The cricketing contest involving arch rivals India & Pakistan has always lived up to the expectation of being a nerve wrecking encounter .Both these cricketing giants have locked horns four times in the world cup but its India who has always had a upper hand.So here we go back to the previous editions of the megaevent to relive some fascinating moments of an Indo-Pak clash.
In the 1992 world cup India & Pakistan battled it out for the first time ever in world cup history in the round robin match played at famous Sydney cricket ground.Winning the toss,India opted to bat first in the match reduced to 49 overs due to rain.Having lost Srikanth for next to nothing ,Jadeja & Azaharuddin batted sensibly to lay a good foundation for the later batsman.With the help of marvelous half century from Sachin Tendulkar who batted quite sensationally & pyrotechnics from Kapil Dev,India pushed the score past 200 which finally read at 216/7.Pakistan always kept loosing wickets at regular intervals which set them back.The match also involved heated argument between Kiran More & Miandad. Indian bowlers bowled in tandem with Srinath,Dev & Prabhakar all picking 2 wickets a piece, bowling out Pakistan for paltry 173 & thereby comprehensively winning the game.
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The next clash between these two sides was a much intense quarterfinal encounter of the 1996 world cup played at Bangalore.It was a do or die game for both sides & had pressure written all over it.Pakistan went into the match without their strike bowler Akram who was reported unfit just before the match.India again won the toss & batted first.Siddhu batted brilliantly for his 93, Azaharuddin, Tendulkar, Kambli all chipped in with useful contributions but the talking point of the innings was the cameo coming from the bat of Ajay Jadeja. In the 48th over he tore Waqar Younis apart with breathtaking strokeplay smashing Waqar all round the park,the trademark being hte pick up shot which went for six over midwicket. Jadeja,s 25 ball 47 helped India posting a formidable score of 287.Pakistan openers Anwar & Sohail came out all guns blazing with Indian bowlers having no clue whatsoever.In the 15th over of their run chase when everything was going smooth for Pakistan,Sohail did a harakiri.Having slapped Prasad for four through point region,he got in an needless argument ,loosing his concentarion & the very next ball had his middle stump pegged back.From then on India never looked back & went on to win the match by 38 runs.
For the third time India & Pakistan battled it outin the world cup encounter at Manchester.This match had some emotions with it since that was a tense time between the two countries.Again India batted first & posted respectable score of 227 with substantial contributions from Dravid,Tendulkar & Azhar,on a pitch which was on the slower side.Indian bowlers once again rose to the ocassion rolling out Pakistan for 180 comprehensively winnin the game.
In the 2003 world cup match at Centurions,India & Pakistan were facing each other again.It was the first game between the two nations after the gap of 3 years hence had an electrifying build up to the game.This time Pakistan batted first & put up a good score of 273 courtesy to the brilliant hundred by Saeed Anwar, who was playing his last world cup.Tendulkar & Sehwag gave India a ferocious start with Tendulkar hitting Akthar for six over third man in the very first over & Sehwag repeating the same with Waqar.At 53 ,two wickets fell quickly,but there was no stopping Tendulkar ,who was in sublime form.He made fluent 98 studded with boundaries in every direction.After his departure it was left to dependable Dravid & young Yuvraj to make sure that there was no hiccup.In the end India successfully reached the target with over 4 overs to spare.So that,s how the stats go as far as world cup matches are concerned involving these two nations.
