I arrived in Kolkata, from Faisalabad, via Karachi, Katmandu and Dacca, at about 8.30 pm. From Chandra Bose Airport, I took a taxi and came to the YMCA, Kolkata. On the following day, Sri Lanka, who had annihilated England convincingly two days earlier, were to meet India in the first semi final of the 1996 World Cup at the famous Eden Gardens, one of the biggest stadiums in India.

On the day of the match, I noticed that there was lot of excitement in the air. The Calcutta ‘Telegraph’ carried a banner headline – ‘Indians may just hold the edge’. Another tabloid carried a news item; ‘Crackers in shops all sold out’ giving an indication that Calcuttans numbering about 100,000, were ready to set Eden Gardens on fire. In the city there were many banners - Azar and party, you carry the hopes of 900 million Indians. Everything was set for the mega event.

Calcutta, the largest city in India resting on the river Hoogly, the western-most mouth of the gigantic river Gangis, is the capital of West Bengal. Calcutta was the seat of government of British India from 1773 to 1912.

I noticed that the entire city awaited the big clash - India Vs Sri Lanka - and from about 9.30, there were big queues near the Eden Gardens gates.

Although the match was scheduled to start at 2.30 pm, I arrived at the stadium by 12.30. While reading a report in a Calcutta (Kolkata) based newspaper, it stated that recent history of Eden Gardens showed that the sides batting second had been defeated in a series of one-sided 50 over encounters. For skipper Mohammed Azharuddin, Eden Gardens was his favourite hunting ground and his lucky ground, where he scored a century against England on his Test debut, in 1984-85.

I was fortunate to be with a galaxy of renowned commentators, the best in the world, such as Tony Greig, Richie Benaud, Michael Holding, Tony Cozier, Harsha Bogle etc.

Azhar called correctly. He decided to bat second. India left out Raju and brought in off-spinner Kapoor to trouble the Sri Lankan left-handers.

The Indian skipper’s decision to put Sri Lankan into bat first paid dividends early, when Kaluwitarana and the inform Sanath Jayasuriya, who scored 88 in 44 balls at Faisalabad three days earlier, were back in the pavilion within a matter of 10 minutes. They were victims of Srinath.

The scoreboard read, Sri Lanka 35 for 3. A respectable total seemed out of the question now. The only silver lining in the dark cloud was Aravinda De Silva, who had already made 31 off 12 balls.

I consider Aravinda’s innings, a committed and determined effort, where he exhibited has school motto ‘Country Before Self’.

He played his superb shot, timing beautifully, bisecting fielders. He completed his third fifty in this World Cup. De Silva’s 14 boundaries were like rare gems. It was like a compass, stroking the ball all around Eden Gardens. The 100,000 spectators enjoyed every bit of Aravinda’s innings. In the 15th over, the experienced Anil Kumble removed De Silva, with the score on 85. Out of this 85 runs, De Silva’s share was 66 off 47 deliveries. Ranatunga joined Mahanama who was 14 at that time. Ranatunga and Mahanama managed to keep the scoreboard ticking at five runs an over, mainly sliding the ball behind square or pushing it to the covers for singles. Tendulkar trapped Ranatunga for 35 in the 33rd over. Mahanama, who played a sheet-anchor role, scoring 55 runs, was carried of the field suffering from cramps.

The floodlights were switched on and Eden Gardens looked a picturesque, breadthtaking sight.

Sanath Jayasuriya is a complete cricketer; a gutsy player. He maintained his cool and kept Tendulkar and Manjreker guessing.

The 23rd over began. Tendulkar came forward, the ball brushed his pad and took off a few inches for a run. ‘Little Kalu’ removed the bails in a flash. Tendulkar braked, turned back, but by that time everything had happened. Tendulkar out for 65; whether he was stumped or run out was a big question but it was only academic.

I consider the turning point of the match was the dismissal of Indian skipper Azharuddin for a duck. Kumar Dharmasena, that never say die cricketer, tempted Azhar to play probably the first ball and he lobbed an easy catch to the lanky Dharmasena who made no mistake.

