World Cup Memories: 'Sachin badly wanted to get that hundred against Kenya and dedicate it to his father', Sadagoppan Ramesh relives Tendulkar's emotional ton of 1999

“If someone had told me even six months ago that you are going to play the next World Cup, I wouldn’t have even believed it one percent. I would have laughed it off.”

Sadagoppan Ramesh still speaks in disbelief as he takes a trip down the 1999 World Cup memory lane.

20 years ago, an exciting young talent knocked on Indian cricket’s door and impressed straight away. A sparkling debut in the 1999 Pakistan Test series against the venomous attack of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Shoaib Akhtar sprung Ramesh into the limelight. Four months down the line, the Tamil Nadu opener with lazy elegance would make it to the World Cup squad even though India already had Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly at the top of the order. He still gets excited talking about representing India on the big stage.

“It was pretty amazing. Coming into international cricket and in about four months you get to play a World Cup, the timing was really blessed,” Ramesh recalls.

“Once I did well against Pakistan (in Tests) and got a Test match century against Sri Lanka, I knew that I was kind of going to be in the reckoning for the World Cup. Even today, people remember me like, ‘Yeah, you played the ‘99 World Cup.’ World Cup is the ultimate thing for every cricketer. (VVS) Laxman used to feel bad about it. Sometimes he used to tell me that he never got to play a World Cup. It’s the premier tournament which you want to be a part of. It was my first tour to England and was a great experience. I really enjoyed the stay too, it is a beautiful country with beautiful grounds. I think I am really blessed having got the opportunity to play in a World Cup.”

On the big stage and on his World Cup debut, Ramesh did get off to a good start with a half-century (55) against Zimbabwe.

That innings is the first memory that strikes Ramesh’s mind whenever someone talks about the World Cups.

“It was my debut World Cup match and I had better create some impact, so it’s quite a memorable one. I was very happy to contribute. Probably, I didn’t cash in on it because of lack of experience or whatever. But I was very happy to get a fifty in my first World Cup match itself. Even now I tease Laxman, ‘You haven’t played a World Cup boss, but I have played a World Cup’ (laughs).”

His debut happened by chance. With Sachin and Ganguly in the squad, Ramesh was always going to warm the bench. However, India received a huge blow ahead of the Zimbabwe match with Tendulkar returning home following his father’s demise. All of a sudden, Ramesh had to gear up, and he wasn’t ready! The nerves started jangling.

“It was the World Cup, entire India was going to watch. Initially, I thought, I wasn’t going to get a chance. I didn’t bat for about a week because Mr (Anshuman) Gaikwad even categorically kind of hinted to me that I may not play because Sourav and Sachin were there. I didn’t expect to play against Zimbabwe. Me and Venky (Venkatesh Prasad) we used to play pranks and stuff. In the morning of the (Zimbabwe) match when I was about to take my breakfast, Venky walks in and says ‘Good Luck’. I looked at him and said, ‘Don’t make fun about this’. He said no man, seriously, you are playing. He just uttered these words and left.

“Next, Srinath comes and tells me (the same thing) but being from the same state, I thought he’s also pulling my leg along with Venky. So I didn’t believe him. Then third, Anil (Kumble) comes and tell me. I believe in Anil, because he is a very serious person. I asked what’s going on? Then they said Sachin has left and sadly his father has passed away and you are going to play. I had not touched the bat for some time.

“In fact, I was so nervous, I even forgot taking my kit bag to the ground. Suddenly I remembered and started searching for it, I had brought my bat and gloves though. Somebody went back to the hotel and brought it. Anshuman said, no problem, I will throw you some balls, so he took me to the nets. He made me knock a few balls via throwdowns. And that’s how I played that match. I was not batting for some time and suddenly I got into the eleven and all that stuff. But given that kind of scenario, I think I did well in that match.”

Chasing 252 at Grace Road, Leicester, against Zimbabwe, India lost Ganguly early in the second over. Dravid and Mohammed Azharuddin too didn’t last long and India were reduced to 56/3 in 9 overs. Ramesh kept his calm all through and steadied the ship with Ajay Jadeja, adding 99 runs for the fourth wicket.

On 55, he charged down the track against left-arm spin of Grant Flower but mistimed his heave straight to mid-wicket.

Ramesh reveals the plan was to play his natural game and not complicate things too much.

