Watch: In an ODI between Pakistan and India in 1989, India batter Kris Srikkanth was wrongly given out LBW against Waqar Younis, only to be graciously recalled by Pakistan captain Imran Khan.
The match, held in front of a packed crowd in Lahore, was a 40-over game that was reduced to 37 overs a side before play started. Batting first, Pakistan posted 150-8 with Javed Miandad top scoring with 30 off 52 balls. Manoj Prabhakar was the pick of India’s bowlers, taking 2-24 off his eight overs.
This was the final match of India’s long tour of Pakistan that featured four Test matches and four ODI’s. The Test series had been drawn 0-0 and going into the final match of the ODI series, Pakistan were 1-0 up having won the second game by seven wickets. The first and third matches had been abandoned due to rain and crowd disruption respectively.
India therefore needed to successfully chase Pakistan’s score of 150 in order to tie the series and finish their tour of Pakistan with a victory to their name.
However, their chase got off to a poor start as both Raman Lamba and Navjot Sidhu fell cheaply to leave India 18-2. For a while, Kris Srikkanth seemed to be restoring some stability to the innings as India reached 66-3. It was then that controversy struck.
Srikkanth, who played 146 ODIs for India between 1981 and 1992, was on 31 off 63 balls and on strike against Waqar Younis. Waqar bowled a length delivery that Srikkanth attempted to tuck into the leg-side only for the ball to strike his pad and trickle into the off-side.
As Pakistan appealed, Srikkanth set off for a single only to see the umpire raise his finger and adjudge him lbw. Srikkanth was aghast and immediately gestured to his bat in disbelief, certain that he had got an inside edge.
“[Srikkanth] shouldn’t be so disappointed,” mused the commentator. “He’s had his fair share of luck.”
However, as Srikkanth was walking off, Pakistan captain Imran Khan decided to call the Indian batter back in a move lauded for its sporting nature.
Having been afforded a second chance by the Pakistan captain, Srikkanth was unable to capitalise as, somewhat incredibly, he was dismissed again the very next ball. This time caught behind with no doubt surrounding the dismissal.
Srikkanth’s departure brought about an immediate collapse from the India lower middle order, as 66-4 became 82-8, any hope of an Indian victory quickly fading away.
The final wicket of the match was taken by Abdul Qadir as Pakistan sealed a 38 run victory and a 2-0 series win.
