My memories of the India-Pakistan 1996 quarter finals as a 10 year old kid

Prasad gets Sohail just in time

This happened the next ball after Aamer Sohail pointed fingers at Venkatesh Prasad

Their discussion was not yet finished when Prasad bowled Sohail off the very next delivery and there was a sudden change of atmosphere Bangalore as well as in the house. My meagre understanding of the game told me that this was a very big wicket.

From then on, Indian bowlers kept chipping in with wickets at regular intervals. My elders probably had the 1986 Sharjah match in mind in which Javed Miandad with a last ball six had single-handedly won the match for Pakistan.

So, although Indians were in the driver’s seat; it was not until Miandad’s run-out that celebrations actually started in the house. After his wicket, Anil Kumble took care of the tail and Pakistan eventually scored 248 runs to lose the match by 39 runs.

The grand celebrations and a memory to cherish forever

Till now fireworks had meant Diwali for me. But as soon as India won the match, fireworks started in the neighbourhood although it was still some months to go before Diwali. My father and uncle decided to take a tour of the city to take a stock of the celebrations.

So, we set out in our Maruti 800 to witness the celebrations across Mumbai. One of my cousins also managed to get an Indian flag which added flavour to our celebrations. It seemed as though the entire city was celebrating. There were slogans like “Lahore mein bhi jeetega” (We will win in Lahore too) as the final of the World Cup was to be played in Lahore.

What we had forgotten was that there was a semi-final to be played before the team could travel to Lahore for the finals. Sadly, India lost the semi-finals to eventual champions Sri Lanka and the World Cup dream was shattered.

It has been 20 years since that eventful day in the March of 1996 but the memory of the match and the entire euphoria around it is still clear in my mind as though it happened yesterday.

It was my first taste of an India-Pakistan encounter and it had lived up to its expectation. The two countries have played a number of memorable matches since then and will probably play many more in future, but this particular match will always hold a special place in my heart.