Every international team fixed matches in 1990s: Condon

[ganeshran]

Sachin's innings was masterclass :(( It was heartbreaking to see his dismissal and the subsequent collapse.

[Cricket Tragic]

We fielded first because SL destroyed us in Delhi chasing. They did the same against England in the quarters as well. Teams were scared of bowling second against them back then. The curator assured the team that the wicket would stay firm right through but it didn't.

[Talwar]

Now kambli is in politics it seems he has realaised that he should stay in the news often to get people's attention..:two_thumbs_up:

[maniac]

I have so many memories of the match The dangerous Lankan openers dismissed for nothing,Arvinda Desilva playing an innings that broke my heart as a fan but as a cricket lover one needs to admit it was a brilliant gem of an innings, After that I remember Sachin's innings and Azhar out in a ridiculous fashion...Since,this was back in the mid 90's and the way the wickets fell it does look suspicious to me. I also remember Kambli's tears and the guy holding the congrats Srilanka sign which made him a mini-celebrity I think

[zen]

i doubt the players would fix a WC SF game (in bilateral, tri-series, etc, it is believeble) .... but yeah, it was a wrong decision to bowl first, which was probably based on how SL was chasing down the targets in that tourney

[Manny_Pacquiao]

We fielded first because SL destroyed us in Delhi chasing. They did the same against England in the quarters as well. Teams were scared of bowling second against them back then. The curator assured the team that the wicket would stay firm right through but it didn't.

azharuddin was well aware of how the pitch would fall apart as the match went on. he still chose to field, and said it was a team decision. nobody knows if that was the case though. india were 8/10, sri lanka 11/10 to win that semi.

[zen]

azharuddin was well aware of how the pitch would fall apart as the match went on. he still chose to field, and said it was a team decision. nobody knows if that was the case though. india were 8/10, sri lanka 11/10 to win that semi.

The way Kambli is speaking out, it doesn't seem like a "team's decision" to bowl first ɸickets1-8 (Sidhu), 2-98 (Tendulkar), 3-99 (Azharuddin), 4-101 (Manjrekar), 5-110 (Srinath), 6-115 (Jadeja), 7-120 (Mongia), 8-120 (Kapoor). Can someone post the highlights of the fall of wkts, should be interesting the watch .... I did follow the tourney but don't recall the details

[Talwar]

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[bulbul]

You watched that match yet doesn't remember Sachin's innings? too bad :(

for me Country is little bit bigger than any individual... :winky:

[SachDan]

Anyone remember Azhar's dismissal in that match and nonchalantly he walked back to dressing room? It was the first thing that struck me while reading Prabhakar's allegations of match-fixings in indian cricket in the Outlook few months later.

[Cricket Tragic]

azharuddin was well aware of how the pitch would fall apart as the match went on. he still chose to field, and said it was a team decision. nobody knows if that was the case though. india were 8/10, sri lanka 11/10 to win that semi.

Tbh, no one expected the wicket to crumble like it did. Even Jaya was turning it square from over the wicket. I remember there being talk about the pitch before the game - like there usually is before a big game - and the curator said that it will hold up for 100 overs. That and the way SL raped us in Delhi contributed to the decision.

[Precambrian]

Well, a lot of incidents which went "unnoticed" due to the controversy surrounding the crowd anger, now look suspicious: 1. It was a D/N match. Eden started hosting D/L matches since Hero Cup, and India had played 3 D/Ns there, (including the famous Sachin 3-run over one), winning all the 3 batting first. Spinners had run riot in the second innings in all these matches as well. 2. We definitely expected the pitch to spin. We even opened with Kumble bowling first! 3. Ajay Jadeja, who prior to the SF, had bowled just 12 overs in 6 matches, went on to bowl 5 expensive overs (going at over 6 per over), while Javagal Srinath who had figures of 3/34 bowled just 7 overs! 4. Sachin had bowled 26 overs prior to that match but had gone wicketless, got a full quota of 10 overs. But as he has always done in crunch situations came out on top not only being frugal but also with 2 wickets as well (10-1-34-2)! Possibly putting a spanner in the works ;) 5. Now coming to the batting, we were certainly going well at 98-1 when we lost Tendulkar (in the 23rd over). In a jiffy we lost Azhar and Manju, and were certainly struggling at 104-4 (26.2 overs). We had reasonable amount of overs left and it called for a bit of consolidation and get a partnership going. We certainly had players capable of doing that in Kambli, Jadeja and Mongia. But who comes in at 4 down? It is Javagal Srinath!! Who till that match had a bounty of 19 runs from 2 innings with a HS of 12*!!! 6. Not that Jadeja & Mongia did any better. Srinath came and went quickly. Jadeja prodded around for a 11 ball duck, Mongia was slightly better 1 from 8 balls. Between the tainted trio of Azhar, Jadeja & Mongia, they scored a grand total of 1 run from 22 balls in that match.

