Pakistan vs India 1984/85 (Part One)

Jan 29, 2022

Pakistan vs India 1984/85 (Part One) Image

India arrived in Pakistan in September 1984 to play three Test matches and three ODIs.

Unfortunately, events elsewhere were to take precedence over sport.

The second ODI abandoned halfway through when the sad news came through that the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had been assassinated. The Indians left immediately, and the third Test match and third ODI were cancelled as a result.

Before that, though, the two sides had first crossed sword again at the first ODI, in Quetta, where India won the toss and chose to bowl. Openers Mohsin Khan and Saadat Ali provided Pakistan a reasonable start before captain Zaheer Abbas top-scored with 55. With the middle order making reasonable contributions as well, they reached 199/7 in 40 overs. Kapil Dev was the most successful of the Indian bowlers, taking 3-36.

India struggled to match them. After opener Surinder Khanna had made 31, they lost wickets regularly, especially after Sunil Gavaskar was out for 25. In the end they were all out for 153 in the 38th over, slipping to a 46-run defeat. The Pakistan bowlers shared the wickets between them.

Zaheer again starred with the bat for his side in the first Test match, held in Lahore. Pakistan won the toss and batted, but were struggling when Zaeher came to the crease. He went on to make an unbeaten 168 including a six and six fours, and put on 142 for the seventh wicket with Ashraf Ali (65). Together, they helped push the total to 428/9 before declaring.

When India batted, captain Gavaskar made 48. At 91/1, they were placed reasonably. Then the batting collapsed, and the last nine wickets fell for the addition of 62 runs. Azeem Hafeez was the wrecker in chief, taking 6-46.

Following on, India needed to bat much better if they wanted to save the game. To their credit, that was what they did. Anshuman Gaekwad provided the lead by making 60, and then Mohinder Amarnath made 101. With Ravi Shastri also making 71, India reached 371/6 when the two captains shook hands on the draw.