The 1990s saw its share of strange moments in Indian cricket. But few came close to the events on October 30, 1994 where India were playing West Indies in the final of a three-nation tournament. India had already reached the final so the match was a dead rubber.
A fighting 72 from all-rounder Keith Arthurton took West Indies to 257/6 from 50 overs. In reply, Sachin Tendulkar had given India a blazing start, only for the side to lose their way midway through the chase. Manoj Prabhakar was well set at the crease but with the required run-rate dangerously ticking over the six-run mark, the Indian all-rounder did precious little to infuse life in proceedings.
Prabhakar took 92 balls to get to his half-century, after which he suddenly switched gears to get two boundaries from a Carl Hooper over. After Ajay Jadeja departed, wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia arrived at the crease. India needed 63 from the last nine overs. Everyone watching in anticipation of a thrilling finale were left bewildered as only 16 runs were scored from 54 deliveries.
The match sparked off an outrage of sorts from the Indian team management. Mongia and Prabhakar were dropped for the following game. Retired Chief Justice, YV Chandrachud was commissioned by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to investigate a number of allegations that surrounded this contest.
Not for the first time, skipper Mohammed Azharuddin was in the line of fire for this strange piece of batting. Prabhakar absolved himself from the blame by stating that he had faced only a handful of deliveries compared to his batting partner in the final overs.
"Mongia came in to bat and conveyed the management's instructions that we were to try and get as close to the target. The resultant hullabaloo about my going slow should be directed at the team management and not at me, as I was doing so under their instructions. Of the 48 balls in that period, I played just 11. I scored nine off those 11 balls. In fact, due to someone else's fault, I was dropped and humiliated," stated Prabhakar.
The story did have a slightly happier ending: India bounced back in style in the final at Calcutta against the same opponents with a comfortable 72-run win.
