WORLD CUP Victories:  History Repeats Itself!

Amazing similarities between the Aussie ’99 victory & the Indian ’83 World Cup Win
– Dr. Aadil S Chagla

I am a keen cricketer and still continue to spend my Sundays opening the batting in all major club tournaments in Mumbai.  I play the Dr. Kanga League “B” Div Cricket Tournament for Islam Gymkhana and also represent the BMC A team in the Times Shield. I try my best to keep abreast with most of the cricket being played all around in spite of my hectic schedule as a neurosurgeon. It is quite obvious one has to pick and choose with the amount of International Cricket being played. 

I have put together some astonishing facts about the Australian Victory in ’99 and the Indian Triumph in ’83 

It is said history repeats itself, and for those who believe so I have noted more than a dozen similarities between the two World Cup Victories in the years 1983 and 1999. 

1. The Two Finalists in both the World Cups were quite evenly matched with respect to their performances in the preliminary rounds. India beat the West Indies in one game & lost the next one while Australia V/S Pakistan was an evenly fought encounter in the preliminary rounds.
2. West Indies was the most dominant side in the preliminary rounds but lost the finals rather tamely.
   Pakistan was the most dominant side in the preliminary rounds but lost the finals quite tamely too.
3. Indians were the underdogs but their performance improved with each game till they won the finals.
   Australia played the earlier rounds like underdogs but improved with every game from the second stage onwards.
4. a) Captain Kapil Dev inspired the Indian team with a heroic 175 n.o. after India were reduced  to 17 for 5, to ensure an Indian victory against Zimbabwe.
   Skipper Steve Waugh did the same with a stupendous 120 n.o. when Australia was tottering at 50 for 5 needing a mammoth 267 for victory against South Africa. 
   
   b). Both centuries were scored against African sides in the league stages!
   
   
5. Vice-captain Mohinder Amarnath won the man of the match awards in both the semi-finals & the finals.
   Vice-captain Shane Warne won the man of the match awards in both the semi-finals & the finals.


6. Indian Opener Kris Shrikant was the top scorer in the finals. Kris had a pretty ordinary World Cup; He was known for his aggressive batting & big hitting.
   Australian Opener Adam Gilchrist was the top scorer in the finals; he too had a pretty ordinary World Cup and is also known for his aggressive batting style. 


7. ‘I’ (India) precedes ‘W’ (West Indies) by 14 alphabets & ‘A’ (Australia) precedes ‘P’ (Pakistan) by 15 alphabets. Both sides finished up according to the alphabetical order in the both the finals.


8. The fastest bowler in the ’83 Prudential Cup was Malcolm Marshall in the West Indies team; Shoaib Aktar was the quickest in the 99 World Cup in the Pakistan side.
   (Both sides ended up as losing finalists!)  


9. a) The Captains of both the wining teams were world-class players. (All-rounders and brilliant fielders). b) The Captains of the losing teams were both left-handers. c) Both Losing Captains were taller than their counterparts! c) Both victorious Captains were humble and magnanimous attributing their triumph to team effort and belief in themselves.
10. 10 Both Victorious teams occupied the same dressing room (To the Right) at LORDS.

Iranian Twins, Laheh and Ladan Die following 52 hours surgery due to Blood loss!

Ladan Bijani one of the 29 year old twins died minutes after the separation and Laleh died a few hours later.

At the outset, I must say that I write these few lines merely as a news item and the reader will need to derive his or her own inferences on this rather touchy and ethical issue. I have not personally examined the twins, nor have I seen their neuro imaging studies and therefore it may be a little difficult for me to write about the intricate details regarding this case. On 6th July 2003, Dr. Keith Goh and his team of doctors, at Raffles Hospital, Singapore, decided to go ahead with the separation of the “Siamese” twins. Ladan and Laheh the cost estimated at 175000 pound sterling! The preparation for the surgery took 7 months and for the twins, who made their decision to undergo this near impossible surgery, there was no turning back and even their father who was an Iranian doctor could not change their minds!

The two girls were fused at the back and side of the head, the area being about 16 X 18 cm sq. They shared a common venous conduit namely the posterior portion of the Superior Sagittal Sinus which is a critical part of the venous drainage of the brain. The operating team decided to graft this sinus using a vein from the right leg from Ladan. Experts from other centres had already warned that the operation to re route the shared veins would make the separation nearly impossible with out killing one or both the twins.

The bones of the skull at the site of fusion were particularly thick which made it difficult to study the exact anatomy on pre operative imaging studies which were obscured by the bony artifacts. Besides to cut through this thick calvarium was in itself a major surgical exercise. The brain tissue also shared some common arterial supply.
 
All these aspects made this surgery a near impossible venture. The operating team must have seen some hope in carrying out this surgery and hence made the attempt. In the name of science and progress, I do hope these surgeons who executed this surgery come up with all the facts and educate us with all there is to know!

Prof. Aadil S Chagla
Dept Of Neurosurgery
K E M Hospital
&
Tata Memorial hospital
Parel, Mumbai 400 012