India’s heroic win at the 2002 Natwest Trophy final against England at Lord’s is one for the ages. The Sourav Ganguly-led Indian side won the match after an improbable chase, thanks to the game-changing partnership between the young Turks, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif.
During a recent podcast, former English captain Nasser Hussain, looked back at Kaif’s knock, tagging it as the greatest knock he had ever played and will be remembered for.
India was five wickets down, after being set a target of 325. It was the English captain, Hussain, who led from the front after scoring his maiden ODI ton, batting first.
The Men in Blue got off to a lightning start with Virender Sehwag and Ganguly up-front but lost their way in the middle overs. India lost the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Dinesh Mongia, along with the openers, without adding many to the scoreboard.
This led to rookies Yuvraj and Kaif taking guard in the middle, without much expectations from the youngsters.
However, the two turned the match around with their partnership. Kaif scored an unbeaten 87 in the game, guiding the Indian team to the victory with the tail by a margin of two wickets.
🎧 PODCAST 🎧
💬…To be outdone by two relatively unknown, young lads was a great boost to Indian cricket.💬@NasserCricket recalls how @MohammadKaif and @YUVSTRONG12 took the game away from England back in 2002.
👉 https://t.co/qZwCBynD2y
🔊 Spotify: https://t.co/3ak6J22kXz pic.twitter.com/t5hyH2w09G— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 15, 2020
“It’s the greatest innings that lad played, and he will be remembered for that. I remember him coming in, and there was a bit of a sledge,” Nasser revealed during a Sky Sports podcast.
“We’d got the fab five out, and someone asked – ‘Alright Who’s this then, Skip?’ And I was like: ‘I think he must drive the bus. I think he drives Tendulkar around on the bus,” Hussain added.
Now, 18 years later, Kaif got the opportunity to reply to the sledge by saying, “thanks to that innings the bus driver drives a convertible now,” through a recent tweet.
.@nassercricket, thanks to that innings the bus driver drives a convertible now 🙂 @skycricket https://t.co/2nnFyNhkhn
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 16, 2020
To which Nasser replied, “Haha .. it was some game mate !! With great memories.. for you anyway. Hope you are well and staying safe bud.”
Haha .. it was some game mate !! With great memories.. for you anyway. Hope you are well and staying safe bud !
— Nasser Hussain (@nassercricket) May 16, 2020
