Published 16:41 IST, December 1st 2019
Lord's Cricket Ground pays tribute to 2002 NatWest series finals hero Mohammad Kaif
The Lord's Cricket Ground paid tribute to the hero of India's NatWest Series 2002 final Mohammad Kaif on the occasion of his 39th birthday on Sunday
The 'Mecca of Cricket' Lords has witnessed a lot of historic matches over the years. The first two World Cup triumphs of the mighty West Indies, India's maiden World Cup triumph under the leadership of the charismatic Kapil Dev, the recent edge of the seat thriller World Cup final between England and New Zealand, etc. However, among them, there is another iconic match which was the NatWest tri-series final between India and England that was played in the year 2002.
Lord's Cricket Ground pays tribute to Mohammad Kaif
Lord's Cricket Ground paid tribute to Mohammad Kaif who was celebrating his 39th birthday on Sunday. Taking to the micro-blogging site, the Lord's Cricket Ground wished Kaif a happy birthday and posted a video of Zaheer Khan hitting the winning runs for India and Kaif urging Zak to come back for the risky second run off an overthrow as India completed a famous win.
India pull off an impossible task
It was a day to remember for the Indian cricket fans when India lifted the NatWest series trophy after beating England on July 13, 2002, in the finals of the triangular series at Lord's in London. This day marked the famous celebrations of former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly who was seen twirling his shirt at the balcony of the Lord's after India made a comeback from the brink of defeat to beat England, an iconic visual that is still instilled in the hearts of the fans of the Men in Blue. Chasing a target of 325 runs set by the English side, India began their chase with a quickfire partnership between openers Virender Sehwag (45) and Sourav Ganguly (60) before they fell short. Dinesh Mongia, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar were dismissed cheaply following which Yuvraj Singh and M. Kaif had more than half an innings to bat out. The Kaif-Singh duo put on a 121-run sixth-wicket partnership that saw India home to victory. Mohammed Kaif went on to guide India to victory with an unbeaten 87-run knock. It was a rare and huge feat achieved by India as chasing targets about 300-plus runs were unheard of during that time and a successful chase down meant a new team was in the rising, led by skipper Sourav Ganguly. The team comprised of cricketing legends such as Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Anil Kumble and more.
Updated 17:11 IST, December 1st 2019