When Zaheer Abbas refused to take the field
Zaheer Abbas refused to take the field on the last day during the 1983-84 Bangalore Test
Sriram Veera
25-Feb-2013
Zaheer Abbas refused to take the field on the last day during the 1983-84 Bangalore Test. Mid-day, the Mumbai-based tabloid, gives the inside dope, courtesy extracts from the autobiography of Madhav Gothaskar, who officiated in that match.
After 14 mandatory overs were bowled, he {Zaheer} along with his team walked off the field without the umpires declaring the close of the play.We maintained that if his team did not complete six more overs, India would be declared as winners. The ruse worked. The Pakistani team returned to the field. Gavaskar duly completed his 28th Test hundred, but it was an inconsequential century. After the Pakistanis left the field, Gavaskar refused to leave the ground and dissuaded his partner Gaekwad from leaving the field, despite the repeated entreaties of his skipper Kapil Dev.
Sriram Veera is a former staff writer at ESPNcricinfo