‘Was infected with a peculiar virus’: Javed Miandad reveals struggle in 1992 World Cup final
Javed Miandad revealed he was infected with a virus which made him sweat a lot and sapped his energy while batting in the 1992 World Cup final against England.
At a time when most of the world’s major cities are under a lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 which has so far infected close to 5 lakh people globally, former Pakistan batsman Javed Miandad revealed he was suffering from a peculiar disease during the 1992 World Cup final against England.
Speaking on the occasion of the 18-year anniversary of Pakistan’s maiden and till date only ODI World Cup triumph in 1992 in Australia and New Zealand, Miandad said he was infected with a virus which made him sweat a lot and sapped his energy while batting.
“When I look back at the video clippings of that final, I still can’t understand how we ended up winning that World Cup. When we were batting, we were losing wickets early, my only aim was to just stand there and not lose my wicket.
“I was in a lot of discomfort. I was down with a viral infection which affected my running. And if you remember correctly, I couldn’t even play my shots towards the end of the innings,” Miandad said in his Youtube channel.
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The former Pakistan batsman added that he had no idea about the virus even after consulting doctors.
“I couldn’t understand what exactly my problem was. I was infected with some peculiar virus because of which I used sweat a lot. I even consulted doctors but my condition towards the end of our innings in the final was such that I couldn’t play a shot, I was just standing there. At the other end, I had Imran (Khan). We forged a partnership and batted the full 50 overs to put up a respectable score,” Miandad said.
After opting to bat first, Pakistan were 24 for when Miandad and Imran Khan put up a crucial 139-run stand for the third wicket. Captain Imran Khan scored 72 off 110 balls while Miandad’s contribution was a 98-ball 58.
Due to some important cameos in the slog overs first from Inzamam-ul-Haq ( 42 off 46) and then Wasim Akram (33 off 18), Pakistan scored 249 for six in the final against England.
In reply, England were bowled out for 227 in 49.2 overs as Pakistan won the match by 22 runs to lift the World Cup. Wasim Akram and leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed picked up three wickets apiece.
Miandad, who had scored 8832 runs in 124 Tests and 7381 runs in 233 ODIs for Pakistan, said Imran Khan-led side were pretty lucky to qualify to the knockout stages in 1992 World Cup.
“I batted and let others play in every possible situation in that World Cup for the sake of the team. But at one point we had no idea whether we will play a match next day or board a flight back home. We had got one crucial point because of a washed out game against England and that took us all the way to the knockouts,” said Miandad.
Miandad also gave a lot of credit to then Pakistan captain and currently their Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“The important thing was not to lose hope. Our captain Imran Khan had continuously stated from the beginning that we can win this world cup. I remember, our captain Imran Khan at that time had t-shirt which had an image of a tiger on it. He used to wear that throughout the World Cup even during practice session. He used to say, this is our symbol, we will fight like a tiger.”