Rana
Hall of Famer
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2006
- Runs
- 67,590
In 2003, I traveled with my family to Pakistan for the first ever time since my birth (we migrated a year later). We were to attend a family wedding in Islamabad, and this was around the time when the World Cup in South Africa was about to kick off.
The atmosphere in Pakistan, as you can imagine was filled with the excitement and anticipation that you would expect from a wonderful cricket loving nation. Cricket was the talk of the town at all gatherings and social events.
Around this time, I didn’t particularly have a love or passion for the game. I was selected for my school first team squad more out of natural talent rather than a devoted passion to play the game. I didn’t particularly watch cricket religiously, besides the odd Test matches in the summer on Channel 4 (we didn’t have sky sports subscription). So for me to see this excitement and anticipation for cricket in the environment of Pakistan was definitely a strange, yet wonderful experience. Islamabad in general was a lot calmer and serene in comparison to the hustling and bustling environment of Lahore (my home city), but ‘cricket experts’ were everywhere! Everyone had an opinion on what was to happen, I remember the sense of negativity surrounding the Pakistan team in particular was rampant.
Whilst staying in the ‘shadi ghar’ (house where the ladies side we’re celebrating their daughter’s wedding preparations and in house functions), I remember that my Grandmother’s brother who was a cricket fanatic had created a lounge within a hall room to watch the World Cup kick off game between South Africa (hosts) and West Indies. The wonderful colours of south Asian weddings, the atmosphere of joy and the beauty/class of Islamabad… it was a good time to be alive!
This opening cricket match was to feature a heap of South African cricketers who I didn’t really have a clue about, but also one West Indian cricketer who I did know or heard of, and that was Brian Charles Lara.
To give you more context of how I did know who Lara was: around 1997 or 98, my Dad bought me a kids cricket bat which had stickers of ‘Lara 375’ on it. I was informed that this is the highest score in Test cricket, which obviously sounded mammoth. Also, many kids of that generation were blessed with the experience of playing ‘Brian Lara cricket’ on their PlayStation 1. Long story short, Lara was a big name of cricket for kids who had no real clue about the stars of the game in the 90s/2000s. (So was Tendulkar and Wasim Akram tbf)
So here I was in this lounge in Islamabad, sitting amongst all the uncles and youths who were eager for this World Cup kick off game. Initially bored, I vividly remember West Indies were 2 down very quickly, and the Man himself BC Lara was at the crease. “Hey, I recognise him”.
Without understanding the context of the game, I sat there bored thinking why are these guys batting so slow like they do on those channel 4 Test matches? West Indies lost their 3rd wicket around the 30th over mark with a hundred runs on the board. It didn’t look too good for them, and the hype around the man Lara was not quite rubbing off on me, as the guy just seemed decent.
Suddenly, the pace of the game completely transformed. This man, this guy Lara absolutely started to belt the ball! A rush of blood, a sense of thrill, a feeling of the adrenaline pumping was slowly building amongst the people watching the game and me too. There was a brutality in his elegant strokeplay, only for me to realise that as a schoolboy cricketer I’m 1000 years behind the best players of the world.
Lara Masterfully steered West Indies to 215-5 in 45 overs, whilst he had scored a brilliant 116 off 134 balls. I didn’t really understand that a foundation was laid, but then the monstrosity I witnessed from the bat of Powell and Sarwan (I had no clue about where at the time) made me realise:
“Cricket is the game! Lara is the Man!”
West Indies added 73 runs in their last 5 overs to absolutely set the World Cup on fire! The host nation as they were being hyped to be a strong contender for the tournament were left totally stunned! The South Africa innings had so many twists and turns, and they barely lost by 3 runs in such a thrilling encounter.
The match itself made me fall in love with cricket. It was like a moment of awakening within me. At the time maybe I loved the brutal and thrilling nature of Powell and Sarwan’s thunderous 6th wicket partnership of 73 off 28 balls. However, reflecting back on it now, I realised that the greatest innings I had ever witnessed in a World Cup match was Lara’s 116. His greatness as a batsman and cricket brain/maestro became more and more manifest to me with the passage of time and witnessing his brilliant performances from then on, as Lara was one player to always take seriously. ‘When Lara bats, The World stands still and pays attention’. This was the mantra within my mind going forward.
