Among the many India-Pakistan World Cup moments that stand as fresh as the present in the fan memory is the Venkatesh Prasad-Aamer Sohail confrontation in the 1996 World Cup quarter-final at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. The Pakistan batter provoking the Indian bowler after he had hit the latter for a boundary past the cover region, and cut to the next delivery, Prasad uprooting Aamer’s off-stump and giving him the perfect send-off. It is a moment that is always revisited while talking about one of the greatest cricket rivalries. As recently as Sunday, Venkatesh Prasad also took a trip down the memory lane to add to his point of view on the incident. When asked by a Twitter user, the former India bowler responded to the incident by writing that it was his arrogance that cost Sohail his wicket in the World Cup knockout game. “He was arrogant in this image you posted, you need to see the next ball to know what arrogance can do-Uproot which in Hindi means Ukhaad,” he wrote via his Twitter account. https://twitter.com/venkateshprasad/status/1536020369613545472?t=KHMopKYbZMo3Qp_7gsUDrQ&s=08 Last year, Sohail had shared his half of the story during a YouTube chat. “There was nothing said,” Aamer told Cricket Life Stories. “People interpret it differently. They have to say something to prove that they understand the game well. There was no word exchanged. Javed Miandad told us how to rile up the bowler when you think that he is going to take charge. It was reverse psychology.” The dismissal of Sohail by Prasad is seen as the turning point of the 1996 World Cup quarter-final between India and Pakistan. Chasing 288, the defending champions were 114/1 after 14.5 overs with nine wickets in hand. Pakistan were unable to forge a big partnership post Sohail’s wicket and eventually lost the game by 39 runs.
