This day, that year: The story behind Saeed Anwar's magical 194 in India-Pakistan clash

Dubai - Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar didn't score a double century but he showed the current lot of batsmen the way

International cricket is now littered with at least a dozen or more batsmen who have racked up double hundreds in One Day Internationals but there is one man they perhaps would like to thank.

Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar didn't score a double century but he showed the current lot of batsmen the way.

It was a typical summer evening (May 21, 1997) in Chennai 24 years ago but that Wednesday was special as the India-Pakistan cricket rivalry was being played out.

But as twilight turned into night, the southpaw had left not just the massive crowd that had assembled at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk, in awe but also the entire cricketing world.

Anwar (194, 146 balls, 22 fours, 5 sixes) was heading into what was unchartered territory back then, cutting the Indian bowling attack into smithereens. That wasn't the Playstation era but it sure felt like one as the southpaw not just dictated play, he toyed with the bowlers and made it look so, so easy.

And it took an outstanding catch from Sourav Ganguly off Sachin Tendulkar's bowling, to leave Anwar six runs short and put an end to the mayhem.

The sporting Chennai crowd gave him a standing ovation and for a lot of Indians who witnessed that sparkling innings, most would have actually hoped that Ganguly spilled that catch and Anwar would reach a landmark, which out of the realms of possibility until then.

Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Chris Gayle, Martin Guptill and Fakhar Zaman would all go on to breach that magical mark with Rohit doing it thrice, but it was Saeed Anwar who laid the blueprint for it.

And Anwar's then teammate, the great off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, the inventor of the 'doosra, gave an insight into that innings and the man that was Saeed Anwar.

"The 194 he scored, I watched his body language a few days before and felt that there is something different that is going on within him. There's some kind of spark. He was spending more time in the nets, he was working on his batting a lot more. He was intense when he went into the nets, as though it was a match situation. I watched him for four or five days and he was bursting with energy and his preparation was immaculate," Mushtaq revealed on his Youtube channel 'Saqlain Mushtaq Show.'

"After seeing his 194, I feel that some nine or days before that knock, he probably had a dream or he had made up his mind that he wanted to create a world record and tell the whole world how you should bat, and how to dominate a opposition, and how to keep your aggression from ball one.

"The way he batted that day, it seemed like he was playing against kids. It was like he could hit wherever he wished to. He showed his strong character that day. He rewrote history that day. Had he not got out, and it was an outstanding catch, he would have scored 200 plus. He showed the world's batsmen that it is possible to score a hundred. But to do that, you have to listen to the voice from your heart, listen to your inner voice, play with a free spirit, play with freedom. Later, players like Rohit Sharma went and scored double hundreds but the legacy is of Saeed Anwar," he added.