Sanjay Manjrekar revisits Karachi Test when anti-India slogans led to full-blown brawl

Sanjay Manjrekar reveals what led to brawl in Karachi during IND-PAK Test match. (Photo: X)

The 1989-90 tour of Pakistan holds a special place in the heart Indian cricket history and it's fans. During the tour, a 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar announced himself infront of the world. Interestingly, Tendulkar was not the only legendary cricketer who made his debut during this tour which included 4 Tests and 3 ODIs. Pace sensation icon Waqar Younis also debuted as well as India’s Salil Ankola and Pakistan’s Shahid Saeed.

However, Tendulkar and Waqar’s debuts were not only the hot topics from the series opener at Karachi’s National Stadium. Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar who scored an unbeaten 113 during India's chase of 453 runs, recalled anti-India slogans which led to a full-blown brawl in Karachi.

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“During a match in Karachi, I was at mid-off when suddenly a man in local attire walked onto the field, shouting anti-India slogans. Before we could react, he charged straight at our captain, Krishnamachari Srikkanth,” Manjrekar said on The Great Indian Cricket Show on Doordarshan.

“What followed was surreal. A full-blown scuffle in the middle of a Test match! Srikkanth fought back, his shirt buttons ripped and the game stopped as security scrambled to intervene,” he added.

Manjrekar further also revealed that Kiran More was also involved in scuffle with Srikkanth.

“The funniest part? Kiran More jumped in to defend his captain and started kicking the intruder with his pads still on! It was chaos, like a street fight on a cricket pitch,” he added.

The 4-match Test series ended in a 0-0 draw and Pakistan won the 4-match ODI series 2-0 in which one of the match was abandoned without a single ball being bowled and the other one was ended as No Result.