Every Indian remembers the last-ball six batting legend Javed Miandad hammered off Chetan Sharma to help Pakistan win the Australasia Cup in Sharjah in 1986. It’s been 25 years and on Sunday Mumbai Indians Ambati Rayudu recreated that moment once again, hitting L Balaji for a last-ball six to win the game for MI.
And hero of the moment Rayudu believes he managed to hit the six because he was relaxed and waiting for Balaji to make a mistake. Balaji gave away 23 runs in the last over as MI halted a three-match losing streak.
"Actually I was pretty relaxed. I knew he (Laxmipaty Balaji) was in pressure. So I just waited for him to make a mistake. My mind was blank, just waiting for him to bowl," Rayudu said after the match which Mumbai Indians won by five wickets.
Rayudu hoisted Balaji over square leg to enable his side win the game.
Describing the atmosphere at the Eden Gardens that saw a turnout of nearly 60,000 as "unbelievable", he said, "I always thought about Eden Gardens and I am glad that today I felt it (atmosphere). I am very happy."
Asked whether he felt his team had the chances of winning the game after Kolkata Knight Riders piled up 175 of 7, Rayudu replied, “Considering the batting we have, the talent we have, we thought we can pull it off.”
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