“I never had huge plans,” Ramesh talks about the approach in his innings. “If a bowler overpitches it first ball, I like to drive that ball. I didn’t have a programmed way of playing. I still remember the first boundary I got was off (Eddo) Brandes, he bowled one on the middle stump and I flicked it through mid-wicket. At the non-striker end there was Dravid, I told him I am sorry if I am wrong (in playing that shot). His words of encouragement gave me more confidence. He said, what a shot man! Keep it going. He is a great motivator, I always loved to bat with Dravid. He can really pump your confidence. His body language was full of energy. So after that, I got one more boundary and then I was like I can get a decent score in this match.”

So, how much was the pressure of replacing someone like a Tendulkar?

“You can only replace Sachin Tendulkar in terms of number slot,” he says. “The quality can’t be replaced. You can replace only the slot. I was no Sachin so I knew the expectations were going to be less from me. I always believe when people expect less from you, it’s a good thing, that’s the advantage of being the underdog. I saw it as an opportunity, I thought that I was never going to get involved with the Sachin-Sourav combination. But I got it and was able to get a good score of 50-plus in that match. If you ask me if I preferred batting when Sachin was not there or I want to watch Sachin’s batting from the outside, I would prefer to watch him bat from outside because it’s amazing.”

Post Ramesh’s departure, India kept losing regular wickets and eventually fell short by three runs.

“We were inconsistent. We could have pulled it off but (Henry) Olonga delivered for them at the end. He was also a good bowler. Most of the teams, even Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, they had some good quality bowlers. In the 90s, every team had two match-winning bowlers. That’s what happened against Zimbabwe.”

India had started off their campaign with a loss against South Africa and the loss against Zimbabwe stung.

“Everyone was disappointed. Even on the bus, we were silent. Two games, two losses, you wouldn’t want to start the World Cup campaign in such a manner. I was feeling guilty because I could have probably given more support and hung on. But as young blood, sometimes you tend to commit these kinds of mistakes.”

The loss of Tendulkar, in a way, had proved to be a big factor.

“It was definitely a setback (losing Sachin). You had not just lost your best batsman, you had lost the world’s best batsman. So that probably put dent in our confidence and gave extra confidence to the opponent. But still, we were able to fight and get it very close because we had beaten Zimbabwe many times and psychologically we had a little more confidence in beating them historically.

“You can’t control these kinds of things. One good thing is I always feel that when you lose your star player, it shows the team’s strength overall because you are not depending solely on him, the others take responsibility and start performing. That’s what happened in the Sri Lanka game with Sourav and Dravid. From an opposition’s point of view, when Sachin is not there, it increased their confidence ten times, they come much harder when they don’t see that one name.”

Emotions ran high in the next game in Bristol as Tendulkar returned to England to join the team on the eve of the Kenya match with India in desperate need for a win.

With Ramesh getting fifty against Zimbabwe and Ganguly getting 97 in the South Africa game, Sachin had to slot in at No 4. Ramesh and Ganguly got off to a steady start to put on 50 after Kenya had asked India to bat first. Ganguly departed for 13 and Ramesh was run out for 44. In walked Tendulkar to a raucous reception, and scripted a special tribute to his father.

“I still remember, after he got that hundred, he looked up to the sky and dedicated it to his father. He was too emotional,” Ramesh recalls. “He came back and he was saying that nothing is going to affect my concentration. It was like he so badly wanted to get that hundred and dedicate it to his father. I still remember we were all sitting outside and gave him a standing ovation. We could literally picture how much he would have been emotional when he got that hundred and what meant to him even though he was far away from us at the centre wicket. It was something which we were very proud of.”

It could have been really tough especially for someone who was very close to his father. But right from the time Sachin flew back to England to join the team till the end of the Kenya match, he was a thorough professional. It gave a glimpse of his tremendous mental strength.

“He was too professional. He was keeping it to himself. We were also giving him space. We knew it wasn’t fair to expect a huge contribution from him given the setback he had. He wasn’t expressing that emotion, he was like I am here for the World Cup, that was the kind of body language and attitude he showed. We thought after his comeback, he is going to struggle with his concentration. It’s going to be extremely difficult for any human being. But one thing we thought was he’s a champion player so he can probably pull it off and deliver.”

The knock against Kenya innings reminded everyone what India had missed against Zimbabwe.

