Shot Stories

The wizard and the kid

Twelve years ago, an inexperienced Pakistan line-up might have bested Australia in Colombo if they hadn't fallen under the spell of Shane Warne

December 2014

Rashid Latif: With Faisal, Latif had rescued Pakistan's first innings, adding nearly a hundred runs in the final session on day two. And after Faisal fell, he batted with the tail to help narrowly avoid the follow-on. Surprisingly, Latif effected no dismissals in Australia's second-innings collapse, triggered by a lightning-fast Shoaib Akhtar. In fact, the keepers played parts in only four of the 40 wickets that fell in the Test.

Shane Warne: Coming around the wicket on the third morning, he spun one across Faisal and got his third wicket in an innings in which he finished with 7 for 94. It was a great series for Warne, who took 27 wickets. Things went downhill three months later when he dislocated the shoulder on which he had had reconstruction surgery in 1998, and was then banned for a year for drug use.

Srinivas Venkataraghavan: In Australia's second innings, Venkat gave Matthew Hayden out when he padded away an offbreak from Saqlain Mushtaq. Hayden walked away in disgust, but there were no hard feelings. In his book, Hayden expresses admiration for Venkat. "I would sometimes ask him, 'What about this field?' He'd say, 'They're obviously trying to make you hit across the line,' tutoring me at a vital stage of my career."

Faisal Iqbal: The 20-year-old had smashed a run-a-ball 78 the previous day, lofting Warne over his head for a boundary in his first over and then taking him for 18 in his final one. But facing Warne for the first time on day three, Faisal edged to slip. He went on to bat over two and a half hours in the second innings and was last out as Pakistan fell 41 short of their target.

Mark Waugh:This was a rare catch for Waugh in a series in which he surprisingly dropped several in the slips. It was also his last series; he averaged 20, and while he scored a fifty in the first innings, he was out first ball to Shoaib Akhtar in the second.

Adam Gilchrist: Unlike Faisal, Gilchrist walked out in Australia's first innings at No. 7 with a large cushion of 329 runs. He and Damien Martyn scored at three and a half an over and the total threatened to cross 600 before Shoaib mopped up the tail. There were some jitters in the fourth innings when Gilchrist missed stumping opener Imran Nazir and had a close appeal for a caught-behind against Younis Khan turned down.