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Cricket
Thursday, 08 October 2009 04:10 Written by Ned Kelly Pakistan’s all-time greatest batsman Javed Miandad talks to That’s Shanghai & Urbanatomy about sledging, slogging and a very special six You are considered the best batsman Pakistan ever produced. Who do you rate as the best batsman of all time? There are so many, but one that stands out, who I really enjoyed watching, was Viv Richards. And who was the hardest bowler you ever faced? The one I always admired – and the guy everybody used talk about – was Dennis Lillee.
But you once nearly whacked him over the head with your bat?! In those days a great class of batting was around and a great class of bowling was around. Sometimes the bowler was successful. Sometimes the batsman was successful. It used to be like a battle between bowler and batsman. Quite literally if the picture is anything to go by! And you’re following in the footsteps of Merv Hughes, who was here last year. We hear you once called Merv a bus conductor? Things were different then. There was a lot of talking on the pitch, a lot of that kind of stuff. He was saying a few things so I just pointed out that he looked like a fat truck driver (chuckling). That’s a part of cricket, a lot gets made of it but it was all on the pitch – people don’t see us all together off it. We were all close and we all got along – Lillee, Botham, Chappell, all of us. I don’t think anybody took it to heart. So tell us about that last-ball 6 in the Australasia Cup Final in 1986? It was very, very special. We needed 4 runs from the last ball to win the trophy and, well… it is one thing that everybody knows who you are as a batsman, but to have everybody remember you for one particular moment. It was a wonderful thing. Was it that much sweeter that it came against India? It is like when England play Australia in the Ashes series, when India play Pakistan neither country’s people want to lose. There will be a lot of Indians at the dinner in Shanghai – are you expecting a bit of banter? It is a different kind of tournament, not so much about winning or losing, more of a festival to promote the game in China with people coming from all over the world, so I’m expecting a friendly atmosphere. You and Imran Khan saved the day with a nerve-steadying partnership of 139 the 1992 World Cup Final. What are your memories of that day? Obviously it is everyone’s dream to win this tournament. You are playing for the whole country. Me and Imran had a very good partnership and we did it for the country, winning the World Cup for Pakistan. Tell us about Imran – we hear that you rubbed each other up the wrong way? Our relationship is fantastic, he’s a good friend and whenever we meet we always talk about the old days. Obviously he’s into politics now, but he still cares deeply about cricket. You’re not interested in following him into politics though? I don’t think so. I’ve been through a lot – and there is enough politics going on in cricket! And we hear you are heavily involved in Chinese cricket? Yeah, I’m a senior advisor to the Chinese Cricket Board and Pakistan’s Cricket Ambassador to China. I’ve done coaching with the Chinese team and went to Malaysia to look after them there. I still remember when I first visited the country and everybody took such an interest in the sport. I can’t wait to be there again. We have 2 pairs of tickets for the fundraising dinner to give away. Simply answer the following question: What is Javed Miandad’s Pakistani record test run aggregate? Entries to
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The Shanghai October Sports Special Tennis: Shanghai Masters 1000 Tennis: Juan Martin Del Potro interview Golf: HSBC Champions Golf: Sergio Garcia Interview Cricket: Coca-Cola Cricket Sixes Cricket: Javed Miandad interview Rugby: Shanghai Touch Tournament Polo: Royal Salute China Polo China: Tournaments around China China: The state of Chinese sports
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