Former Indian captains Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja retired from international cricket on 3 June 2000, but unfortunately, they failed to wrap up their international careers with victories.
In their last international match, the Indian team conceded a 44-run defeat against arch-rivals Pakistan in the fifth match of the 2000 Asia Cup in Dhaka.
After winning the toss, Pakistan decided to bat first. The openers – Saeed Anwar (43 off 35 balls) and Imran Nazir (29 off 44 balls) made a promising start as the duo shared an opening partnership of 74 runs. Anil Kumble scored a crucial breakthrough in the 13th over of the match as he managed to send Anwar back to the dressing room.
Later Mohammad Yusuf played a brilliant innings and scored a century. Yusuf’s 100 off 112 balls (not out) helped his team script a total of 295/7 in 50 overs. His innings included 9 fours and 1 six. Later, Pakistan skipper Moin Khan (46 off 47 balls) made a significant contribution to register a huge total on the board.
Kumble took three wickets for India.
The Sourav Ganguly-led side did not look quite confident in their run chase as they conceded just 68 runs in 12 overs, losing their first two wickets. Azharuddin came out to bat at number four but his innings lasted only three balls. The Hyderabad-born former captain scored a run in the 14th over of the innings by dismissing Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq.
Azharuddin failed to do anything impressive but Jadeja had other plans. The Gujarat-born displayed a scintillating knock of 93 runs in 103 balls to bring his side back in the game. Jadeja looked set to score his seventh ODI century in his last international match but that didn’t happen in the end. His cameo ended in the 48th over of the match after Imran Nazir took his lone wicket of the match.
Jadeja’s valiant effort ultimately proved insufficient as India were bundled out for 251 in 47.4 overs.
In ODI cricket, Jadeja played 196 matches and scored 5359 runs at an average of 37.47. He managed to score 6 centuries and 30 half-centuries in ODIs.
Azharuddin played 334 matches in his illustrious ODI career and scored 9378 runs at an average of 36.92. The former captain scored 7 centuries and 58 half-centuries in ODIs.
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