MULTAN, 2 April 2004 — India succeeded in wrapping up their historic Test match against Pakistan in the first two overs of day five at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
“It’s just fantastic,” said India’s captain Rahul Dravid after registering the first victory against Pakistan in Pakistan.
Just two overs in the morning, the first by Anil Kumble and the second by Irfan Pathan, decided the outcome.
Yousuf Yohanna, 107 overnight, added only five more runs before attempting a hook shot to a bouncer from Irfan.
The ball took the top edge, giving Rahul Dravid an easy catch at square leg to wrap up the Pakistani second innings at 216.
The margin of victory was an innings and 52 runs.
This was the second highest victory margin by an Indian side against Pakistan. The last had been by an innings and 70 runs in the first Test in New Delhi in the 1951-52 series.
This was also the seventh overseas win by India in the last three years.
With the result of the match a foregone conclusion, the only issue that was expected to raise any interest here was the timing of Dravid’s declaration. As expected Dravid was quizzed about this in the post-match press conference.
“We discussed this matter among ourselves, and there were no differences within the team,” he said. “ Sachin Tendulkar has been a great motivator.” he added. Terming the victory as a “special achievement”, Dravid said, “I was privileged to lead this team.”
“This win is special for me and the team because this is the first in Pakistan, which has been one of the few countries where we had not won. The other, I think, is South Africa,” he said.
“It is also the combination of sheer talent, quality of players, the structure of the game in India, and the resurgent domestic cricket that has helped make this team such a great one,” he said.
Dravid did express surprise at the ease with which India won.
“This does not take anything away from the players. It is a credit to the way Kumble, Irfan and Balaji bowled, with our part-timers, Sachin, Sehwag and Yuvraj stepping in when Zaheer was injured. The experience of Kumble also told and the way he stuck to the task was admirable,” he said.
When asked whether he expected the Lahore wicket to be livelier, he said: “We’ll be happy to play on any kind of wicket. There is lot of cricket left in the series and Pakistan will be trying to make a comeback in the next two Tests. For that we have to play better to win the series.”
Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq also echoed this sentiment.
“We have identified the areas of our weakness and will work to rectify it,” he said. He laid the blame squarely on the bowlers for this inept performance.
“We have been preparing our pitches over the years. And we have won on these. So blaming the wicket for this loss is unwise. Our bowlers did not perform. Had they bowled like the Indian bowlers then maybe we could have made a match of it,” he said.
He, however, refused to comment on the make-up of the team for the next Test, saying that players who do not perform will not find a place in the team.
Inzamam said the advantage now lay with India, especially after their victory in the One-Day series and now in the first Test.
He concluded that India’s mammoth total in the end decided the issue.
A point, which Dravid concurred with. However, Dravid said that he would not pinpoint the turning point of the game. “Everything worked. First Sehwag’s fabulous triple century, then his big partnership with Tendulkar, and Yuvraj’s knock followed by our bowlers sticking to it,” he said.
When repeatedly pressed, he added: “In my opinion the run out of Inzamam in the second innings did weigh heavily in our favor.”
India had kept a nagging length throughout Pakistan’s batting and Irfan Pathan hit the seam superbly while Kumble led the bowling attack, finishing with sterling figures of six for 72 in the second innings.
Virender Sehwag was his dashing self after accepting the Man-of-the-Match award, saying that he was happy that his effort helped the team win and hoped to keep on scoring.
When told that Inzamam was all praise for his square cut, Sehwag said: “That’s my natural shot.”
Inzamam had been quoted as saying that no other player packs so much power in this shot.
While India was celebrating, Pakistan wicket keeper Moin Khan was given the additional bad news of being fined 70 percent of his match earnings by the match referee for showing dissent after being given lbw by umpire Simon Taufel.
Indian cricketers celebrate their maiden Test victory in Pakistan after they won the first match of the current series by an innings and 52 runs in Multan on Thursday. (AFP)
