After defeating Pakistan in their own backyard in both the Test and ODI series in 2004, the Men in Blue endured a tough time of it when Pakistan came to India in 2005. India drew the 3-match Test series 1-1 and followed that up with an embarrassing 4-2 defeat in the 6-match ODI series, despite winning the first two ODIs.
India were eager to bounce back when they visited Pakistan in early 2006 but lost the three-match Test series 1-0 and began the ODI series with a seven-run defeat in the first match at Peshawar. However, they fought back in the second ODI at Rawalpindi to beat Pakistan by seven wickets and level the series 1-1.
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The third ODI of the series was held on this very day eleven years ago at Lahore, and Indian skipper Rahul Dravid opted to send Inzamam ul-Haq’s side in to bat first, after winning the toss for the first time in the ODI series.
Pakistan‘s poor start followed by the innings-saving partnership between Shoaib Malik and Abdul Razzaq
India got off to a flyer with the wicket of Salman Butt (who made his second successive duck of the series after getting a century in the first ODI) in the very second ball of the innings which was followed by the wickets of Afridi, Akmal and Mohammad Yousuf to leave Pakistan struggling at 82/4.
Shoaib Malik was looking good at the crease but he did not get enough assistance from his teammates at the other end and soon, Pakistan were 158/6. At this point, Abdul Razzaq came in to join Malik and the duo stabilised Pakistan’s innings by putting up a partnership of 86 for the seventh wicket.
Malik continued his good form in the series by registering a third successive 90+ score before being dismissed for a brilliant 108 off 120 deliveries.
Razzaq added the finishing touches to the innings and ended unbeaten on 64 from just 56 deliveries as Pakistan put up a strong total of 288 in their 50 overs. Irfan Pathan and RP Singh were the pick of the Indian bowlers, picking up three wickets each and conceding 49 and 51 runs respectively.
India’s poor start followed by Tendulkar and Yuvraj’s 105-run partnership
In reply, India got off to a horrible start as they lost Gautam Gambhir and Irfan Pathan to Mohammad Asif within the first three overs and were struggling at 12/2. However, India’s talisman, Sachin Tendulkar, took center-stage and revived the innings by building partnerships of 62 and 105 with skipper Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh, respectively, before being dismissed by Abdul Razzaq for 95 in the 34th over.
After Mohammad Kaif was dismissed for a duck by Umar Gul, Yuvraj Singh was joined at the crease by MS Dhoni. By that time, Yuvraj had already reached his half-century, which was his second consecutive one of the series. Dhoni did not begin flashily but kept the scoreboard ticking by picking up quick ones and twos.
The match-winning partnership
As the asking rate crossed seven, the duo cranked their game up a notch and began to deal only in boundaries, with Dhoni, in particular, taking a liking to the bowling. The Ranchi-born batsman smashed boundary after boundary while Yuvraj played in a very sensible manner at the other end.
The duo went on to add 102 runs for the sixth wicket from just 78 deliveries as India won the match with 14 balls to spare, thus taking a 2-1 lead in the series. Dhoni eventually ended with 72 off just 46 deliveries, hitting 13 boundaries in the process. Yuvraj, meanwhile, amassed 79 off 87 deliveries with 10 boundaries to his name.
Musharraf’s advice to Dhoni
Dhoni was adjudged the Man of the Match for his quickfire knock. However, one of the most memorable moments of the day came when then-Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf approved of Dhoni’s hairstyle and advised him not to cut it.
Musharraf said, “May I tell Dhoni that I saw a placard asking you to have a haircut but if you were to take my opinion, you look good in this haircut; don’t have a haircut,” to which Dhoni responded with a simple thumbs up.
The match was an exciting affair and Musharraf’s post-match comments regarding Dhoni’s hair added to the entertainment.
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