It's so far so good (9 June 1999)
OLD TRAFFORD, June 8: There were police everywhere
09-Jun-1999
9 June 1999
It's so far so good
Nizamuddin Ahmed in Manchester
OLD TRAFFORD, June 8: There were police everywhere. This
was England's biggest security operation for an
international match, including football.
The India-Pakistan match here also called for the highest
number of security personnel to be drafted in for a match
between two countries.
That, however, did not stop touts from selling tickets in
the black-market. Although the police chief in Manchester
announced that 'stopping ticket touts was part of his
security plans,' buying and selling continued at two
times the face value within yards of the anxious security
staff.
The match began under conditions that were cold, windy
and generally unpleasant. But the 22,000 crowd, divided
though they were in other aspects, were unanimous in
their love for the game and were thankful that the match
was played at all considering the heavy rains over the
past two days.
The mixed crowd of India or Pakistan bias could not be
segregated as tickets were randomly sold prior to anybody
having the knowledge that the two not-so-friendly
neighbours would meet in the World Cup at this venue and
in this match. That also had its silver lining, with
Pakistani and Indian supporters, most likely British
citizens in disguise, waving their own flags amidst each
other.
They were noisy too, but not as acoustically insane as in
Sharjah. Or, as some maintain unfortunately, at Dhaka. It
was amazing how the entire stadium transformed into a sea
of green and white at the sign of any Indian debacle.
Conversely, the whole lot seemed to wave in addition a
blaze of saffron to celebrate any Indian glory. This was
when India were batting after winning the toss. If there
were any English cricket fans in the crowd who came to
watch a simulation of the Kashmir clashes, they were
characteristically quiet. It was just as well that
Mohammad Azharuddin decided to make Pakistan field on an
outfield that was soggy and slippery from overnight rain.
Perhaps he also did his homework well. For this was the
ground where Lancashire, the hosts, scored 372 for five
against Gloucestershire in the 1990 NatWest trophy. Home
to Lancashire since 1857, Viv Richards scored his
unbeaten 189 against England in a 1984 ODI series on this
wicket.
Inzimam-ul-Haq overcame his bruised finger and Ijaz Ahmed
his disturbing ankle, injured against South Africa last
Saturday, to maintain their place in the team.
Wajahatullah Wasti and Yousuf Youhana, nursing hamstring
injury, made room for Salim Malik and Shahid Afridi, as
Pakistan made two changes from their losing line-up
against Cronjie and Co.
Saurav Ganguly sprained his ankle at the nets and, after
failing a fitness test this morning, he vacated his place
for Sadagopan Ramesh.
Source :: The Bangladesh Daily Star (https://www.dailystarnews.com)