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Playing as a youngster in the 1999 World Cup I had nothing to do with the decisions made or strategies followed by the seniors or team management at the time, but I believe that we shouldn’t have batted first after winning the toss in the final against Australia at Lord’s where the ball is known to swing during the first innings.
Still, having no say in such matters, I just concentrated on enjoying my game and doing my best for my country. The atmosphere in the Pakistan dressing room, too, was very friendly and the team played with unity and the belief of being able to beat any side.
I took five wickets against Bangladesh while giving away just 35 runs at Northhampton along with three for 51 against Australia at Leeds and three for 16 against Zimbabwe in the Super Sixes at The Oval, which became some of my best ODI figures.
But the 1999 World Cup also brings to mind other happy memories for me as I had only recently gotten married then. My wife Sana is from London so I was glad to be allowed time with her in between matches and net practice. But things changed in the last 10 days of the tournament when all the players were requested to send back their better halves home so that we could concentrate on the important matches in the Super Sixes.
Since I was not prepared to part company with my wife at the time, I came up with a great idea and decided to hand her the list of hotels where our team was scheduled to stay during the matches so that she could reach there and check herself in ahead of our arrival.
However, the night before the final when I was sitting in my room with her, our manager Dr Zafar Altaf and assistant manager Chishty sahab knocked at the door.
Actually, both the team officials were checking on all the players to ensure that we were all in our rooms and resting before the big match. I quickly asked my wife to hide in the cupboard before ushering them in. As soon as they left, our coach Richard Pybus arrived in my room and stayed till 10.30pm. When he finally bade goodnight, I got two new visitors in Mohammad Yousuf and Azhar Mahmood.
Feeling guilty by this time about the poor girl hiding in the closet, I finally asked my wife to come out which obviously took both my teammates by surprise. However, they really enjoyed the whole thing upon learning the truth.
—Saqlain Mushtaq was speaking to SH
