Lara’s magic in the desert

5th of November, 1993. A large crowd packed the Sharjah cricket stadium in anticipation of a high voltage clash between Pakistan and West Indies, in the final of Pepsi Champions Trophy. Little did those cricket lovers know that they were about to witness a great exhibition of batting; by Brian Charles Lara.

In the 90s, the spine chilling thought of facing Waqar Younis would have given a batsman sleepless nights, but not to Lara. At the Sharjah cricket stadium, he put Pakistan’s attack to sword, especially the great Waqar Younis, who was smashed to shreds.

The battleground

On a batting paradise, Pakistan’s captain, Waqar Younis elected to bat first. At 87 for 3, Pakistan was in a spot of bother. But middle-order batsman Basit Ali played a knock that seemed to have turned the game on its head. Basit blazed his way to 127 of just 79 balls. Even the emperor of fast bowling, Ambrose couldn’t escape from Ali’s pyrotechnics.

Basit’s eye-catching stroke-play meant that Pakistan set West Indies a formidable total of 284. Those days, even on flat tracks, chasing a total of 284 was said to be a daunting task. But when Lara was in the mood, nothing seemed impossible.

The carnage

A few months earlier in Jamaica, Lara had made mincemeat of Pakistan’s much-vaunted attack consisting of Younis, Akram and Mushy. As a result of the carnage from the bat of Lara, Pakistan had come out with a plan to at least restrict him from scoring quickly. All of Pakistan’s bowlers tried to bowl slightly wide of off-stump, with a packed off-side field. The plan flopped miserably, as Lara was unstoppable that day. If a bowler bowled ever so slightly short, Lara played blistering square-cuts. If it was fuller in length, he played those majestic drives.

Lara’s magic bat explored every nook and cranny of the Sharjah cricket stadium. Even among those beautifully timed and perfectly placed boundaries, there were three shots played by Lara, which made you wonder whether he was blessed with preternatural hand-eye co-ordination. He nonchalantly flicked a delivery on and around the off-stump from Younis for a boundary. Lara then proceeded to play a glorious extra cover-drive of Younis. The trademark arc of Lara’s extravagant back-lift was a sight to behold.

The best shot of the day was again reserved for poor old Younis. Younis bowled a good length delivery. But in spite of Lara not being able to get to the pitch of the ball, he had the chutzpah to smash it down the ground for yet another boundary. Waqar Younis might have thought that Lara was a leviathan monster in disguise. For the first time in my life, I even felt pity for Younis, as he cut a forlorn figure that day.

If Younis in his pomp can’t stop Lara on rampage, then imagine the plight of lesser bowlers. Lara just toyed with the bowling of Ata-Ur Rehman and Nazir. He didn’t spare the talented leg-spinner, Mushy either. He tried to bowl wide of off-stump, but Lara had the audacity to sweep him for a boundary. We all know that human eye has a blind spot, but Lara didn’t seem to have one.

After escorting the ball to the boundary for most of the day, Pakistan’s fielders finally had something to cheer about, as Lara got out to Mushy. Lara had already done the damage, with a sparkling knock of 153. In spite of the West Indies’ captain Richardson taking 50 deliveries for mere 15 runs, they cruised to victory with more than four overs to spare.

The great knock played by Lara also tells us that he was a clever batsman. He planned, analysed and executed those plans to perfection. Lara was quick to judge the pitch and the bowlers, and modify his technique accordingly. In that match against Pakistan played at Sharjah, Lara looked to play himself in. Once he assessed the conditions and the bowlers in the opposition ranks, he played all those expansive strokes. He also didn’t use his feet much against the gifted leg-spinner, Mushy. Lara knew that Mushy had a fantastic googly in his armour.

Sobers smashing Lillee’s snorters to pieces at MCG was before my time. But I can proudly say that I did watch Lara make Waqar Younis in his pomp look rather clueless. As a cricket aficionado, you won’t mind travelling thousands of miles, even bare-foot, just to watch a knock like what we saw from Lara on that hot day at Sharjah.

In a dictionary, a trillion words like finesse, panache, flamboyance and many more can be found. Even if all those words are combined together, it is hard to describe Lara’s magic in the desert of Sharjah.