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…………A Pakistani elegance trapped in bright sunny days

Sunil Gavaskar, an Indian legend, was known for his solid batting technique, capability to face formidable bowling attacks, and ability to make big scores. Sunny (nickname of Mr. Gavaskar) was truly a personification of concentration. However, the Little Master of India was seldom known as a competent bowler. While making tons of runs in both, test cricket and ODIs, this Indian opener could manage just one wicket in each format of the game. Coincidentally, on both occasions, the victim was one of the most elegant batsmen of Pakistan, Zaheer Abbas.

It happened like this… India was playing against Pakistan at Sialkot in a bilateral series in 1978. India, in a limited-over game, was bundled out cheaply for a mere 79 runs. This was an easy target for the home team, and as expected, it did not take much effort to level the scores for Pakistan. The host team was on 79 for the loss of just one wicket, and Zaheer Abbas was a couple of runs short of his half-century. Since the result was crystal clear, the Indian team did not hesitate to do some unpredictable experiments. The skipper asked Sunny to bowl the first over of his ODI career, and Zaheer Abbas smelled an opportunity to score a half-century with a winning stroke. This was the moment when Zaheer lost his concentration and threw his wicket on Gavaskar’s part-time bowling. Zaheer ended his fabulous inning by giving a straightforward catch on Gavaskar’s bowling.

After a week, in the same tour, both the teams were playing in a different format of the game, a test match. While the game was heading toward a boring draw at Faisalabad, the only fascination for Pakistani fans was the century of Zaheer Abbas. Zaheer Abbas made a classic 176 in the first innings and was at the crease on 96 in the second innings. There was an opportunity to score a ton in both innings for the Pakistani maestro. However, the memories of the past week were still haunting Zaheer, and this time again, the Indian skipper was spot on to bring Sunny into the bowling attack. History repeated as Zaheer tried to go over the fielder and bestowed a regulation catch. This time Mr. Abbas missed his century by four runs and disappointed Pakistani fans.

Thus, one of the finest Pakistani batsmen got trapped twice in bright Sunny Days. After missing a couple of milestones, Zaheer must have murmured, Ab-bas (that‘s enough) Sunny, It’s not funny.