It was shocking: Kambli on Inzamam’s 1997 Sahara Cup crowd incident

New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS) Former India batsman Vinod Kambli was part of the team that faced Pakistan in the 1997 Sahara Cup in Toronto. The second match of the series is remembered for Pakistan’s Inzamam-Ul-Haq entering the stands with a bat in hand to beat up a fan.

“We were sitting in the dressing room and then suddenly we saw Inzi trying to show for a bat,” said Kambli on The Greatest Rivalry podcast.

“He was just pointing out to a bat, so I saw the twelfth man taking the bat straight to him after passing our dressing room.

“We were all questioning why a twelfth man was taking a bat to Inzamam, and then the entire incident happened… for what it was, it was shocking, it was really shocking.”

The crowd had been heckling Inzamam constantly throughout India’s chase during the match with reports later stating that he was being called a “fatso” and a “spoilt potato.”

Former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis had said in an earlier podcast that Inzamam had been standing up for Indian batsman Mohammed Azharuddin.

“Yes, there was someone calling him ‘aaloo’. But also, what exactly happened [was that] there was someone in the crowd who was not very good to Azharuddin’s wife — I think they were just talking some rubbish — and Inzi being Inzi, he didn’t really like it. And as I was mentioning, the friendship off the field between these two teams’ players was outstanding, it was amazing, they had a lot of respect for each other,” Waqar had said.

–IANS

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