1989, 1st Test Karachi: When an attack on India captain K. Srikkanth by a Pakistani fan shocked Kapil Dev

Updated on June 18, 2024 at 8:49 p.m. IST

The India-Pakistan rivalry always stands out from any other cricket rivalry and there is no doubt about it. Here’s a look back at a not-so-pleasant episode of India’s tour of Pakistan in 1989.

Srikkanth and Sunil Gavaskar before an IPL match

India vs Pakistan has always been a spectacle that delights fans around the world. Be it rivalry, cricket, fusion of cultures, when these two nations clash on the 22 yards, it gives birth to many such stories that are passed down from generation to generation. Whether it’s the ‘shot of the century’ of Virat Kohli or Rauf in the MCG or a young Sachin Tendulkar smashing Abdul Qadir for four consecutive sixes, these are just some of the many stories that are an integral part of the glorious history of cricket.

Cricket, often considered a colonial sport, creates an unparalleled sense of unity within these two countries. India vs Pakistan is not only Asia’s biggest cricket rivalry, but also the world’s, something only the Ashes can match. The geopolitical tension between these two countries only adds fuel to the fire and more often than not, these matches can turn players into heroes and villains, depending on their performance on the given day. While talking about the cricket rivalry between India and Pakistan, one simply cannot not talk about India’s historic tour of Pakistan in 1989.

Before that, Pakistan had always had the upper hand over India, thanks to their ferocious pace bowling, but India’s tour of Pakistan in 1989 was aimed at leveling the playing field. It was the historic tour in which Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar made his India debut and the rest was history. A 16-year-old piling up the pressure on the fierce bowling trio of Wasim, Waqar and Imran Khan was a sight to behold and gave the cricketing world just a small glimpse of what was to come over the course of the next 24 years. Not only Sachin, but another boy from Mumbai gave Pakistan a taste of his class. The boy from Mumbai called Sanjay Manjrekar scored 76 off 240 balls in the first innings and followed it up with a valiant 83 off 189 deliveries.

But what also made headlines was the way Indian skipper, the flamboyant Krishnamahari Srikkanth, was manhandled and attacked by a Pakistani fan. During the 1st Test Match which was played in the Karachi At the International Stadium, a religious party activist attacked the Indian skipper with a knife. This incident left the great Kapil Dev shocked and he didn’t know how to react to this anymore. To the captain’s great luck, he remained unharmed when security personnel arrested the attacker.