On this day in 2004 – Dravid, Tendulkar, Pathan shine in India’s Asia Cup win
Team India registered a memorable victory against UAE on this day in the 2004 Asia Cup. Skipper Sourav Ganguly won the toss and opted to have a bat first. The Men in Blue had a poor start with opening batter Virender Sehwag getting run out without troubling the scorers.
Sachin Tendulkar was then joined by skipper Ganguly as they went on to stitch a short partnership of 30 runs. Tendulkar was grabbed by Saeed but Ganguly played a valiant knock of 56 runs. VVS Laxman also got a start with the bat but was not able to score big.
Rahul Dravid then joined Ganguly at the crease to stitch a crucial 80+ run partnership. Even after Ganguly got out, Dravid stood tall for his team and scored an excellent century. He completed his hundred in just 93 balls and smashed eight boundaries.
Some decent contributions from Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif ensured that the Men in Blue score a decent total of 260 runs in their allotted 50 overs. For UAE, Rizwan Latif scalped two wickets. Asim Saeed, Mohammad Tauqir, and Khurram Khan scalped one wicket each.
Chasing 261 to win, UAE had the worst possible start as seven wickets before even reaching the 100-run mark. Left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan (three wickets) and Lakshmipati Balaji absolutely demolished the UAE batting line-up.
But Pathan was not alone as Sachin Tendulkar (three wickets), Zaheer Khan (one wicket) and Anil Kumble also scalped one wicket each for their side, helping India occupy the front seat in the game at all stages.
A valiant fifty from Tauqir ensured that his team reach 144 runs before getting all out. Of those 144, India gave away 34 runs as extras. Rahul Dravid was named player of the match for his excellent batting performance as India completed an easy victory over UAE.
