When India won the 1996 World Cup quarter-final against Pakistan at Bangalore, the celebrations were as though India had already won the World Cup. Everybody was talking about the finals to be played at Lahore. The fans had forgotten that there was a semi-final to be played prior to that against a Sri Lankan team who had been the talking point of the World Cup for their attacking strategy in the first 15 overs.
The Indians began well in the semi-finals and had the Sri Lankans three down for only 35 runs on the board. But the Lankans recovered well courtesy an aggressive half-century from Aravinda de Silva and ended up scoring 251 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in the allotted 50 overs.
At 98-1, the Indians looked on track to reach Lahore. But the fall of Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket triggered a collapse and Indians were staring defeat at 120-8 in the 35th over. This sudden fall of wickets did not go down too well with the emotional Eden Gardens crowd and the match could not be completed due to the crowd disturbance. The match was finally awarded to Sri Lanka, and what was going to be a day to celebrate for the Indian fans turned out to be a day to forget for the entire nation.
Sri Lanka went on to win the World Cup and announced their arrival on the cricketing stage as a formidable team. But have you ever thought what would have happened if India had won that World Cup?
Read: What if Sreesanth dropped that 2007 World Cup, Also: What if India never won the 1983 World Cup
It is said that in cricket, or for that matter in any sport, there is no space for “ifs and buts”. The fact will remain that India did not make it through till Lahore.
But in the third edition of SK What if, for academic purposes, here is an attempt to see how different the history of Indian cricket would have been if India had won that match at the Eden Gardens and also the finals at Lahore.
1. Vinod Kambli & Sachin Tendulkar would have remained the Jai & Veeru of Indian cricket
One image that every Indian cricket fan of the 1990s will remember is that of a crying Vinod Kambli when the match was awarded to Sri Lanka. Although the Indians were struggling at 120-8 when the crowd trouble started, one got the impression that Kambli thought he could have won the match on his own.
If that had actually happened, Kambli would have become the poster boy of Indian cricket. His cricketing career would not have met with the sad end that it eventually did, and he may not have needed to get into talk shows to remain in the limelight. And more importantly, he might have continued his friendship with Sachin Tendulkar.
The two could have become the Jai & Veeru of Indian cricket. Subhash Ghai would have made a movie on their story and on their coach Ramakant Archekar titled – “Mere do anmol ratan – Ek hai Tendulkar aur ek Kambli”.
2. Azhar, the movie, would have been about India’s most successful captain – and not about match-fixing
Until the time Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni came into the picture, Mohammad Azharuddin was easily the most successful Indian captain. It was only after the semi-final loss that people started questioning Azhar, and by the end of 1996 Sachin Tendulkar replaced him as the Indian skipper.
However, if India had won that semi-final against Sri Lanka and the World Cup, Indian cricket may not have had to go through the match-fixing saga. Although the charges against Azhar were not proved, a vast section of Indians still feel that he betrayed the nation. In any case, the entire cricketing world was engulfed in a sordid match-fixing controversy at the turn of the century, and it took a long time for the sport to regain the trust of the fans.
Well, all that may not have happened if India would have become world champions in 1996. The status that Azhar would have got after winning the World Cup would have been unimaginable. And the recently released movie ‘Azhar’ would not have been about match-fixing but about India’s most successful captain. The poster of the movie would have been a smiling Azhar with the World Cup trophy in his hands.
3. Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore would have been gifted to India as a goodwill gesture by Pakistan
Ever since the partition in 1947, the relationship between India and Pakistan has been one of mistrust and hatred. The two estranged neighbours have fought wars aplenty, and it still looks like a distant dream when the situation returns back to normalcy.
But imagine what could have happened if India had won the 1996 tournament on Pakistani soil. The crowd would not have been too pleased and there could have been some crowd violence too. But given the magnitude of the occasion, the then Prime Minister of Benazir Bhutto could have won many hearts and votes.
She too, like any other Pakistani, would have been disappointed to see their arch-rival being crowned as champions. So in a bid to gain some brownie points from the international community, she could have given the Gaddafi stadium to India.
The explanation she would have given to her fellow countrymen would have been that Pakistan would not keep a piece of land which had helped their rivals become world champions. In this way, on one hand at home she would have shown that Pakistanis are too proud to keep a land which betrayed them, and on the other hand in international forums it would have been seen as a goodwill gesture.
4. Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli would not have carried Sachin Tendulkar on their shoulders after the 2011 World Cup
When India won the 2011 World Cup, man of the tournament Yuvraj Singh said that the victory was for Sachin Tendulkar. Batsman Virat Kohli added that Tendulkar had carried the burden of expectations for too long, and as a tribute to the man they carried him on their shoulders for the victory lap.
But imagine if India had won the World Cup in 1996 itself. Sachin may not have even played the 2011 World Cup and even if he had played, the victory would not have been that special as he would have already experienced the feeling of being a world champion before.
Yes, Tendulkar would have been happy even after the 2011 victory, but he might not have been that emotional. So Kohli and Yuvraj wouldn't have felt the need to carry Tendulkar on their shoulders for the victory lap, thus denying Indian fans one of the most iconic images in the history of the sport.
5. Shane Warne would have got nightmares about Tendulkar hitting him for sixes in 1996 itself
Sachin Tendulkar was in tremendous form in the 1996 World Cup, to put it mildly. He was the highest scorer of the tournament, and in the league match against Australia at his home ground in Bombay (now Mumbai), he had scored a flawless 90.
Given his liking for the Australian bowling, he would have definitely gone for the kill in the final at Lahore. And Shane Warne, who had admitted after the 1998 Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah that he got nightmares about Tendulkar hitting him for sixes, could have got these nightmares earlier.
A punishing hundred from Tendulkar in the World Cup final would have been enough for Warne to get some serious nightmares about the little champion. Warne would be thankful that the now famous ‘Desert Storm’ happened two years later, and he had two more years of peaceful sleep.
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