India lose (PaKiSt)an exhibition match

Firstly, this was not a footnote – in my blog titled IPOD: Indo-Pak One-dayers (1978-), I had mentioned that the first One-day International, which was scheduled to be played at the Niaz Stadium, Peshawar, on December 16, 1989, was abandoned without a ball bowled owing to poor light.

And secondly, this was not even an ODI – Twenty20 is a legit format now, but that match was replaced by a 20-overs-a-side exhibition match, which was played to please the public.

So, here’s what happened in what could have been called the first Twenty20 International.

India (Shar)made half-a-dozen changes to their playing eleven – Mohinder Amarnath, Dilip Vengsarkar, Kapil Dev, Manoj Prabhakar, Chetan and Kiran More made way for Woorkeri Raman, Sachin Tendulkar, Vivek Razdan, Salil Ankola, Sanjay Manjrekar and Arshad Ayub.

Pakistan made four changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Aamer Malik, Ramiz Raja, Ijaz Ahmed and Akram Raza made way for Mansoor Akhtar, Saeed Anwar, Saleem Yousuf and Waqar Younis.

On winning the toss, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, India’s skipper, inserted the hosts.

Anwar didn’t open his account. Ankola broke the four-run stand.

Akhtar scored 53. He was caught by Maninder Singh off the bowling of Ajay Sharma, who broke the 132-run partnership.

Saleem Malik scored 75. He was caught by Tendulkar off the bowling of Ayub, who broke the one-run stand.

Wasim Akram, who faced four balls. He was caught by Razdan off the bowling of Srikkanth, who broke the three-run stand.

Imran Khan, Pakistan’s skipper, scored 13. He was unbeaten, as was Yousuf, who scored three.

India conceded nine extras. Pakistan scored 157 for the loss of four wickets off 20 overs.

Tendulkar, who bowled a wicketless over, conceded nine.

Razdan, who bowled a couple of wicketless overs, conceded 11.

Maninder, who bowled four wicketless overs, conceded 27.

Ankola bowled a couple of overs, including a maiden. He conceded three, picking up a wicket.

Srikkanth, who bowled three overs, conceded 24. He picked up a wicket.

Ayub and Ajay bowled four overs, conceding 41, each, picking up a wicket apiece.

Raman Lamba scored 26. He was caught by Anwar. Younis broke the 64-run partnership.

Ajay scored 14. He was caught by Anwar. Mushtaq broke the 15-run stand.

Raman scored 42. Mushtaq broke the nine-run stand.

Srikkanth, who scored 13. He was unbeaten, as was Tendulkar, who faced 18 balls, scoring 53.

Pakistan conceded five extras. India, who scored 153 for the loss of three wickets off 20 overs, lost by four runs.

Abdul Qadir, Akram, Aquib Javed, and Khan bowled four wicketless overs apiece. They conceded 44, 27, 26, and 17, respectively.

Younis, who bowled two overs, conceded 14. He picked up a wicket.

Mushtaq, who bowled two overs, conceded 23. He picked up two scalps.