1. Match 3 of Asia Cup 1984
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, UAE
6 Cricketers Who Gave Up Their Profession To Play Cricket
It was the the inaugural edition of the Asia Cup and India emerged triumphant by defeating Pakistan in a low-scoring affair at Sharjah on 13th April, 1984. The week-long tournament (then called the Rothman’s Asia Cup) had three teams participating: India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and after each team played each other once in a round robin format India were declared champions by virtue of winning both their matches. In the game against Pakistan, wicket-keeper Surinder Khanna top-scored with 56 opening the batting and handy contributions from Sunil Gavaskar (36) and Sandeep Patil (43) helped India pile up a total of 188/4 at the end of 46 overs.
Mushtaq Ahmed’s all-time playing XI
The total, though apparently below-par, provided a steep chase for the Pakistani batsmen as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were never able to forge a significant partnership that would lay the groundwork for a Pakistani victory. All of Pakistan’s top five batsmen recorded double digit scores, yet none was able to convert his start into an innings of substantial stature. Amusingly, four Pakistani batsmen were involved in run outs and what further compounded the pressure on them was some extremely parsimonious bowling by the Indian bowlers. Roger Binny and Ravi Shastri in particular were the stars for India with the ball as they returned with three wickets each. Pakistan eventually capitulated to 134, thereby handing India a win by 54 runs and their maiden Asia Cup title.
