As the build-up to the semi-final reaches a crescendo, here are 12 gems to whet your appetite prior to Wednesday’s blockbuster. It’s a trip down memory as we look back at some of the most high-profile and memorable matches between the arch-rivals down the years.
Benson & Hedges World Championship
of Cricket Final (10 March, 1985)
India won by 8 wickets
This was the first time the neighbours had met in the final of a major ICC tournament and the atmosphere at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was absolutely electric. Pakistan were rocked early on by Kapil Dev – the Hurriyana Hurricane dismissing Mohsin Khan and Mudassar Nazar with beautiful ouwswingers before castling Qasim Umar with a perfect yorker to leave Pakistan tottering at 29-3.
Imran Khan and Javed Miandad staged a mini-recovery but young leggie Laxman Sivaramakrishnan mesmerised the lower order batsmen as Pakistan were dismissed for a paltry 176.
In reply, India got off to a screamer, as the irrepressible Kris Srikanth smacked the bowlers to all parts of the majestic ground. At the other end, Ravi Shastri compiled a characteristically solid 63 as India raced home with 8 wickets to spare. Shashtri was crowned the man of the tournament and won an Audi for his performances.
In one of the most unforgettable sights of Indian cricket, the entire Indian team climbed into the car to take a lap of honour around the ground.
Rothmans Four-Nations
Cup group game (22 March, 1985)
India won by 38 runs
A mere 12 days after meeting in Australia, India and Pakistan crossed swords again – this time in the deserts of Sharjah. Having beaten Pakistan twice in the World Championship of Cricket (once in the group stages and once in the final), the Indians were heavy favourites going into the game. But Imran Khan had other ideas.
The talismanic fast-bowler blew the Indians away in 10 overs of high-quality and at times fearsome pace bowling. He returned figures of 10 overs for 14 runs and six wickets as India succumbed to 125 all out. It should have been a walk in the park. It was anything but.
After moving without any trouble to 13 without loss, Mohsin Khan was run out thanks to a brilliant throw from the deep. That opened the floodgates as the Indians waded into the opposition – and the Pakistan batting line-up keeled over. No batsman crossed 30 and only of the last seven made it into double figures as India notched up one of the most incredible wins in their short One-day International history.
Australasia Cup Final (18 April, 1986)
Pakistan won by 1 wicket
The match that scarred millions of Indians the world over. Batting first, India had looked set for a massive score when the top three took them to 216 for 1. But Wasim Akram and Imran Khan pulled things back dramatically as the Indians could only muster 245 from their allotted 50 overs.
At 110-4, Pakistan looked out of it, but Javed Miandad and Abdul Qadir scored 71 rapid runs to give them hope. When Qadir got out at 181, the match looked to have slipped from Pakistan’s grasp. Miandad was having none of it. Smacking boundaries and pinching singles even as wickets tumbled at the other end, the Karachi batsman took his side to within one hit of a famous win.
One ball left, four runs needed. Indian medium-pacer Chetan Sharma ran in to bowl, his intended yorker turned into a horrible waist-high full-toss that Miandad smashed for six over square-leg. The wounds from that one hit would take more than a decade to heal.
Wills Trophy Final (25 October 1991)
Pakistan won by 72 runs
If Javed Miandad had stuck the knife into Indian hearts with that six, Aqib Javed twisted it further in this game. Another final; another gutting defeat for the Indians. Pakistan batted first and put up a formidable 262 runs on the board, thanks largely to Zahid Fazal (98) and Salim Malik (87). In reply, India eased to 47 for 1 and a close match looked to be on the cards.
Enter Aqib Javed. In three devastating balls, the 19-year-old dismissed Ravi Shastri, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar to leave India reeling at 47 for four. Javed ended with figures of 7 for 37 as India were dismissed for 190 in 46 overs. The wounds of 1986 were wide open again.
Wills World Cup
Quarter-Final (March 9, 1996)
India won by 39 runs
The match is remembered for four protagonists – Ajay Jadeja, Waqar Younis, Venkatesh Prasad and Aamir Sohail. After winning the toss and batting first, India moved along steadily to 200 in the 42nd over. They looked like ending with a par score but that was before the Jadeja played the innings that will forever define him as an Indian cricketer.
Coming in to bat at number six, the bubbly right-hander plundered the Pakistani attack for 45 runs in 25 balls as India looted 87 runs from the last eight overs. Younis was the biggest casualty of Jadeja’s brutal assault – going for 24 runs in one over as India turbo-charged their way to 287. Not since Alvin Kallicharran’s dismantling of Dennis Lillee in 1975 (35 runs in 10 balls) had the world seen a premier fast bowler being taken apart like Younis was.
But Pakistan’s openers came out fired up and raced to 84 without loss in less than 10 overs. Even Saeed Anwar’s dismissal did little to stem the tide as Sohail continued to silence the capacity crowd with a mixture of savagery and class. However, the adrenalin finally got the better of him. After hitting Prasad for a four over covers, Sohail walked down the track and indicated to the bowler that that’s what he would do the next delivery as well.
Prasad pitched the ball on a good length, it cut in off the pitch and Sohail, in trying to repeat the previous shot, found his off-stump uprooted. Pakistan never really recovered from that blow and although Javed Miandad stuck around for a while, it ultimately proved too little as India won by 39 runs to enter the semis. The Karachi scrapper had played his final innings for Pakistan.
India vs Pakistan: The Classics Part II coming up tomorrow!
