Sport Today

Balwinder Singh Sandhu reminisces about the 1982-83 Pak tour and
warns Indians that the Pakistanis will do anything to win. He also
said that Miandad is a bad loser and should be ignored at all costs.
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'Expect no mercy; show no mercy'

Balwinder Singh Sandhu | March 10, 2004 17:34 IST

The media hype was missing for the India-Pakistan series in 1982/83,
but the overall environment was very similar. When we went out there,
the people were very hospitable. The hostility between India and
Pakistan is because of politicians; the normal Indians and Pakistanis
are the same.

I was lucky to get a chance to make my debut in the fourth Test of the
1982/83 series. Before the toss, Madan Lal reported unfit and it was
only then that I realized my time had come.

Imran Khan, at his peak, was bowling in-***s that had the
top-order batsmen in trouble at all times. Most of the batsmen, with
the exception of Mohinder Amarnath, were playing him on the back foot.

When I came in to bat, India were already seven wickets down at 72.
But I steeled myself to survive in the middle.

"Wrist toot jaye; Jo bhi ho jaye, Imran ko wicket nahi deni. He can
hurt me but he cannot get me out,"  [Sandhu top-scored for India with
71 off 88 balls, including 9 fours and 2 sixes]

Mohinder was batting well at the other end and he was a great help.
Every now and then he would come and speak a few encouraging words. He
inspired me. He was always like that: very supportive of the younger
players, making them comfortable and always helping whenever possible.

The wickets in Pakistan are flat and do not encourage bowlers. Added
to that, we had to get the Pakistani batsmen out caught in the slips
or bowled, because none of the close decisions went our way. The
umpiring was very biased.

I was batting with Mohinder, when I saw that Sarfaraz Nawaz was
over-stepping the crease by almost a foot. I brought this to the
umpire's attention by drawing a line with my bat.

So the next time, Sarfaraz over stepped, the umpire called out to him
and said, "Sarfi yaar ball todhi peeche se dal, tu no-ball dal raha
hai [Sarfaraz, you are bowling no-balls, bowl from a little behind]."

"Tu apna kaam kar [You do your work]," said a clearly annoyed Sarfaraz
within earshot.

To which the umpire retorted, "Main to kar raha hoon, par Sandhu dekh
raha hai [I am doing my job, but Sandhu is watching]."

During those days Imran did a great job of keeping the team together.
I saw the true picture of Pakistan cricket when Imran went off the
field to get some treatment on his shins. There were four former
captains in the side, Sarfaraz Nawaz, Abdul Qadir, Wasim Bari and
Javed Miandad. As soon as Imran was off the field, all of them started
trying to set the field. This went on for five minutes and so
frustrated was the umpire that he loudly said, "Yaar, ek captain bano
na bhai [Friends, let's have one captain]."

This is not the case today, as Inzamam-ul-Haq is a nice chap and a
very good cricketer too.

If there is one regret I have, then it is that we could not be as
aggressive as we should have been. That's because everyone was talking
about it being a goodwill tour and how it is important not to ruffle
feathers.

My advice to our cricketers who will be going to Pakistan later this
month: Expect no mercy; show no mercy.

The Pakistanis will do anything to win. They will try all methods; by
hook or by crook they will want to win. Woh kuch bhi kar sakte hai
[they are capable of doing anything] because this series means a lot
to them.

The matches will be interesting to watch and if India get on top, then
we must not allow Pakistan even a sniff of a chance. Even more
important: once on top, ignore Miandad. If they lose, he will get very
tough on the team. He is a bad loser and will start mouthing a lot of
stuff. Ignore him. The madder he gets, the better for us.

The Indian team should go and wish the man sitting next to Miandad,
but not wish him. He was a great cricketer, but if we wish to win we
must ignore him on and off the field.

There has been talk about naming the series after Kapil Dev and Imran.
But to me, personally, Kapil will always be the greater cricketer of
the two. Simply because he never tampered with the ball; he always
played fair.
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Balwinder Singh Sandhu, a member of India's 1983 World Cup-winning
team, spoke to Ashish Magotra.

P.S.: Can we find a man more hated by Indians than Miandad? You won't
find a single Indian who has a kind word to say about him.

Whose statement is this? Sandhu's? or yours?

CiL
Who quite likes Miandad.. SMG has lots of nice words to say on him,
Even Kiran more who had that spat with him said he really respects
Miandad a lot and even that evening in the WC after the match, went
out with Miandad..

Miandad has his priorities all screwed up (no pun).  He should learn
something from Yuvraj Singh, and consider going out with Steffi.

Cheers, Shishir

i don't dislike miandad either. i just don't see him as being in the same class
as chappell, richards and gavaskar.

--
stay cool,
Spaceman Spiff

Well it sounds so sweet I had to take me a chance,
I rose out of me seat Lord, I had to dance,
Started moving my feet, well a clapping my hands.

Let alone now that he has retired, even in his playing days Miandad
had several fans in India who idolized him. Growing up, I knew at
least one guy who always wanted to "be" Miandad when we played
backyard cricket and tried to mimic JM's characteristics.

-Samarth.

  Did he try to mimic Miandad's "Kangaroo Jump" in that '92 World Cup
  game against India?

  Allan

So it was ur statement then. and Alan, just cos u didnt like him, u
thought all indians will hate him?:-)

I know many a guy like me who used to like this wonderful character.
we used to hate his guts out as a batsman! and always wanted him out
and celebrated wildly when he was removed but thats got nothing to do
with hate. He was loved a quite a bit by us.

