Javed Miandad's last-ball six changed India-Pakistan balance in cricket

It’s 25 years to this month, but that winning six by Javed Miandad off the last ball of the Austral-Asia Cup final remains fresh in memory to all those who saw the game – either at the ground or live on television.

The ambience was absolutely electrifying as the batsman readied to take strike. The crowd at Sharjah was sharply divided – pro-Pakistan and pro-India – right through the day but was now numbed into silence by what lay in store. Pakistan needed three runs to win the game; India needed to concede less than three or take the final wicket to win the game. The moment was not for weak hearts.

Before facing the last ball, Miandad had a close at the field placing set by captain Kapil Dev. He watched Kapil plug all the gaps to prevent a boundary that would give Pakistan victory and then attend to his young fast bowler, Chetan Sharma. Kapil encouraged and steadied the youngster’s nerves before bowling what was the ball of his life.

The buccaneering Miandad walked up to his partner Tauseef Ahmed, jabbered with characteristic passion, walked back, did a headcount of the fielders to ensure that the Indians had not smuggled an extra fielder, took one final hard look at the field placing and then waited for the final ball. The two-eyed opened stance remained steady for something big. Miandad never followed the coaching manual; he followed his own book!

The raw and excitable Chetan bowled a full toss and Miandad, pulled savagely over midwicket and into the stratosphere. The crescent and green flags were being furiously waved around the ground, even as one section of the crowd were dumbstruck. In fact, it took a while even for some of the Pakistanis to react.

The palpable tension on Imran Khan’s face had erased; Abdul Qadir was delirious and the rest of the Pakistan team followed his joyous mood. Meanwhile, Miandad was ecstatic and raced to the dressing room, shouting and screaming amidst pandemonium as Pakistani supporters invaded the field. The Austral-Asia Cup had been in India’s bag for all but the final delivery.

The scoreboard would say it was a Pakistan-India game, but in reality, it was Miandad vs India. He brought all his experience and guile to frustrate the Indians – be it running cheeky singles, flying between the wickets to convert singles into twos, placing the ball in the gaps… The innings redefined one-day batsmanship for the thrust was not so much on big strokes, but on planning and winning with stealth, patience and cunning – a Miandad trademark. When he came to the crease, the score was 39 for two and by the time had got his eye in, the score was 61 for three. At 110 for four with already half of the overs gone, Miandad was fighting a losing battle. 

Still, 136 needed.

The asking run-rate had escalated from the original 4.92 to 6.28 per over. With one of his riskier decisions, Imran sent in Abdul Qadir at No six to tackle the guile of the left-arm spin duo of Ravi Shastri and Maninder Singh. Qadir played a swashbuckling 34 before Kapil dismissed him. Imran and Elahi followed quickly and the run-rate had climbed to eight an over. Thirty-one runs were needed of the last three overs – a tough ask even by today’s standards and unthinkable in those days of overs-limit cricket.

How Miandad achieved the target is a part of cricket’s folklore. The 48th over yielded 13 runs and there was a mighty six off Madan Lal that brought up his hundred. The 49th over yielded 10, but Pakistan had lost Wasim Akram who was run out trying to give the strike to Miandad. Eight runs were needed from the last over and Miandad pulled savagely which left the packed onside field static. A brilliant save by Roger Binny at the short fine leg reduced what looked a certain boundary to a single. Zulqarnain tried needless heroism and was bowled by Sharma.

Last man Tauseef Ahmed got detailed instructions from Miandad before facing delivery and failed to get the much-needed single. The next was a fullish delivery to which Tauseef barely got a touch. Mohammad Azharuddin swooped on it, ran towards the bowlers' end and threw the ball underarm towards the target from a couple of yards. Tauseeef, who had reacted late to Miandad’s early charge, would have run out by a mile had Azhar not missed the target by a whisker.

It gave Miandad the strike and present Pakistan a big moment. What had happened then is history.

Full tosses are a good ball to hit and a terrible ball to miss. And the credit goes to Miandad for his alertness, his quick positioning and his decisiveness in stroke-making. When it came to the crunch, Miandad won while the 11 other Indian players strained under pressure. With one stroke that climaxed an innings of innate genius and put Pakistan on such a psychological high that India couldn’t overcome for more than a decade.

Miandad’s six still echoes around the Indian subcontinent. That one stroke gave him immortality, while Chetan Sharma is still pilloried for that one ball.

Note: This article was published in Cricket Country on 21/04/2011 Javed Miandad's last-ball six changed India-Pakistan balance in cricket

Thank You

Faisal Caesar