The 1992 World Cup was one of the most memorable in history. It was the first World Cup to be played under artificial lights, colored clothing and a white ball. However, this was also a world cup marred by a stupid rain rule. In an effort to simplify the goal calculation, in case the game was shortened due to rain interruptions, the organizers really botched it with the most ridiculous rule ever seen. The absurdity of this rule was not realized until after the matches started and the rules were actually implemented. We are presenting one of those matches now. It was also the first and only World Cup in which the teams were not divided into groups and was therefore held in a round-robin fashion.

India reached the world cup after a dismal tour of Australia. They had lost the Test series 4-0 and were beaten extensively in the final of a triangular tournament by the host, the West Indies being the other team. The world cup was taking place at the end of that tour and the Indian team seemed to be demotivated. Before facing the Australians, India had already lost to England and their match against Sri Lanka was rained out.

Australia, on the other hand, went into the world cup as the firm favorites to lift the tournament in their own backyard. However, they started poorly and came into the match against India having lost their first two matches to New Zealand and South Africa.

Allan Border won the toss and chose to win. They started very badly. They were 2 for 38 at one stage when Dean Jones joined David Boon and the recovery began. The two brought the score to 102 with an impressive run between the wickets. After Boon fell for 43, Jones continued to further the Australian cause with partnerships first with Steve Waugh and then Tom Moody. However, the Australian innings fell apart after the sacking of Jones, putting India within a target of 238 runs.

To say that the Indian persecution began disastrously would be an understatement. Srikkanth went out for a duck when the team total was only six. The way Ravi Shastri beat later defied logic. When he came out, he had taken 75 balls for his 25 runs and the Indian total at that time was a paltry 58 with nearly half the overs already lost. Tendulkar was next and was dismissed for 11 trying to pick up the pace. Kapil Dev came on next and hit a quick 21 off 26 ball, providing a much-needed boost to the innings. When he left India he was still in a precarious position of 4 for 128.

Then came the superb partnership between Azharuddin and Sanjay Manjrekar. The two brought the score to 194 before Azharuddin departed for a well done 93. The partnership was broken in the only way that seemed possible, via a run. Then the rain began to play its role in the game. 3 overs were dropped from the Indian innings while only 2 runs were dropped from the goal. After the rainy interval, India continued to lose wickets as they inched towards the target.

Outside of the last ball, India needed 4 runs to win with 1 wicket in hand. Javagal Srinath was in front of the bowler with Venkatapathy Raju at the other end. To this day I vividly remember Bill Lawry’s commentary on that last dance as he watched it on television. Tom Moody launches the latest installment. Srinath delivers a powerful punch to the ball and hits it high and long. Bill Lawry yells “he’s a SIX!!!”. He starts jumping around like crazy (he was 14 at the time). But I suddenly froze when both Lawry and I realized that they weren’t going for six, but in fact going into the hands of Steve Waugh. Unbelievably, Waugh drops the catch. euphoria again!!! Waugh recovers quickly and shoots the ball to the goalkeeper’s end. Raju launches into the third run, which would make the match a draw. Lawry momentarily forgets that he is Australian and yells “RUN!!! RUN!!! RUN!!!” The cast is wide and everyone including me is praying for Raju to make a superman. But the goalie recovers quickly enough to get him out and I was left with the biggest heartbreak of my life. That was the first and only time. He had tears in his eyes after watching a cricket match. He just couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed!