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Javed Miandad : The Run Machine !

© Abhishek Choudhari

It was a saying that went unsaid for years in cricket. It was the ultimate advice every bowler would recieve in a crunch situation : Bowl Yorkers.

Its supposed to be the safest ball known. And in Sharjah Chetan Sharma was given the same advice. Only one ball was remaining and Pakistan needed 4 runs to win. The Indian captain conviniently walked over to him and remarked " Bowl a yorker". That should have been the recipie for success. But the chef probably overlooked one ingredient, that had made batting hot and spicy, which was waiting on the other side of the wicket. It was JAved Miandad. The outspoken, literally, Pakistani Batsman who did not have a single defensive bone in his body and one who had never hear the word - defeat.

Chetan Sharma ran in from across the ground and leapt in mid-air at 22 yards away from Miandad and hurtled the ball towards what is called "Block Hole", a small corrider between the batsmen's bat and toes. The ball was now on its own, flying through the air towards its destination, but Pilot Miandad made some changes in the itineary. Stepping just a bit forward he took the ball on the full and swung it as if his whole life depended on it, and as the bat hit the ball the decible of wood was enormous, but within seconds it was drowned in the uproar of jubliant Pakistani fans as they saw the ball drop somewhere in the stands, claiming a victory for Pakistan.

That was Javed Miandad. One of his kind. A batsman whose flair and gritty determination can never be matched. He was dubbed as the "Run-Machine". Its not how much he scored , but the way he scored it. He hammered the ball all over the ground and made sure that every fielder got his day's quota of exercise.

The most striking part of his personality was his outspokeness. He was never short of words. The great Gavaskar once recounted an incident that Miandad had told him. The story in Gavaskar's words goes " Miandad once told me about his tour of Australia. Merv Hughes was bowling, and Miandad ducked two bouncers, so HUghes walked upto him and said "No need to duck shorty, just stand and the ball will fly over your head". Unfortunately Miandad could not present him with a suiitable reply with his bat. So after the over was bowled he strode upto him and said "Hey what are you doing on the cricket ground? You look more than a truck driver"....and for the rest of the day he kept asking him where his truck was...."

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