18 April, 1986 is one of the most painful days for Indian cricket. 4 runs required by Pakistan to win the final of the Austral-Asia Cup in Sharjah and Javed Miandad slams a low full-toss of Chetan Sharma for a six to seal the most incredible victory for Pakistan. Until that moment, Sharma was the pick of the bowlers with 3 precious wickets for 40 runs in 8 overs. It all changed in just one ball. For Sharma, for India, for Pakistan.
That last-ball six haunted India for a very long time. Prior to that six, India and Pakistan had played each other thrice in Sharjah and India had won on two occasions. But, all of that changed following the last-ball assault by Miandad. India would go on to lose the next 6 ODIs at Sharjah against Pakistan and win only one in 12 games at that same venue. Hearts were broken, minds were frozen. Indian cricket had to endure a torrid period.
Although India enjoy a very special World Cup record against Pakistan, there was always the overhang of that Miandad incident each time the arch-rivals met at different venues. It needed something very very special to bury that. It needed an Indian do a Miandad.
Cricket’s ‘The Shot’ moment
And that’s exactly what Virat Kohli did. While we all rejoice the way Kohli timed the chase to near perfection, the one moment in the game that buried the 1986 Sharjah moment was the penultimate ball of the 19th over. India needed 28 off 8 at that stage and Haris Rauf was in the middle of a beautiful spell of bowling. He had given away only 24 from 3.4 and had taken the prized wickets of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav.
For the fifth ball of the over, Rauf altered his pace in the hope Kohli will become a victim of a mishit. On the contrary, the variation in pace was beautifully picked by Kohli and he slammed it straight over long-on from almost the bottom end of the bat for a massive six. That was a near-impossible shot to execute, and no coaching manual would ever teach one. That shot was even more special because just the previous ball, Rauf had bowled a back-of-the-length hard ball, which was barely connected by Pandya towards long-on for a single.
Anticipating a similar length and pace, Kohli was on the back-foot and was probably looking to cut the ball over the infield towards point or third-man. But, with Rauf changing his pace, Kohli played the arrow shot straight over long-on for a six. An execution masterclass that doesn’t find a place in the coaching manual.
Captain Kohli
That shot was a classic case of a flight emergency and the QRH (Quick Reference Handbook) having no meaningful guidance for the pilot. It was pure instinct. In aviation, they often say, it is the pilot’s instinct that can be as important as the QRH, if not more. This was just that.
For a few moments after that six, the cricket purist in me was left wondering how Kohli even executed that shot. My mind was so involved in that shot that I missed paying more than a visual attention to the last ball of the over, which too went for a six.
It would be safe to say that the shot over long-on should find its place in cricketing books as ‘The shot’ – for the execution, tenacity and presence of mind. The Michael Jordan moment of cricket. That shot even had the Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar stunned. His Tweet sums it up. “It was a treat to watch you play, the six off the back foot in the 19th over against Rauf over long on was spectacular!”
And, Kohli raises the bar again
For me, that shot by Kohli has permanently buried the ‘Miandad demons’ that have haunted us Indians for nearly four decades. It was a redemption shot not just for Indian cricket, but for Virat Kohli the batter. He was under so much scrutiny until recently. Even yours truly was not keen on having him in the Indian squad for the World Cup earlier in the summer. He proved everyone wrong. He answered his critics. Most importantly, he answered himself.
As I end, I remember the famous speech from the movie, Without Limits. The character, Bill Bowerman (founder of Nike) talks about the American long-distance runner, Steve Prefontaine. Bill had said, “Pre was stubborn. He insisted on holding himself to a higher standard than victory. That’s what he said. That’s what he believed. And he was out to make it one every step of the way.”
Virat Kohli probably feels exactly that way. Watching him bat in the last two balls of the 19th over clearly showed it was not just about a win but something way more than a win. Nobody knows what that ‘more than a win’ was or is. We will never know. After all, some things are just meant to be.
Rajesh Viswanathan was a sports Commentator at Zee Sports and a former Managing Editor (Sports) at Microsoft