On this Day (18th Jan, 1998) : India chase down world record 314 runs vs Pakistan

[Bhaijaan]

What a match it was!!

Those were the days.

Saeed Anwar, Ganguly smacking stunning centuries.

Robin Singh played a great cameo.

Hrishikesh Kanitkar finishing it off.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Watched it live and couldn't believe it at that time.

 

[TNAmarkFromIndia]

The first time that a score over 300 was chased down in ODIs.

Only 8 years later, we saw 400+ being chased down for the first time.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Modern day fans might not relate but this match is an all time nerve wrecking classic.

 

[Ab Fan]

Tomorrow 324 will be chased and then we will run on streets

 

[JaDed]

Watched it live and couldn't believe it at that time.

Same here ,I prayed to all religions that day the only day in my life.. i was such a believer.

Couldnt believe Kanitkar hit a boundary and master stroke of Robin Singh coming up and scoring.

I would never wanna go back to those times though where I had pray for our team

 

[Bhaijaan]

Indian bowling line-up in that match :-

Javagal Srinath
Harvinder Singh )
Robin Singh )
Saurav Ganguly )
Kanitkar )
Sachin Tendulkar )


Wow those were the days of Indian bowling hegemony in world cricket. The fear we put into opposition batters hearts.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Ah. 1998. Such a beautiful year. Those were the days of no YouTube, Online subscriptions etc. Heck, even cable was not as widespread. The whole country used to watch our team on DD and such rare wins meant a lot to us. Especially ODI wins as this was the golden era of the format.

There were simply not as many alternative sources of entertainment and we were all very emotionally invested in the outcomes of matches.

Pretty sure the entire country - North, South, East, West erupted when Kanitkar hit that boundary . Fast forward to 2021 and I doubt the common remembers the details of our last win against Pakistan.

 

[liam26]

Even the predominantly Bangaldeshi Crowd rejoiced at the Indian Victory.

 

[dani2k]

All through the late 80s to the mid 90s, Pakistan's hold over bilateral games was like that of a monitor lizard (famous for its grip to such an extent that they were used by ancient armies to assist in scaling fort walls).
They believed that they could win a match against India from any position I guess.

However things started changing during the Sahara cup in 1997 when India beat Pakistan 4-1. Then there was this bilateral series that happened in Pakistan where India won an ODI in Pakistan for the first time (the Rajesh Chauhan six) even though they lost the series 2-1.

Then came the Independence cup in 1998 where India comprehensively won the best of three finals 2-1. The last win coming in extremely tough conditions (bad light hampering both teams to be fair). I think with the advent of new talent (like Ganguly who never had the excessive baggage of frequent losses to Pak), the mentality changed and slowly India clawed back to have some much needed victories and gain a bit of parity in the ODI H2Hs.

 

[dani2k]

Watched this match live all day and was feeling so so high after the win. Great memories!

 

[dani2k]

So India broke the WR for chases atleast twice - chasing 314 in this match and then chasing 325 in the Natwest finals in 2002.

 

[dani2k]

Even the predominantly Bangaldeshi Crowd rejoiced at the Indian Victory.

Both teams had equal support.

 

[NishanKonar]

What an iconic match. Still remember this game like it happened yesterday

Pakistan posted 314 thanks to big knocks by Saeed Anwar & Ejaz Ahmed & then India fought back with Ganguly & Robin Singh. Then Pakistan came back strongly & match looked lost before Kantikar of all people slog swept Saqlain for 4 & sealed the game

 

[NishanKonar]

Ah. 1998. Such a beautiful year. Those were the days of no YouTube, Online subscriptions etc. Heck, even cable was not as widespread. The whole country used to watch our team on DD and such rare wins meant a lot to us. Especially ODI wins as this was the golden era of the format.

There were simply not as many alternative sources of entertainment and we were all very emotionally invested in the outcomes of matches.

Pretty sure the entire country - North, South, East, West erupted when Kanitkar hit that boundary . Fast forward to 2021 and I doubt the common remembers the details of our last win against Pakistan.

This is so true. In the 90s India Pakistan match days were like curfew like situation. Roads wud be deserted. Everyone wud be watching match on tv or radio

Nowadays u dont have that craze any more

 

[Saurav]

So India broke the WR for chases atleast twice - chasing 314 in this match and then chasing 325 in the Natwest finals in 2002.

325 wasn't a record iirc

Aus had chased 330 vs SA earlier that year

 

[Savak]

India has always been a better batting line up than Pakistan in the 80's, 90's, 2000's, 2010's and now in 2020. Now that they have become a superior bowling unit, they are pretty much unbeatable

 

[CricketCartoons]

Robin Singh played a great cameo.

That was not a cameo.

 

[RajBan]

India has always been a better batting line up than Pakistan in the 80's, 90's, 2000's, 2010's and now in 2020. Now that they have become a superior bowling unit, they are pretty much unbeatable

Not till 97. From 97 onwards once Ganguly came in things started to change. Many people does not know in his first 7 years Ganguly was a run scoring machine particularly in ODI. He was the Kohli of that time inspite of Sachin in the same team making crucial performances in chases and reaching milestones the fastest. Prior to that Indian batting was all about Sachin and Azhar and then a bit of Sidhu or Jadeja at times.

 

[leonidas_alexandar]

I still remember this match like yesterday.

This was the one of those very rare series in the 90's that India beat Pakistan 3-1 (although it was a trilateral series - India and Pakistan played 4 games with each other). India beat Pakistan in the league phase once and won the best of three 2-1.

I remember Pakistan did not have Wasim, Waqar or Shoaib. Their bowling was spearheaded by Aaqib Javed.

Sachin Tendulkar was in red hot form and ended up being the man of the series. His blitzkreig innings of 41 in just 26 balls set the chase up.

I remember it was actually not a day and night match but the light was so poor they ended up using the lights meant for football.

In a decade where Pakistan dominated India (30 wins against 19 losses) - this series proved to be an oasis of relief. Great game.

 

[leonidas_alexandar]

Not till 97. From 97 onwards once Ganguly came in things started to change. Many people does not know in his first 7 years Ganguly was a run scoring machine particularly in ODI. He was the Kohli of that time inspite of Sachin in the same team making crucial performances in chases and reaching milestones the fastest. Prior to that Indian batting was all about Sachin and Azhar and then a bit of Sidhu or Jadeja at times.

I agree. Usually in that decade - Tendulkar getting out meant India's chances up in the smoke. But there was a phase where even if Tendulkar got out - fans did not lose hope because Ganguly was still at the crease. Ganguly was a monster scorer for a few years and collected centuries for fun.