This is my greatest memory and favourite ever World Cup innings because it has so many emotions and memories attached to it. Let’s hear yours?
The atmosphere in Pakistan, as you can imagine was filled with the excitement and anticipation that you would expect from a wonderful cricket loving nation. Cricket was the talk of the town at all gatherings and social events.
Around this time, I didn’t particularly have a love or passion for the game. I was selected for my school first team squad more out of natural talent rather than a devoted passion to play the game. I didn’t particularly watch cricket religiously, besides the odd Test matches in the summer on Channel 4 (we didn’t have sky sports subscription). So for me to see this excitement and anticipation for cricket in the environment of Pakistan was definitely a strange, yet wonderful experience. Islamabad in general was a lot calmer and serene in comparison to the hustling and bustling environment of Lahore (my home city), but ‘cricket experts’ were everywhere! Everyone had an opinion on what was to happen, I remember the sense of negativity surrounding the Pakistan team in particular was rampant.
Whilst staying in the ‘shadi ghar’ (house where the ladies side we’re celebrating their daughter’s wedding preparations and in house functions), I remember that my Grandmother’s brother who was a cricket fanatic had created a lounge within a hall room to watch the World Cup kick off game between South Africa (hosts) and West Indies. The wonderful colours of south Asian weddings, the atmosphere of joy and the beauty/class of Islamabad… it was a good time to be alive!
This opening cricket match was to feature a heap of South African cricketers who I didn’t really have a clue about, but also one West Indian cricketer who I did know or heard of, and that was Brian Charles Lara.
To give you more context of how I did know who Lara was: around 1997 or 98, my Dad bought me a kids cricket bat which had stickers of ‘Lara 375’ on it. I was informed that this is the highest score in Test cricket, which obviously sounded mammoth. Also, many kids of that generation were blessed with the experience of playing ‘Brian Lara cricket’ on their PlayStation 1. Long story short, Lara was a big name of cricket for kids who had no real clue about the stars of the game in the 90s/2000s. (So was Tendulkar and Wasim Akram tbf)
So here I was in this lounge in Islamabad, sitting amongst all the uncles and youths who were eager for this World Cup kick off game. Initially bored, I vividly remember West Indies were 2 down very quickly, and the Man himself BC Lara was at the crease. “Hey, I recognise him”.
Without understanding the context of the game, I sat there bored thinking why are these guys batting so slow like they do on those channel 4 Test matches? West Indies lost their 3rd wicket around the 30th over mark with a hundred runs on the board. It didn’t look too good for them, and the hype around the man Lara was not quite rubbing off on me, as the guy just seemed decent.
Suddenly, the pace of the game completely transformed. This man, this guy Lara absolutely started to belt the ball! A rush of blood, a sense of thrill, a feeling of the adrenaline pumping was slowly building amongst the people watching the game and me too. There was a brutality in his elegant strokeplay, only for me to realise that as a schoolboy cricketer I’m 1000 years behind the best players of the world.
Lara Masterfully steered West Indies to 215-5 in 45 overs, whilst he had scored a brilliant 116 off 134 balls. I didn’t really understand that a foundation was laid, but then the monstrosity I witnessed from the bat of Powell and Sarwan (I had no clue about where at the time) made me realise:
“Cricket is the game! Lara is the Man!”
West Indies added 73 runs in their last 5 overs to absolutely set the World Cup on fire! The host nation as they were being hyped to be a strong contender for the tournament were left totally stunned! The South Africa innings had so many twists and turns, and they barely lost by 3 runs in such a thrilling encounter.
The match itself made me fall in love with cricket. It was like a moment of awakening within me. At the time maybe I loved the brutal and thrilling nature of Powell and Sarwan’s thunderous 6th wicket partnership of 73 off 28 balls. However, reflecting back on it now, I realised that the greatest innings I had ever witnessed in a World Cup match was Lara’s 116. His greatness as a batsman and cricket brain/maestro became more and more manifest to me with the passage of time and witnessing his brilliant performances from then on, as Lara was one player to always take seriously. ‘When Lara bats, The World stands still and pays attention’. This was the mantra within my mind going forward.
This is my greatest memory and favourite ever World Cup innings because it has so many emotions and memories attached to it. Let’s hear yours?
and spot on.
