NEW DELHI:
Eden Gardens
will forever have a link with
South African cricket
, for it was at the iconic Kolkata stadium on November 10, 1991 that the country made an emotional return to the international fold. On this historic day, after almost 22 years of sporting isolation due to apartheid, South Africa played its first international match against India.
This tour was hastily arranged, coming hardly four months after the ICC accepted South Africa's return. The
BCCI thus became the first cricket board to welcome South Africa back from over two decades of sporting isolation, with this three-ODI series.
Their landmark re-entry into international cricket came in front of a packed Eden Gardens, though the result was a three-wicket win for India. Chasing 178 after some good work from the bowlers, India recovered from 20/3 due to half-centuries from
Sachin Tendulkar (62) and Pravin Amre (55). For South Africa,
Allan Donald showed the cricketing world what he was capable of with 5/29.
Clive Rice, the emotional South African captain, was asked what he felt like to finally get a chance to play at the highest level, and he replied: "I know how
Neil Armstrong
felt when he stood on the moon." Those three ODIs versus India turned out to be Rice's only international appearances.