Thank you Kohli, for avenging Miandad's 1986 sixer

Kolkata: In 1986, when our national equilibrium was shattered by Javed Miandad’s last ball sixer in Sharjah, I was just an early teenager. That was a scar which set back Indian Cricket by years, as per Kapil Dev, and devastated the morale of many peers, and I have sufficient anecdotal evidence. 

For those millennials who always seem to know but are rarely in the know, the 1986 India Pakistan final was a seminal event in time, not just sport. It was a match that India was set to win, a required run rate of five runs an over way above par, but was waylaid by the leadership of Imran Khan, let’s not forget the pinch hitter elevation of Abdul Quadir. Even when the hapless Chetan Sharma was erroneously elevated to bowl the final over, we were slated to overcome, till some illuminated acumen chose otherwise. 

Which is exactly why this win is so special, as Virat Kohli performed a notch above even the legendary Miandad, as if possessed to excel in conquests that matter. But before extolling further, it’s necessary to understand the debilitating impact of that defeat on Indian youth, in an era when there was not too much to be proud of as Indians. Friends, family and peers howled incessantly for months as our collective self-confidence took a punitive beating, undeserved possibly but occurring certainly. 

In 2022, India is truly a much evolved nation, on parameters that are deeply economic as well as to do with soft power. But yet, the surrogate delight of sporting victories have a formidable effect, in terms of national passion and truthful pride. Which is exactly why, this evening’s decimation of the rogue state yet decent sporting outfit Pakistan will be truly special, sufficiently significant for Neville Cardus to return to earthly climes for a signoff article. 

What makes this story even more spectacular is the point-in-time track record of the protagonist, Virat Kolhi,suffering the horrors for a seemingly indefinite point of time. After a bout with mental health imbroglios, he made a lovely comeback in home series contests, but that did not quite guarantee a decisive contribution in challenging ICC tourneys. Written off as the Dev Anand of the Cricket piece, he was slotted for some short lived cameos, but short of breath for genuine matchwinning efforts, the domain of new age pretenders. 

The innings today was truthfully more ODI than T20, a certain measured discipline in the buildup culminating in frenetic idiosyncracies, Unlike the copybook shortest format innings, wherein a certain helter-skelter SOP usually defines the course of the narratives. In Harris Rauf’s 19th over, the sixes off the 5th and 6th delivery were pure legend, an amalgam of genius, acumen and hard work. 

But back to Javed Miandad and his efforts of 1986, stuff that deflated our collective self-confidence. There have been many significant victories over the next decades - the Dhaka win led by Ganguly, the test series victory in Pakistan, the Cape Town win in 2003 and quite a few more. But then, wins are equally about emotion as about rationality and quite like the twilight zone of Sharjah, the floodlit calm of MCG was a seminal venue, bolstered by the 90,000 strong diaspora audience. 

Whatever happens in this T20 World Cup frankly does not matter any more, so significant is the magic of this triumph. The side cast of Arshdeep Singh, bowling like MIlkha Singh, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, the wily Chanakya, Hardik Pandya, a wily albeit faulty cowboy and the cameo of Ashwin, his canny guile coming to play in the two earthshaking balls he firmly negotiated. For the unquestioning lovers of the game from India, whether turmoil or triumph, this was a demonstration of faith coming true on a stage of consequence. 

But, most of all, thank you Virat Kohli for making Indians forget the ignominy of Javed Miandad’s AK-47 blow, on a spine chilling afternoon of 1986. We have demolished the jolly old enemy in many frontiers across the last 36 years, but none quite match the emotions of the 23rd of October in Melbourne. The reason cannot be described but only be felt, and for that you must have been alive in 1986 and 2022, and for that I am genuinely grateful.