The Hindu : When the General bowled over Indian cricketers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 18, 2004

International

International - India & World

When the General bowled over Indian cricketers

ISLAMABAD, MARCH 17. The Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, today clean bowled the Indian cricketers at a reception he hosted in his Presidential mansion, showering praises on Sachin Tendulkar's batting skills and Lakshmipathy Balaji's blitzkrieg against the speed-king Shoaib Akthar in yesterday's match.

The Indian players, along with their Pakistani counterparts, were treated at the Banquet Hall, usually reserved for visiting Heads of State and Government, at his Presidential mansion.

The cricketers were ushered into the ornate "aiwan-i-sadar" for tea and Gen. Musharraf, dressed in battle fatigues, shook hands with each one of them. He pleasantly surprised them by recalling some of their best performances he had seen in the past.

The President, who watched yesterday's match for over two hours at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, had a special praise for Tendulkar's century yesterday. Patting the batting maestro, he congratulated Tendulkar for his 37th one-day century, the Indian team's Security In-charge, Yashowardhan Azad, who was also present at the reception, said.

The President also recalled some of the previous innings of Tendulkar which he had seen and told him that scoring 13,000 runs was a remarkable achievement.

The General also praised Balaji for taking on Shoaib in the last overs of yesterday's day-night tie during which he hit three fours. The General told Balaji that he thought he virtually stole the match from Pakistan.

He also complimented Mohammad Kaif for his excellent diving catch to dismiss Shoaib Malik in the Karachi one-dayer which helped India win the match.

It was apparent that during the one-hour meeting, the Indian players were totally bowled over by the President's wit and knowledge of the nuances of cricket, Mr. Azad said.

The Indians, in a fitting gesture, presented a bat autographed by the entire team as a memento to the General. The Indian team had presented a similar bat to the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in New Delhi before they left for Pakistan.

Gen. Musharraf was also presented a gift on behalf of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Hilarious moments

The reception had some hilarious moments as well. For instance, Gen. Musharraf was pleasantly surprised to see young wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel and inquired about his age. Captain Sourav Ganguly, who was introducing his players, said Patel was just 18 and he (Ganguly) was unable to manage him. ``Why should you manage him. You should let the young man manage himself,'' Gen. Musharraf told Ganguly.

The Manager of the Indian team, Ratnakar Shetty, said.

He said all the players burst out in laughter when the General said he enjoyed the burly 200-pound Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq desperately diving in yesterday's match to slow down the run chase by India. He also praised Inzamam for his century in Karachi. An embarrassed Inzamam could not also contain his laughter.

During the course of the reception, the General told both the teams that judging from the two matches played so far, the teams were evenly poised.

``Whatever may be the result, when the long series finally ends, cricket would have helped the two countries forge more friendly ties and brought people of the two countries closer,'' he told the cricketers.

Gen.Musharraf also praised the fans for their sporting behaviour and wished the Indian team a memorable stay.

``I am sure you will be feeling comfortable (in Pakistan). The way the crowd has responded in the two games shows that the Pakistani people are sports lovers.

``They (the spectators) appreciated both teams. Although both games went down to the wire, cricket was the ultimate winner. It didn't matter who won,'' Gen. Musharraf said.

``I am sure both teams will play some more competitive and exciting cricket in the remaining part of the series,'' he said.

PTI

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When the General bowled over Indian cricketers