Watch: When the Indian team refused to win

The latest biopic release of former Indian cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin ‘Azhar’ has received mixed reactions from the audience. While the disclaimer in the movie clearly stated that some scenes are fictional, there were others inspired from the life of Mohammad Azharuddin.

Some movie reviews alleged that the movie was made to glorify the tainted hero of a nation and the match scenes are largely fictional. Agreeing partially to the fact, the last match shown in the movie never really took place and hence is a work of fiction. However, the match shown between India and West Indies, where Manoj Prabhakar has been depicted as the player who played selfishly, is a true one.

India played West Indies at Kanpur on 30 October 1994 when the Indian team actually refused to win. India were cruising at one stage but lost due to inexplicable spur of events that perspired. The 4^th ODI of the Wills World Series saw India winning the toss and opting to field first.

The West Indies team had a good start with Phil Simmons plundering 65 runs. Riding on Keith Arthurton’s knock of 72 in the middle order saw West Indies post 257/6 in their 50 overs. Interestingly, India’s strike bowler Manoj Prabhakar went for 50 runs in 6 overs at an economy of 8.33!

The Indian run chase began and in walked Manoj Prabhakar to open the innings with Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin looked good for his 34 before being dismissed. Mohammad Azharuddin, too, played well for his 31. What perspired after his dismissal was a series of events that potentially shook the Indian cricket.

Manoj Prabhakar showed horrible running and made erroneous calls to run out three batsmen, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Vinod Kambli and Ajay Jadeja. However, the game was still not away from the reach of Indians.  India had required 63 from 54 balls when Jadeja got out; the next four overs saw only five runs being added. The last five saw eleven more.

India succumbed to 46-run defeat and ended on 211/5 in their 50 overs. Prabhakar reached his second ton but took 154 balls to score his 102 runs. Nayan Mongia played an excruciatingly slow innings of 4 in 21 balls. One might say it was a missed opportunity, but the worst part was that neither of the two players tried. India had the game in their reach but gave it away. Earlier in the match too, Mongia put on an ordinary wicket-keeping display and missed on a few run out opportunities.

Manoj Prabhakar carried his bat through the innings with an unbeaten century but left many questions left unanswered with his batting. Watch the video here: