Harbhajan came to me and said ‘what are you doing? Look at the scoreboard’: Kaif narrates NatWest final scenes

Ahead of the second ODI between India and England at Lord’s, former Indian cricketers Mohammad Kaif and Harbhajan Singh turned back the clocks 20 years to revisit one of India’s greatest limited overs triumphs at Lord's: the NatWest Trophy final of 2002. The two instrumental members of that famous victory, which ended with Sourav Ganguly waving his jersey on the visitor’s balcony, got together to talk about their memories of that day, and recalled what can now be considered a humorous incident in the middle of a risky chase.

Mohammed Kaif, who won man of the match in that final for his 87*(75), and Harbhajan Singh, his teammate at the time, spoke to Sportskeeda about that match, and the partnership they had shared as they tried to guide India towards a victory in the tri-series final against the hosts England. "I remember we had a crucial partnership of 47 runs,” said Kaif. “During that partnership, I hit a ball off Collingwood that almost carried to third man and we took a single. Then you (Harbhajan Singh) came to me and said, 'Kaif, what are you doing? Look at the scoreboard. It is almost a run-a-ball. Play smart.' This really calmed me down and I kept the scoreboard ticking by picking up singles and an odd boundary."

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Kaif took the advice, playing clever cricket and keeping himself on strike, scoring the bulk of the runs, to bring India closer and closer to the target of 326, putting them in a good position — until Harbhajan decided to take matters into his hand. “But what did you do? You told me to play smart and then yourself hit a one-handed six! (Laughs). Then you tried to back away and hit a boundary and you got clean bowled. So I said to myself, 'Wow, he himself was telling me to play smartly and now he is out.'"

Kaif and Yuvraj Singh had put together a famous 121-run partnership for the sixth wicket, bringing India back into the game after things looked bleak following heaps of wickets in quick succession after century opening stand between Ganguly and Virender Sehwag. However, Yuvraj would depart with 60 runs still needed from 9 overs, bringing Harbhajan to the crease. Kaif was required to keep batting if India had hopes of winning that match. It was a crucial partnership, bringing India to within touching distance, and despite Anil Kumble also falling in the same over, Kaif took India over the line, with Zaheer Khan scoring the winning runs on an overthrow.

India will be looking for a repeat of that iconic chase at Lord’s, as they try and seal an overseas series victory over the defending world champions. At the same time, they will be hoping it won’t be as difficult a task as it was for Kaif and company.