And nothing wrong if somebody mimicked that jump, after all Kiran more
himself forgot it immediately pos t the match and it was a nice humour
moment actually to quite a few of us watching, we laughed, unlike say
Aamir Sohail - Venky spat in the other wc.

+++++ Kiran More in a interview to cricinfo ++++++++++++++
It was a pressure game and we were doing very well. We scored 200 plus
runs. An India-Pakistan game is always competitive. He tried to
imitate me and there were a few verbal exchanges. I also gave him back
to him. It's always a tough game. Because of TV I think it looks big
and it was quite popular worldwide. I thought he was very close to
being caught down the legside off Sachin's bowling. That's when I
appealed and he did not like it but if you see the action replay of
the catch, I think he was out caught behind. But I rate him one of the
best batsmen I've ever come across. He plays for his team 110%, that's
how you have to play for your country, and I also give 110% for my
country. I've got very high regard for him. After the end of the day's
play we were friends together and went out for dinner. He's quite a
friendly person and I have nothing against him at all.
++++++++++++++

As SMG said recently in that lecture of his

++++++++++++++
Javed Miandad was another with a sharp sense of humour. In fact, he
was one of those rare species of batsmen who talked to the bowlers.
Remember, I said "talked" and not "talked back". He would do anything
to get under the skin of the bowlers and work it to his advantage. In
a Test match at Bangalore, he was batting against Dilip Doshi, who was
one of the hardest bowlers to hit. Javed had tried everything - the
drive, the cut, the sweep and even going down the pitch to the crafty
left arm spinner - but he simply wasn't able to get him away.
Suddenly, in the middle of a fresh over, Javed started asking Dilip
his room number.

This went on every other ball and even when he was at the
non-striker's end. After some time, Doshi, who was making a comeback
to the side, and so was concentrating *** his bowling, couldn't
take it anymore and exasperatedly asked him why he wanted his room
number - to which Javed replied "Because I want to hit you for a six
in your room". Now those who have been to Bangalore - and know how far
the hotel is from the ground - know what an impossibility it was. Yet
it worked: Doshi, anticipating Javed to give him the rush down the
wicket, bowled it short, and Javed gleefully pulled it to the boundary
and added for good measure that he was bowling from the wrong end,
else he would make good on his promise.

Nobody minds such banter: in fact, it adds to the stories of the game.
But all this banter was always a small part of the game and happened
may be a couple of the times during five days of cricket and not just
every other over, as is happening today.
++++++++++++++++

star poster in Sportstar, couple of issues ago was SMG n Miandad
http://SportToday.org/

====

+++++
....After a day's play was over, I watched the teams go through
fitness routines. Dusk was falling and of course, this wasn't live on
TV but I wish it was. I was standing around hoping to get an interview
with one of the players when I heard a squeaky but commanding
voice"Sunny Bhai", it saidIt was Pakistan coach Javed Miandad
seeking out his old rival and fellow legend Sunil Gavaskar who had
just finished commentary.

Gavaskar heard him of-course and walked over to him. "Yeh lo aapka
packet", Javed said. What was in it, I wondered. After the two shared
a joke, Javed resumed his coaching duties and Gavaskar walked back. In
the packet was a special "supari" (bettle-nut), found only in
Miandad's home-town which his wife had specially sent for Gavaskar. It
happened to be Gavaskar's favourite. Obviously, they had shared many
of these packets before and probably continue to do so now. These are
two supposedly bitter foes! Next day, Sunil Gavaskar pulled some out
in the commentary box, chewed it and said, " Bless Mrs. Miandad".

++++ From
http://SportToday.org/

CiL

  I guess it was a mistake on my part to be too judgmental of Miandad.
  But many of my friends in Mumbai hold similar opinions abt Miandad.
  Could it be bcoz of his batting, or the fact that he is a perennial India
  baiter? Don't know why, but I don't have the same respect and admiration
  for Miandad that I hold for Imran Khan or Wasim Akram.

  Although I didn't like him very much, I definitely would celebrate
  when he got out!! Wonder how many times he has taken Pakistan to victory
  in tense Indo-Pak situations?

  Yes, I too enjoyed that jump and had a hearty laugh. In fact, Foster's
  featured that jump in their TV ads with a caption - "Jump like a Kangaroo"
  or something like that.

Yeah, I also knew people who liked Imran (even knowing he was a
ball-tamperer and all) and hated Miandad. Although, before the
match-fixing scandal, I didn't know any male in India who didn't like
Wasim Akram. The women didn't like him at all because he was supposed
to be Imran's successor as a player and as er... a player, and they
didn't think he was nearly as much of a hunk as the real deal.

Probably not as many times as Ganguly has done it against Pakistan,
I'd be willing to bet. In two years, he won 8 MoMs in ODOs vs.
Pakistan in different parts of the world. And in the Delhi test in
which Kumble bagged all 10 in Pakistan's 2nd innings, it was Ganguly's
century partnership with Srinath that really put the game out of
Pakistan's reach. It was his 60-odd that made a 280-ish target into
420. The frustration among the Pakistanis during that partnership was
palpable, because Ganguly just hung in there through sheer
determination, being unable to handle Akram's pace and being unable to
read Saqlain's spin.

Yeah, recall that ad vaguely.

-Samarth.

Nah. It was the Miandad of the 80s the guys I'm talking about adored.
The Miandad of the 90s was someone they didn't recognize. They made
fun of the way he struggled against India, in making a match-losing
40-odd, in that game, and continued poking fun at him through the 90s.

Kapil in the 90s >>> Miandad in the 90s, and some people here say
Kapil was too old and crappy by that time...

-Samarth.