down memory lane. That’s what Dubai’s Trevor Pereira is looking forward to, a good 20 years on, as neighbours Pakistan and India prepare for their 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup group match on Sunday.
Pereira, who was present when India secured a 47-run victory against their traditional rivals on June 8 at the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup, left on Thursday to watch Sunday’s face-off between the two traditional cricket rivals at Old Trafford, Manchester.
Making the trip from Liverpool in June 1999, Pereira had picked up a Tendulkar jersey in Chester a night before that match.
The next day he was part of the Indian team’s celebrations, after which he returned to Dubai with wife Hashmat, where he had the jersey washed and kept aside.
However subsequently, the Dubai resident — a successful shipping and maritime executive — got this same jersey signed by Tendulkar during one of the tri-nations tournament in Sharjah.
Given the hype surrounding Sunday’s match, Pereira has carried this same jersey, hoping to capture the good luck and form from two decades.
“The last time I went with my wife Hashmat, but this time I decided to combine a bit of business with cricket,” Pereira told Gulf News before leaving for London, on Thursday.
“The only difference is that this time I will be wearing my lucky 1999 World Cup jersey and hopefully India will win again,” he added.
After Thursday’s washed-out encounter against New Zealand, India still go in as firm favourites as one of two unbeaten teams in the competition so far.
Pereira is convinced his 1999 light blue jersey will be the precursor of good luck once again on Sunday, should rain not play spoilsport yet again.
“Today I feel exactly what I felt 20 years back. There is that excitement in the stomach of watching the men in blue in action again. I feel like a child again who will be visiting the same ground to watch the same opposition. I can clearly hear thousands screeching, be it for a boundary or when a wicket fell. I am sure nothing will change this time,” Pereira related.
“After this match, this jersey will be retired forever. I have plans to wash it, frame it and hang it in my office of home,” he added.
