Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar. Credits: Twitter

India created one of the historic moments 20 years ago on July 13 after stunning England at the iconic Lord’s stadium. Chasing a humongous score of 325 to win the final of the NatWest Trophy against the Nasser Hussain-led side, Indian youngsters rose to the occasion.

The tourists were reduced to 146 for five in 24 overs with the likes of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul David back in the hut.

It was a nail-biting finish: Sachin Tendulkar

Yuvraj Singh (69) and Mohammad Kaif (87*) stitched a 121-run stand for the sixth wicket as India clawed their way back in the chase and went on to pull off one of the spectacular run chases in ODI cricket.

Mohammad Kaif Yuvraj Singh
Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh. Image: Twitter

By the end of the 25th over, we had probably lost five wickets. We were disappointed because we had lost wickets. And both batters at the crease were youngsters. Yuvi had started his career only 2 or 2.5 years ago, and Kaif had just entered the side,” Tendulkar said on his official YouTube channel.

“But you could see that energy. They converted ones into twos, they were smashing boundaries. There were messages circulating from dressing room, we were communication in sign language. When Yuvi attacked, Kaif played a brilliant supporting role. When Yuvi was dismissed, Kaif took charge and took the game to the end. It was a nail-biting finish,” he added.

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Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif came to meet me after the game: Sachin Tendulkar

More than the chase, the match was highlighted by then India captain Sourav Ganguly waving off his shirt at the Lord’s balcony. Tendulkar mentioned that Yuvraj and Kaif came to have a chat with him after the epic chase.

Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly Shirtless Celebration At Lord’s (Image Credit: Twitter)

“Dada took his jersey off, that everyone knows. But there is another story that no one knows about. Yuvi and Kaif came to meet me after the game, they said, ‘Paaji, our performance was good, but if we have to do something even better than this, what should we do?’ I was like, ‘you have just won the tournament for us! What more do you want to do? Just keep doing the same and Indian cricket will be fine’. They haven’t disappointed us,” said Tendulkar.

The memories of the Natwest tri-series final are very well augmented in the mind of those who witnessed the match. It is also considered to be one of the greatest achievements in Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy tenure.

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