OTD: The first Test between Pakistan and India for 9 years ended in 1999

There are some rivalries that infuse thrill in the game of cricket and the one between India and Pakistan are considered to be the fiercest of all. Not just because of the on-field events but the larger context around this game makes it such a highly-anticipated encounter. In the past, the two teams have clashed in a lot of nail-biting thrillers and in this article, we will take a look at one such closely contested match between India and Pakistan. 

Battle lines drawn in Chennai

After almost a decade India and Pakistan met in a Test series in 1999 which started with the first Test in Chennai. Wasim Akram won the toss for the visitors and opted to bat first. The decision proved to be a disaster initially as Pakistan lost half of their side even before putting 100 runs on the board. But Mohammad Yousuf and Moin Khan built a partnership to stop the further fall of wickets. With few lower-order cameos, Pakistan posted 238 runs on the board in the first innings. 

In reply, India got off to a great start with Sadagoppan Ramesh and VVS Laxman adding 67 runs for the first wicket. But once this partnership was broken there was a mini-collapse in the Indian batting order as India lost four wickets in quick succession. The young Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly showed some resilience to take India to 254 runs at the end of the first innings. India got the lead but not a sizable one. 

Second Innings

The visitors fared better with the bat in the second innings as they set a challenging target for India. Pakistan ended up with 286 runs in the second innings in which Shahid Afridi’s contribution was immense. He scored a century to ensure that his team remained in the contest. 

The Indian team had to chase 271 runs in the second innings but Pakistan put them under pressure right from the first ball. The openers, Ramesh and Laxman, were dismissed quickly by Waqar Younis. The situation got worse and India got reduced to 82/5 in a run chase which now looked impossible. However, in those days, as long as Tendulkar was on the crease, the Indian hopes were still alive. Sachin smashed 136 runs in the second innings but there was not much assistance at the other end which resulted in an agonizing loss for India by a narrow margin of 12 runs.