India meet Pakistan in an eagerly awaited World Cup match in Ahmedabad on Saturday. The clash between the neighbours is a highly emotional affair and is watched with keen interest. So far, both India and Pakistan have maintained a clean sheet in this edition of the World Cup.
Although India have a 7-0 head-to-head record over their arch-rivals in the mega event, the Men in Blue must be aware of the fact that records and numbers will have little relevance when the two teams look to renew their rivalry.
There have been some epic moments from the Indo-Pak clashes in the World Cup. Onmanorama harks back to five iconic moments from previous editions.
1. Miandad mocks More
India met Pakistan for the first time ever in a World Cup in 1992. India made 216/7 in a match reduced to 49-overs-per-side at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Pakistan's legendary batter Javed Miandad's mimicry of Indian wicketkeeper Kiran More during the chase remains one of the funniest episodes in cricket. Miandad was annoyed by More's constant chirping from behind the wickets. Frustrated, he leapt like a frog several times to taunt More.
Miandad fell for 40 as India won the match by 43 runs. However, India failed to get past the league phase, while Pakistan went on to win their maiden world title.
2. Sohail-Prasad face-off
India and Pakistan locked horns in the quarterfinals of the 1996 edition at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Batting first, India amassed 287/8 in 50 overs. Pakistan were docked an over for slow over-rate and needed to chase down the target in 49 overs.
Pakistan openers Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar began in a whirlwind fashion. The two added 84 in 10 overs before Anwar fell to Javagal Srinath. Pakistan were still in control when Sohail, who was leading the side in place of regular skipper Wasim Akram, had a go at medium-pacer Venkatesh Prasad. Sohail pointed his bat to the boundary after smashing Prasad for a four through cover region. A charged up Prasad bowled the left-hander off the very next ball and gave him a royal send-off!
Pakistan lost their way after Sohail's dismissal and ended up losing the match by 39 runs. Prasad claimed 3/45.
India lost to eventual champion Sri Lanka in the semifinals.
3. Tendulkar's upper-cut six off Akhtar
One of the iconic shots played by master blaster Sachin Tendulkar in his illustrious career came during the India-Pakistan group match at the 2003 edition in Centurion, South Africa. Opting to bat, Pakistan ended up with 273/7 in 50 overs. Sachin and Virender Sehwag got India off to a flier as they added 53 inside six overs. In the second over of the match, Tendulkar hit a six off Pakistan's pace spearhead Shoaib Akhtar over the third man boundary. The shot attained an iconic status and is always revisited ahead of every India-Pakistan encounter.
Akhtar eventually dismissed Tendulkar, but by then the maestro had put India in the driver's seat with a breathtaking 98 off 75 balls.
India won the match by six wickets. Pakistan exited in the group stage, while India went down to Australia in the final.
4. Harbhajan gets Afridi
India and Pakistan met in the semifinals of the 2011 edition at Mohali. India rode on a chancy 85 by Tendulkar to post 260/9 in 50 overs. Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals and their sole hopes rested on captain Shahid Afridi who came in to bat only at No. 8.
Afridi had made 19 when he tried to smash a full-toss off Harbhajan Singh for a maximum but could only mishit it to Sehwag who completed a simple catch. Harbhajan celebrated Afrid's fall with a roar that showed how much the wicket meant to him and Team India. India won the match by 29 runs and went on to clinch the World Cup for the second time.
5. Kuldeep bamboozles Babar
India and Pakistan clashed for the seventh time in the league phase of the last edition in 2019. India made a mammoth 336/5 in 50 overs with Rohit Sharma blazing away to 140 off 113 balls.
Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam kept them in the hunt with a 104-run stand for the second wicket. Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav broke the stand by castling Babar (48) with a beauty. Kuldeep also accounted for Zaman (62).
India won the rain-affected match by 89 runs via Dcukworth-Lewis method to maintain their perfect record over their neighbours in the World Cup.
Pakistan failed to make it to the last-four stage, while the Men in Blue were stunned by New Zealand in the semifinals.
