1996 Cricket World Cup Semifinals: Calcutta '96 - India's Maracanazo

Sachin Tendulkar was stumped after a fine half century

Chasing 250, India’s innings was all about Tendulkar, as it was most of the time during that period. For me, the biggest turning point in the fortunes of Indian cricket came with the entry of Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif and Zaheer Khan into the Indian team during the ICC knockout tournament in 2000. This bunch of youngsters injected a fresh lease of life into the Indian team, in the wake of Mohammed Azharuddin’s fall from grace.

1996 was a long way before all of this, though. Geoff Boycott prophetically said while doing commentary, about 10 balls before Sachin was dismissed after another wonderful knock, “..if Tendulkar was to get out, they might have a bigger problem. He’s scoring most of the runs. He’s got 60 of their total (89).” Watching the replay of his stumping, it’s not clear why Sachin even stepped out of the crease, when he could clearly see the keeper collecting the ball. I think it was just an impulse. One fateful impulse.

When Sachin was walking off, Tony Grieg wondered, “Could this be the beginning of the slide?” How true his words proved to be! Watching the remaining part of the highlights is a sickening experience even today. Azhar gets a leading edge, Jayasuriya brilliantly bowls Manjrekar and Jadeja around their legs. The Jadeja wicket is especially superb, the expression on the batsman’s face simply priceless. And I have no idea who Aashish Kapoor is.

India lost seven wickets for 22 runs in an almighty implosion when the missiles started to rain. Calcutta had seen enough. Clive Lloyd tried to get the match restarted, but gave up. The match was handed to Sri Lanka by default. A couple of years ago, Kambli came back into the news, alleging that Azhar had thrown that match as well, with the then captain refuting all such allegations.

On July 16 1950, Brazil took the lead in the 47th minute. The stadium erupted in joy, as they prepared to start the party. The Uruguayans are said to have deliberately delayed the restart for a long time, which allowed the crowd the time to settle down and for the noise level to get back down to normal. Then, they started to play. They equalized in the 66th minute and in the 79th minute, Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia, racing down the right flank, approached the goal. The goalkeeper Moacyr Barbosa, unsure of whether Ghiggia would shoot or cross, couldn’t stop the ball as Ghiggia beat him at the near post. The silence of the crowd was deafening.

Unlike Brazil, there’s no way India would have expected Sri Lanka to simply roll over. But after the first over of the game, when they got rid of the most feared opening partnership in world cricket, the whole nation started to dream. About six hours later, it had turned into our worst nightmare.

When the football match ended, there was no ceremonial presentation ceremony. Jules Rimet looked for someone to give his trophy to. ‘I finally found Obdulio (the Uruguayian captain). I gave it to him…without letting anyone else see’. Brazilians described the defeat as ‘our Hiroshima’; ‘the greatest tragedy in Brazilian history’; ‘a Waterloo of the tropics’. Brazil’s yellow jersey, one of the most recognizable pieces of clothing on the planet, was introduced in the aftermath of the Maracanazo. The authorities felt the white jersey they were wearing until then was jinxed.

Moacyr Barbosa, the Brazilian goalkeeper, was made the scapegoat, blamed for letting the second goal in. Vilified for the rest of his life, he never got to play for Brazil again. In 2000, penniless and close to death, he recalled his memory of 1970 – in the year when the greatest-ever Brazil team won the World Cup, a mother pointed him out to her child in a market saying: ‘Look at him. He was the man who made all of Brazil cry’.

On March 30, 2011, when India beat Pakistan in Mohali, I thought of that Calcutta night in ’96, the last time we’d played a World Cup semifinal at home. To whoever said winning is not important, and that participation is all that matters: you have no idea. Calcutta 96 was India’s Maracanazo. These two weren’t just losses, they were national tragedies. They shattered the hearts of the nation and in India’s case, lead to some of the most shameful scenes in its sporting history.

“Only three people have silenced the Maracana…Sinatra, Pope John-Paul II and me” - Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia.

“In Brazil, the most you get for any crime is 30 years. For 50 years I’ve been paying for a crime I did not commit. Even a criminal when he has paid his debt is forgiven. But I have never been forgiven.” - Moacyr Barbosa.