India win first edition of Asia Cup cricket

It had been well over a decade since the inception of ODIs; three editions of World Cup Cricket had been played; but Asian Cricket Council (ACC) was yet to come up with a continental tournament. The first Asia Cup finished on April 13, 1984 with India lifting the Trophy following a defeat over arch rivals Pakistan. Abhishek Mukherjee looks a day that was historical in more ways than one.

UAE had the money, and her fair share of South Asian population; unfortunately, they did not have their fair share of cricket to satiate their thirst. The climate, too hot and dry in summer, did not help their cause either. They had their occasional share of cricket when Pakistan domestic sides visited UAE, but it was certainly not enough.

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It was the idea of Abdul Rahman Bukhatir (sometimes referred to as “The Father of Sharjah Cricket”) in Sharjah hosting a benefit match for Hanif Mohammad and Asif Iqbal in 1981, though Asif played a major role himself. It was an unofficial India-Pakistan encounter (the teams went by the names Sunil Gavaskar’s XI and Javed Miandad’s XI), where Miandad’s XI strolled to a 7-wicket victory with 72 balls to spare.
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It was a one-sided encounter, but the turnover was substantial. There was another series between Sunil Gavaskar’s XI and Intikhab Alam’s XI next year. It was evident that cricket in UAE was working. An England XI also played a Pakistan XI in 1982-83; once again the response was good.

Elsewhere, India had lifted the third edition of World Cup, in 1983. Sri Lanka had played their first Test in 1982. Pakistan cricket was on their ascent. It only made sense for ACC to organise a tripartite cricket tournament. Asia, after all, was the only continent with three Test nations.

Sri Lanka stun Pakistan

The tournament started on April 6, 1984. It was a series so low-profile that even Wisden did not cover it. Duleep Mendis put Pakistan in, and though Mohsin Khan and Saadat Ali added 59 for the opening wicket, Sri Lanka struck back. Pakistan recovered to 142 for 4, but some penetrating bowling from Arjuna Ranatunga (3 for 38) restricted them to 187 for 9 in 46 overs.

In response, Sidath Wettimuny and Brendon Kuruppu added 52, and Roy Dias took control of things. Duleep Mendis and Ranatunga provided vital support, but Sri Lanka needed a few blows to decide the match. They came from a teenager called Aravinda de Silva, and Sri Lanka reached home with 15 balls to spare.

India trounce Sri Lanka

Unfortunately, Sri Lanka ran out of steam that was played two days later. India were without Kapil Dev, but their four-pronged pace attack — Madan Lal, Roger Binny, Chetan Sharma, and a debutant Manoj Prabhakar — were good enough for the Lankans. They were reduced to 26 for 4.

Though Ranjan Madugalle scored a defiant 38, Sri Lanka lost their last five wickets for 17 and were bowled out for 96. Surinder Khanna launched an assault, remaining unbeaten on 51 (Ghulam Parkar managed 32 at the other end) as India won by 10 wickets in the 22nd over.

The decider

The final league match, of course, had to be the India-Pakistan encounter. While India were without Kapil, Pakistan were deprived of the services of Imran Khan — though both sides had their star batsmen, Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar, Zaheer and Miandad.

Pakistan needed a big win, but once again Surinder rose to the challenge with 55. He hit two sixes, both off Abdul Qadir — over deep extra-cover and long-on. Though India were 110 for 3 at one stage, a fourth-wicket stand of 78 between Sandeep Patil (who fell off the last ball for a 55-ball 43) and Gavaskar took India to 188 for 4 from 46 overs. This meant that only five Indians batted in the tournament, and the openers were the only ones to bat twice.

There was a curious incident during the match. Qadir had bowled out with figures of 10-3-36-0, but the umpires — Dickie Bird and Herbi Felsinger — miscounted the number of overs. As a result Qadir started his 11th over and even bowled two balls (off which Patil scored a run) when the scorer brought the incident to the umpire’s eyes. The balls (and the run) were annulled, and Shahid Mahboob was called on to bowl.

India and Sri Lanka had won one match each, which meant that not only did Pakistan need to win, but they had to score their runs quickly. Since runs per wicket (and not run rate) was the determining factor, a win would give Pakistan second place. India had already out up an unassailable 71.25; even if Pakistan won by 10 wickets the best they could have managed was 41.78. On the other hand, a one-wicket victory would have given them second spot (they would reach 20.89, which would take them past Sri Lanka’s 19.07).

Unfortunately, that was not to happen: Saadat fell early, and though Mudassar Nazar hung around, his 50-ball 13 slowed down the progress significantly. Mohsin scored a gritty 35, but barring him and Zaheer (27) nobody else reached 20. Pakistan were still in the fight at 125 for 4, but lost their last six wickets for nine runs and lost by 54 runs. There were four run outs and two stumpings, which perhaps tells the story.

Surinder, with 107 runs (being dismissed once) at a strike rate of 76 and three dismissal, was an easy contender for Man of the Series. He became richer by $5,000, no mean amount given the era. The prize money was quite substantial: India won $50,000, Sri Lanka $30,000, and Pakistan $20,000.

R Mohan wrote on Sportstar: “Surinder Khanna emerged from the tournament not as a new find who came good but as one whose talent was rediscovered. That he dons the ‘keeping gloves too became a team selection expediency. Kirmani was kept out but the team was none the worse for it, for its later order batting capabilities were never used.”

What followed?

– Sharjah CA Stadium has hosted most ODIs than any other ground in the world. At the time of writing this article they have hosted 218. SCG (151), MCG (144), Premadasa (116), and Harare Sports Club are the only other grounds to have hosted a hundred or more ODIs at the time of writing this article.

– In 2010, at the request of Bukhatir, Sharjah CA Stadium was declared the home ground of Afghanistan cricket team for international as well as domestic matches.

– Of the 12 editions of Asia Cup India have won five (including four in the top five), Sri Lanka five, and Pakistan two. Barring the three teams, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, UAE, and Afghanistan are the only other teams to have played Asia Cup cricket.

Brief scores:

India 188 for 4 in 46 overs (Surinder Khanna 56, Sandeep Patil 43) beat Pakistan 134 in 39.4 overs (Roger Binny 3 for 33, Ravi Shastri 3 for 40).

Man of the Match: Surinder Khanna.

(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor and Cricket Historian at CricketCountry. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)