Dubai: The Asia Cup cricket, during its chequered run from 1984, has seen a wide range of hosts and venues over the decades. From its early days in Sharjah, which ushered in international cricket in the desert to the Emerald Island of Colombo or the dust bowl of Dhaka, it has seen some revetting contests between subcontinental giants India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with Bangladesh joining the fray much later.
Can you, however, visualise a final between India and Sri Lanka drawing in a 100,000-strong crowd today? It turned out a reality in the final for 1990-91 edition at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata — the only time the hallowed turf had hosted the final of the event, which was a brainchild of the late Jagmohan Dalmiya, the strongman of Indian cricket who believed in rallying with the subcontinent neighbours to hold sway over world cricket.
Record books will show that India had cruised past the Lankans by seven wickets to record one of their five title-triumphs so far, but the match stands out as much more in the history of most memorable One Day Internationals at the Eden. “You have to appreciate the scenario of those days, when international cricket calender was much more thin and Kolkata would at best get a ODI or a Test match in a year. The craving to see an international match was such that there were a sizeable crowd outside the gates, fancying their chances for that extra ticket,” recalled Saradindu Mukherjee, then a rookie off-spinner from the City of Joy who played his bit in the final for Mohammad Azharuddin’s team.
The final — played nearly three decades back — is still fresh in Mukherjee’s memory. It was the only tournament when he had a chance to play for the country despite impressing with his control and economy rate in the three matches involving India — two against eventual finalists Sri Lanka and a league game against Bangladesh. Now an established coach and commentator, Mukherjee still relishes the experience of scalping the dangerous Aravinda De Silva twice during the tournament, catching him off his own bowling for 26 in the crunch tie.
Speaking to Gulf News over phone, Mukherjee said with a whiff of nostalgia: “The tournament was reduced to a three-team affair as Pakistan, as on so many occasions in the history of the tournament, pulled out because of the revealing political scenario. However, the final was still a tight affair with some outstanding batting efforts on our side from skipper Azhar, Sanjay Manjrekar and, of course, a certain Sachin Tendulkar.
“The Lankan team was a different kettle of fish those days. Sanath Jayasuriya, who single-handedly made the difference in the 1996 ICC World Cup, came at No. 7 while the top order was an awe-inspiring one with Hasan Tillekaratne, Asanka Gurusinha, Aravinda (De Silva), skipper Arjuna Ranatunga and Roshan Mahanama,” he said.
Opting to field, India restricted Lanka to 204 for nine in 45 overs, with the maestro Kapil Dev returning with match figures of 9-0-31-4. Chasing the target, the hosts were in some trouble as they lost both openers, Ravi Shastri and Navjot Singh Sidhu with only 30 runs on the board.
“Sachin, who had very much signalled his arrival with his first Test century against England the previous year, came in at No. 4 and simply betrayed no signs of pressure. He scored a sparkling half-century (53) and together with Manjrekar (75 not out), who was very much the mainstay of our middle order those days, put up a valuable partnership and put us on course to victory. Azhar then did the rest with a characteristic knock,” he recalled.
“It’s pity that such a brilliant concept of the Asia Cup has often taken a beating due to the unstable political relationship between India and Pakistan. However, with the event being restored to it’s original 50-over format, we should be in for an interesting tournament in the UAE,” the former Indian international added.