“I got 44 in that match, Dravid got me run out (laughs)…Otherwise, I would have got a nice hundred, who knows,” Ramesh jokes.

“We missed Sachin. When he is there, he is a very positive influence. I always believe some people with their sheer presence can bring their aura and energy into the team. You don’t need him to do anything. Just keep him in the dressing room and the work is done because of his personality and positive thinking. The entire cricketing fraternity missed his batting. The way he started and once he reached his fifty, he was so much determined, you knew there is going to be a big one and that’s what happened.”

That innings, and the win, breathed life into the team.

“We needed the win so badly. It was great. When the best player in the world gets a hundred it not just delivers the message for you but for the other teams too, saying I am back!”

India gained momentum and registered a record-breaking win over Sri Lanka in Taunton which became famous for 318-run partnership between Ganguly (183) and Dravid (145), the highest ever in limited-overs internationals. A win over England followed. There was a blip next up against Australia in the Super Six before they headed into the most-awaited clash of the tournament, against Pakistan in the Super Six clash in Manchester. And the pressure was huge.

“Against Pakistan, I wasn’t supposed to play but Ganguly got injured and I got to open with Sachin. I got a decent 20 odd and again got out at a wrong time,” Ramesh recalls. “But the pressure was huge because India vs Pakistan is the ultimate match in any World Cup. It was happening in Manchester where 80 percent of the population is supporting Pakistan. It’s like an advantage to Pakistan. They had the best attack in the world — Wasim, Akhtar, Azhar Mahmood and batsmen like Saeed Anwar, Salim Malik, Inzi.”

Azharuddin and Dravid hit crucial fifties. Venkatesh Prasad took a match-winning five-for. However, Ramesh has vivid memories of something completely different.

“One thing I remember about that match is I dropped a sitter of Ijaz Ahmed at mid-wicket. The problem with England is it is so cold, that sometimes we used to tape our fingers. But the tape has to be little thick so that the ball doesn’t hurt your finger anymore. But sometimes what happens is that because of the tape being thick, the ball bounces off. You are not able to hold it before you could really close your hand, the ball will sometimes hit the tape and bounce off. So that’s what happened, it popped out of my hand. After that over, I went back to the third-man position and all the Pakistani crowd was teasing me, blah blah blah. I was completely pissed off. There were 20 Indians sitting amidst around 2000 Pakistan fans. And they were also looking so sad. I turned back and they were looking at me like, ‘How the hell did you drop that?’ (laughs).

“One thing you pray when you drop a catch is the batsman has to somehow get out. If he goes on to get a big one, you will have sleepless nights for the next 10 days or one month. And I don’t want it to happen in a Pakistan match because that’s going to be the talk of the country. So all these things clashed in my mind so fast…satak..satak..satak…Trust me, 3 or 4 overs after that, Srinath bowled an outswinger to Ijaz and Azharuddin pouched a brilliant catch in slips. I was like ‘Oh my God!’ (laughs). That’s when I really believed that God was there.

“I ran and just hugged Azzu bhai. When the celebrations were going on, I thought Azhar is going to blast the shit out of me, because of a mistake in such a high-pressure game. But he didn’t say anything. I asked him, ‘Azhar bhai I thought you are going to blast the shit out of me…’, he said, ‘Ramesh, this is a high-pressure game, even guys like me and Sachin have this pressure, I know how much people in India want us to play well against Pakistan. You dropped that catch because of pressure. Nothing else. There is nothing wrong. But if the same catch you had dropped against Kenya or Bangladesh, I would have blasted you, because you would have dropped it only out of complacency, not because of high pressure. I was like, ‘Oh, what a way to think as a captain!’ I said great Azzu bhai, thanks a lot. He said no problem, even seniors are under pressure against Pakistan, you are only a kid on the block, don’t worry about it. When you talk about the Pakistan match that one thing always comes to my mind.”

For the third time in a row, India had beaten Pakistan in World Cup. It was huge.

“It was the best moment,” Ramesh recalls. “When we came back to India after being ousted, we landed in Mumbai at around 4 am and there was a huge crowd waiting to receive us and cheering us like we had won the World Cup, because we had beaten Pakistan.

