November 7, 1994 – When India-West Indies ODI got delayed due to kit bags

By the time the kits reached the venue, there was time for only a 44 overs-a-side game.

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Navjot Singh Sidhu
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Navjot Singh Sidhu. (Photo Source: Getty Images)

You might have heard of rain delaying the start of a game, delay due to a wet outfield, storms and fog or even due to animals and insects but Priyadarshini Stadium in Vishakhapatnam saw an ODI between India and West Indies in 1994 start late due delay in the arrival of kit luggage. The 5-match ODI series between the two teams had an unattractive format as Wills World Series was played between the 2nd and 3rd ODI games.

The tournament included New Zealand as the 3rd team but India and West Indies faced in the final played on November 5th at the Eden Gardens which the home side won comfortably. The teams travelled to Vizag with the ODI series resumed with a day’s gap after the final. However, the start of the game got delayed while the luggage of the West Indian players reached Chennai.

The players took the Kolkata-Chennai flight to reach Vizag, the venue of the game. Players of both the teams and Indian team kit bags reached Visakhapatnam but the West Indian players’ kits ended up in Chennai. By the time the kits reached the venue, there was time for only a 44 overs-a-side game with no floodlights at the venue.

A game with an exciting finish.

The visiting side invited India to bat first on a batting surface in a hope of chasing down any sort of target. Openers Sachin Tendulkar (54) and Ajay Jadeja (38) gave India an excellent start which was capitalized by Navjot Singh Sidhu and Mohammad Azharuddin who had a 113-run stand for the 3rd wicket. Sidhu struck a 103-ball 113 with nine fours and two sixes while the Indian skipper scored a 46-ball 45 to help India post 260/4 in the restricted 44 overs.

West Indies had to chase the target in 43 overs as match referee Raman Subba Row fined them one over for slow over rate. Their top three PV Simmons (51), SC Williams (49) and Brian Lara (39) kept their side in the hunt as they reached 145 for the loss of just two wickets. Carl Hooper walked in at the right time as the visitors needed runs at a pretty high rate. He blasted a 47-ball 74 with seven fours and two sixes to take the Caribbean side close to the target.

The one over West Indies lost due to slow-over cost them big time as India won the game by four runs. The equation came down to seven runs needed from the last ball bowled by Manoj Prabhakar where Hooper managed to score only two runs. India won the last two ODI matches as well to win the series by a 4-1 margin.

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