Pressure was mounting on the Indians. There was dead silence round the ground. The Indian spectators felt that the game was slowly drifting away from them.

Hashan Tillekeratne and Chaminda Vaas scored 32 and 23 off 16 balls. In the last 10 overs, the Sri Lankans managed only four boundaries. Although Sri Lanka started off disastrously, they managed a somewhat reasonable total - 250 for 8 in 50 overs.

Chaminda Vaas who opened the bowling for Sri Lanka dismissed Navjot Singh Sidhu for three. A diving Jayasuriya took a catch in the third over. Majrekar joined Tenduklar. Ranatunga relied on Muralitharan and Dharmasena and never gave up. Tendulkar was at his best. He reached his fifth 50 of the tournament in 67 balls with seven hits to the boundary. After 20 overs, the Indians were a healthy 83 for 1, and Sri Lanka’s chances were slowly evaporating. The crowd erupted when Tendulkar got his 50. Fire crackers filled the air. Some were dancing. A carnival atmosphere prevailed, sensing an Indian victory.

Kambli joined the reliable Manjrekar. And now it’s a tall order. After facing 48 balls for 25 runs, Manjrekar tried to sweep Jayasuriya, misjudged and was bowled.

The Indian bowling hero Srinath joined Kambli. In a mix up, Srinath was run out. From the deep, Muralitharan threw the ball to bowler Jayasuriya and he did the rest. The decision was referred to the Third Umpire, Pakistani Mehboob Shah. When he finally gave his decision – out - I am certain that Pakistan must have been overjoyed.

The entire complexity of the game changed. The wickets tumbled. The crowd was dumbfounded. Calcutta or Kolkata had high hopes to celebrate a National victory. In the 29th over, scoredboard read 110 for 5 wickets and the asking rate shot up to 6.6. Jadeja tried to sweep Jayasuriya only to see his leg stump uprooted. Mongia fell to Aravinda De Silva. Kapoor also tried to sweep a ball from Muralitharan to backward square and Aravinda, running from the boundary took a brilliant catch. Now the scoreboard read 120 for 8 in 34.1 overs.

All hell broke out in the stands. Bottles rained down on Eden Gardens.

That majestic Clive Lloyd, who was the Match Referee walked on to the ground and took the Sri Lankan players off.

There was utter pandemonium. The spectators were not anti-Sri Lankan, but they were in a kind of rage against the Indian team. The Police were called in. Well, they could not do anything special. Clive Lloyd was fair. He gave a chance to the spectators to cool down and the police to restore law and order. Small fires flickered in the stands. I still remember seeing a glass bottle being hurled to the grounds which nearly hit Upul Chandana, who was fielding near the boundary.

For Lloyd, the safety and security of the players was of utmost importance and he ordered the players off the ground. He made a statement; "I had no other alternative. I abandoned the game and awarded it to Sri Lanka."

This was the first instance in World Cup history that a match was awarded without completion.

Then the real saga started. The crowd cheered the Lankans and booed the Indians. There was tension in the air. Their main target was Mohammed Azharuddin, the Indian skipper. When Azhar appeared at the presentation, the spectators shouted, "chor! chor! which means thief.

The Man of the Match award was presented to Aravinda de Silva.

I attended the press conference, immediately after the match. At the presentation ceremony, Tony Greig, interviewing Azhar, said in his own inimitable style, "bad luck. Tough day."

Poor Azharuddin was completely devastated. Indian media personnel were very vociferous and severe on Azhar. Azhar’s voice was not clear. In almost a whisper, in English Azhar stated; "batsmen, bowlers and fielders let us down." Then he muttered something in his own language, which I could not understand. I asked an Indian journalist who was seated next to me, what he muttered. "This idiot is speaking from his backside," was the reply.

I was just thinking. In 1984, when Abharuddin made his debut century at Eden Gardens, he was a ‘hero’. Today, he is a ‘villain’.

What a funny game cricket is. When one is doing well, everyone is behind you, but when you fail, there is no one.

The sixth world cup created history.

After about 45 minutes, the violent and disgusted spectators had disappeared. Banners began to appear. One banner is still etched in my mind.