“I still remember some of them were holding the placards that read ‘We have won the World Cup because we beat Pakistan.’ From this win, what I understood was: If you beat Pakistan in a World Cup, they (fans) are very happy. If you enter the final, they are extremely happy. If you are winning the World Cup they are happier and if happens to be Pakistan in the final and you beat them in the final, that’s the ultimate thing for a cricket fan in India.”

India lost their last Super Six game against New Zealand and were knocked out of the World Cup.

“When you lose to Zimbabwe, you’ve got to beat Australia or beat any other stronger team and compensate for that. That’s where it never happened — that one outstanding upset victory. We beat Pakistan but we’ve been beating them every World Cup. Apart from them, if we were able to beat one more big team like Australia, things would have changed confidence-wise.”

Just like India, Ramesh too blew hot and cold after that fifty on Cup debut against Zimbabwe.

“I was not converting. That Kenya match, I got run out for 44, if I had gone on to get a big score, I would have batted better in the next few games. Even against England and Pakistan, I had starts, scoring 20. One of these knocks I should have converted to fifty odd. And as I said, it was my first World Cup so there was a lack of experience also.”

While not making it to the knockouts was a big disappointment, the consolation, apart from beating Pakistan, was that Dravid finished as the highest run-getter in the tournament, amassing 461 runs at an average of 65.85 with two centuries and three fifties. It was his transformation that impressed the most.

“Dravid was one of the most effective players in these conditions, even though you are talking about the 50-over game and it being in England, so the movement is going to be throughout,” Ramesh explains. “The transformation we saw, especially against Sri Lanka, the way he was belting the ball especially in the end overs was amazing. That was kind of a warning to most of the bowlers saying don’t just treat me as a Test player, I can also get into this kind of mood.

“When someone like Dravid is in good form, he will make use of that form in a much much better way than most of the cricketers. He will again go back and start from scratch in the next innings. He will not start from 100 or 150. Sometimes what happens is after a big knock, when you go and bat in the next innings, you start throwing your bat thinking that I have already got a hundred and I am continuing from that. But Dravid is a guy, when he bats in the next innings and you bowl a good length delivery first ball, he will leave it alone. He had already done it in England in 1996. Once he got into that kind of form, we knew he won’t fail continuously. So I was not surprised that Dravid ended up as the top run-getter in that World Cup.”

Apart from India’s campaign, Ramesh does have fond memories of that famous Australia-South Africa semi-final . And there is something interesting he points out about that Klusener-Donald run out.

“That is one of the best matches we have ever seen. Klusener was at his best. What I liked about that particular run out is that the way Mark Waugh kept his cool, he was so calm and composed (while back-flicking the ball). One thing you will see in his fielding, especially catching, there is no rush, he had so much time, even for the fastest shot. His concentration, focus and anticipation level was something huge.

“Obviously, you wouldn’t want to take it to the last ball with just one run required. Sometimes it’s a very tricky thing for a batsman to decide whether to go for a big shot or go for that required single. Because everyone is going to be inside the circle so you can go for that big shot and take a chance with a boundary or a six. Or you go for that one run. Klusener went for that second option.

“But I would say that with someone like Alan Donald at the non-striker’s end, it’s better that he could have gone for a big shot (laughs) because I have seen many times, Donald gets confused in running between wickets and gets run out. But you can’t blame him. At that time, all Donald wanted to do is, get to that other end and finish that single. I felt bad for South Africa, it was the closest they came to beating Australia in a World Cup match. Sometimes these kinds of losses give you lack of confidence in crucial matches and that’s what we are seeing of South Africa in the World Cup.

“When we were playing against Pakistan, we always looked back. In 1999, in the high-pressure match, we looked back — we beat them in 1992, 96. So the previous cricketers have given that kind of confidence that Pakistan are beatable in a World Cup. Let them bring any kind of player, even the greatest player. And when you look at South Africa, when they look back, they see every World Cup we have lost at a crucial stage how are we going to do it if they can’t do it? That chokes them a lot already. Unless one team is turning tables which is not happening so far. That was one of the best matches I have seen.”

So, what is that one World Cup memory what will last with Ramesh forever?

“My debut fifty in the World Cup. It’s a good thing to remember because I was already excited about being a part of the World Cup team and got even more excited when I got the opportunity. And the satisfying thing about that fifty is that from 56/3, I was able to get to 55. It showed I had good temperament even in a World Cup match. That was very satisfying.”

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