History of Indian cricket - 1990s
The 1990’s was an era in Indian cricket where the growth of the game in terms of commerce increased manifolds. With the advent of satellite television, the impetus given to cricket in the country was tremendous. The competition amongst the broadcasters for telecast rights ranged from being tough to nasty. Those who benefited the most were the viewers who got the best of both worlds in terms of choice of matches and quality of pictures.
South Africa’s re-entry – 1991
India’s representative in the ICC, Mr. Jagmohan Dalmiya, moved the proposition for South Africa’s re-entry into international cricket. In November 1991, the historic tour between India and South Africa took place that market South Africa’s readmission.
Though India won the three match series 2-1, South Africa showed adequate signs of shaping up into one of the greatest sides in world cricket.
World Cup – 1992
The World Cup in 1992 was jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. It was the first World Cup where coloured clothing was permitted. India’s performance in this Cup was by far very mediocre.
Despite having big names like veteran Kapil Dev, blistering Azharuddin and young Tendulkar in the squad, the Indians failed to leave a mark. After losing to England and Australia, they registered their first win against the eventual winner Pakistan. However losses against West Indies, New Zealand and South Africa did not help its cause by much.
The Indians had noteworthy individual performances with Azharuddin top scoring with 332 runs in his kitty. Kapil Dev had the highest strike rate of 124.81 in the tournament. Despite this, India failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
Hero Cup – 1993
A well-deserved mention is of the semi-final of the Hero Cup held at Eden Gardens on 24th November 1993. The match between India and South Africa turned out to be a nail-biter with Sachin Tendulkar snatching the ball from Azharuddin and taking the daunting task in his own hands. With just six runs to get and two wickets in hand, it could have been anyone’s game.
The world watched in fear, then in anticipation and ultimately in delight as Tendulkar gave a reason for Indian’s world over to celebrate yet another Diwali!
This first day-nighter at the Eden Gardens was a huge success. The final against the West Indies on the same ground saw the Indians win the series with Kumble displaying a stroke of genius.
Kapil’s World record – 1994
The year 1994 saw Kapil Dev break the world record for taking the maximum wickets breaking Richard Hadlee’s record of 431. The victim was Hashan Tillakaratne caught by Sanjay Manjrekar at Ahemdabad. In addition to this, Kapil also achieved the feat of playing more Tests than any other Indian.
Ganguly and Dravid make their debut – 1996
One of the defining moments in the Indian cricket history was the entralling debut’s of Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid against England in 1996. Ganguly left the spectators stunned by scoring back-to-back centuries on his debut. David was not far behind with scores of 95 and 84.
While Dravid would be voted as the ICC player of the year in 2004 and stake claim as the best Test batsman in the world, Ganguly would go on to become the most successful Test and ODI captain that India has ever produced.
World Cup – 1996
India were the hosts to the World Cup in 1996 along with the other sub-continent countries of Pakistan and Sri Lanka. They were grouped with Kenya, Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe.
India began their campaign with wins against minnows Kenya and the West Indies. However, they could not come up with the goods against the Australians. After a defeat in the hands of the Aussies, they facede the Sri Lankans who were in terrific form. The Sri Lankans went on to win the match hands down.
After defeating the Zimbabweans, the Indians entered the quaterfinals with a match-up against the Pakistani’s. In a match that had much hype about it went India’s way. It led to a celebrations in the Indian camp where people came out to celebrate on the streets. However, reverse reactions were seen in Pakistan where the crowd demonstated outside homes of the players and even the suicide of one disraught fan.
India’s exit from the World Cup in the semi-finals bore the brunt of being classified as one of the most shameful matches in the history of Indian cricket. Due to the Indian batting collapse sections of the crowd set fire to the stands.
A sort of a mini-riot broke out and play was subsequently stopped. Seeing the dangers involved and threat to the players, the umpires decided to award the match to the Sri Lankans.
One of the positives to come out of the tournament was that Sachin Tendulkar was the leading run scorer with 523 runs to his name. Also, Anil Kumble with 15 wickets to his name was the leading wicket-taker.
Dalmiya as ICC Chairman
After the success of the World Cup – 1996 in the subcontinent, BCCI along with whooping support of its neighbours decided to put forward Jagmohan Dalmiya’s name for the chairman of the ICC. The others in the running were Krish Mackerdhuj of South Africa and Malcolm Gray of Australia.
Even after Dalmiya had won the elections hands-down, he wasn’t allowed to assume office till over a year. The flimsy reasons given by the ICC were indicative enough for the racism running high on the minds of the Council.
Tendulkar at Sharjah – 1998
Sharjah, a venue which was later shunned due to the match-fixing scandals, went on to witness one of the most explosive innings by Sachin Tendulkar at the Coca Cola Cup in April 1998.
Tendulkar’s spectacular 143 against the Aussies, amidst a bedlam due to a sandstorm, which was followed up with an equally impressive 134 in the finals is till date etched in the memory of fans as one of the greatest knocks he’s ever played.
It was not the century that he made, but the harsh weather conditions against a formidable opponent that made the knock so special.
Kumble’s Perfect 10 - 1999
It was 7th of February 1999, a foggy winter day that Indian spin-king Anil Kumble obliterated the Pakistani batting line-up claiming all the 10 scalps. His 10 for 74 followed the script of Jim Laker’s 10 for 53 in 1956.
It is not only difficult but impossible to sum up Kumble’s importance in the Indian squad. It is safe to say that he is indispensable as the Test scheme of things is concerned. Kumble is a ‘constantly thinking’ cricketer whose next delivery is as unpredictable as our country’s General Elections.
As it is wisely said that only a true genius can truly appreciate another one, so in the words of the great Sachin Tendulkar: Kumble is `”Extremely, extremely, extremely tough.”
World Cup – 1999
The World cup in 1999 was hosted by England. The Indians were having a poor run to the World Cup and not expected to do too well.
As per the predictions the Indians lost to the South Africans. This was followed by a shocking defeat against the Zimbabweans where the Indians fell short by a mere 3 runs losing the last three wickets for just three runs.
A victory against the Kenyans and then the Sri Lankans where Ganguly and Dravid had scores of 183 and 145 respectively against their names did a lot to uplift the spirits of the side. The Indians then went on to secure a place in the Super Sixes by beating England in a convincing manner.
However, things did not go according to plan in the Super Six stage. Despite winning against the Pakistani’s, the Indians lost to Australia and New Zealand and failed to qualify to the next stage of the tournament.