[SachDan]

If there ever was a match turning on it's head after a particular batsman's dismissal, this was it !! Oh well no, few more instances comes to mind readily..India vs Australia at Sharjah 1998 (desert storm match)..India vs Pakis at Chennai 1999..India vs Australia at Hyderabad (2009)..feel free to add :)

[Manny_Pacquiao]

good observations there ^ azhar, jadeja and mongia screwed up big time. their decisions and performances should come under scrutiny. we will never know what really happened tho. the manner in which azhar got out was a disgrace. it was totally unlike him as well.

[yadhav500]

We fielded first because SL destroyed us in Delhi chasing. They did the same against England in the quarters as well. Teams were scared of bowling second against them back then. The curator assured the team that the wicket would stay firm right through but it didn't.

From what I've heard over the past few years, this is the reason.

[Precambrian]

Yes, not just Azhar. If one goes by the highlights, when Jadeja was bowled off a lazy sweep shot, the commentator remarked, "He never looked comfortable out there". Mongia's shot was even worse. Underutilisation of Srinath, who sent back both Jaya and Kalu, in the bowling department, but overconfidence in him with the bat, with zilch in the cup to substantiate for that, look the wierdest of them all, imho.

[daryl1985]

Well, a lot of incidents which went "unnoticed" due to the controversy surrounding the crowd anger, now look suspicious: 1. It was a D/N match. Eden started hosting D/L matches since Hero Cup, and India had played 3 D/Ns there, (including the famous Sachin 3-run over one), winning all the 3 batting first. Spinners had run riot in the second innings in all these matches as well. 2. We definitely expected the pitch to spin. We even opened with Kumble bowling first! 3. Ajay Jadeja, who prior to the SF, had bowled just 12 overs in 6 matches, went on to bowl 5 expensive overs (going at over 6 per over), while Javagal Srinath who had figures of 3/34 bowled just 7 overs! 4. Sachin had bowled 26 overs prior to that match but had gone wicketless, got a full quota of 10 overs. But as he has always done in crunch situations came out on top not only being frugal but also with 2 wickets as well (10-1-34-2)! Possibly putting a spanner in the works ;) 5. Now coming to the batting, we were certainly going well at 98-1 when we lost Tendulkar (in the 23rd over). In a jiffy we lost Azhar and Manju, and were certainly struggling at 104-4 (26.2 overs). We had reasonable amount of overs left and it called for a bit of consolidation and get a partnership going. We certainly had players capable of doing that in Kambli, Jadeja and Mongia. But who comes in at 4 down? It is Javagal Srinath!! Who till that match had a bounty of 19 runs from 2 innings with a HS of 12*!!! 6. Not that Jadeja & Mongia did any better. Srinath came and went quickly. Jadeja prodded around for a 11 ball duck, Mongia was slightly better 1 from 8 balls. Between the tainted trio of Azhar, Jadeja & Mongia, they scored a grand total of 1 run from 22 balls in that match.

:WTF:

[maniac]

As I said earlier Azhar's dismissal was weird but we shouldn't take anything away from Desilva's innings,that probably was one of the higlights of the match. But yes having guys like Azhar,Jadeja,Mongia and Kapoor in the squad is very shady considering their performance in that game.

[carnish]

Jadeja got a cracker of a delivery from jaya.... but azhar's dismissal was soft

[Precambrian]

:WTF:

That is enlightening