The Final before the Final | World cup 2003 | India v Pakistan | Sachin v Shoaib | Harbhajan Yousuf

It was a do or die situation. An India Pakistan match on 28th February 2003. a day before the match, the dressing room was feeling like a pressure cooker. After the parliamentary attack of 2000, this was the first match India was playing against Pakistan. There were hopes for a revenge. But it was difficult as India was on a losing streak. First, they lost to west indies at home. A defeat against New Zealand, and then again losing to south African club team in a world cup warm up match. India couldn’t even play a 50 over match against Netherlands.it was humiliating. Australia took out the entire team in just 125 runs. The lowest score made by India in a world cup. and the seventh lowest among the top test playing nations.
people were so angered by this loss that Sachin Tendulkar called a press conference to calm the fans down.

We won the next match against England with the help of superhuman Ashish Nehra & now it was time to face Pakistan.
Shoaib Akhtar had gone out of his way to challenge Sachin.
the pressure was such that Captain Ganguly actually said that someone would get a heart attack. and as Yuvraj and Sehwag tried to ;lighten thigs up
the one person they couldn't help was Sachin
for the past year - Everywhere he went, people pleaded to win the match, no matter what. Too much pressure, too many expectations. Sachin had played countless finals, stood against all odds. But this time he couldn’t sleep at nights. Two weeks, he spent tossing and turning, imagining and reimagining.
but as the match started
things quickly went bad
Saeed Anwar with his aggressively batting brought Pakistan to 273.
only 2 times was a score higher then this chased in a world cup
Morales were low, tempers were high, and Harbhajan Singh’s temper was at another level. To cool himself off, he reached the lunch area, where Yousuf Yohana along with Wasim Akram were having a fun banter. Joking here and there. Both the teams trying to keep up trying to be better than the other. And that was when Yousuf said something about Bhajji’s religion. Triggering Bhajji. Situation escalated and they were standing face to face with forks in hand. Seniors separated them. In the dressing room, instruction of staying calm was given for first 10 overs. As they stepped on the ground, the stadium cheered. Along with Sehwag, it was Sachin who had opened. The first over passed as planned. but second over went to Shoaib Akhtar wo decided to Provoke Sehwag by, insisting that he hit a hook a hook. Whereas Sehwag was fuming with anger after what happened with Bhajji. Promptly replying “You see that there on the opposing end, Waha tera baap khada he – your daddy is standing there, Go and tell him, to play a hook shot”. As the game proceeded, and rather than sticking to the plan, Sachin who seemed to be in the zone bursting out of a year of constant pressure

he just decided to let loose
and so started the 3 shots that would go down in the history of Indian cricket
Sachin went on to neutralize one of the most dangerous bowlers in the world. He later confessed that he didn’t plan to bat in that way and was supposed to stick to plan but then he changed in the middle as he seemed to be in the form of his life.

Sachin kept on scoring at a lightening pace, demolishing Waqar Younis and Akrram in the process
but just like a Bollywood movie the sleepless night, were started to affect him and Sachin suffered with cramps. A Physio was called, A runner was called, none of it worked. Sachin couldn’t move anymore. And the worst part was, just before his century, just 2 runs away, he got out. 99 runs away from the target. many times before him had his team lost after getting the upper hand hence A limping Sachin made his way to the dressing room, feeling guilty, heartbroken and disappointed.

But thankfully Dravid and Yuvraj decided to play test cricket. They took 20 overs in total but somehow the brought the match too a close
Indian went on to win the match

pushing Pakistan out of the world cup
Pakistans Vice-captain Inzamam ul Haq resigned then and there. Captain, coach and other 8 players were fired. As the team came down for post-match ceremony, Sachin was greeted with the loudest cheer. Celebrating on the ground and in the dressing room, Sachin called his wife, just to hear the early Diwali being celebrated. Captain was also on the call with chief of army staff in India. Congratulating the team. The team called this match as one of the most important matches of their career.
This was the story of the centurion.


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