India vs Pakistan Clash Today | World Cup Head to Head
It took 17 years at the World Cups for India and Pakistan to come face to face against each other. In 1987, favorites India and Pakistan bowed out in the semis losing to England and Australia respectively. The wait was pushed forward to 1992 and with the format forcing every team to play each other at least once, the Indo-Pak affair was inevitable.
India batted first at the SCG with the game reduced to 49 over a side contest after Pakistan were tardy in their overrate. The Indian innings was about two partnerships, one was a consolidation act between Ajay Jadeja and Mohammad Azharuddin for the second wicket worth 61 runs. And after a middle-order wobble triggered by leggie Mushtaq Ahmed, Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil Dev took charge. The quick 60-run partnership for the 6th wicket gave India something to play with. Sachin Tendulkar remained unbeaten on a fine 54 as India finished with 216 on the board.
Pakistan also had a big partnership for the third wicket after a sloppy start. But once India broke through the Aamer Sohail-Javed Miandad partnership, they kept chipping away with wickets to push Pakistan out of the contest. Sachin Tendulkar could do no wrong that day and provided the crucial breakthrough of Aamer Sohail who top-scored with 62. An all-round performance by the little master allowed India to gather a comfortable win by 43 runs. Tendulkar won the Man of the Match award which was going to be the first of his three Man of the Match awards in Indo-Pak clashes at the World Cups. Pakistan on their part dusted off their loses and went on a winning spree which saw them winning the cup.
March 09, 1996: When Prasad gave Sohail a send-off for the ages
Venkatesh Prasad had leaked plenty of runs already and it seemed Aamer Sohail had his number. So furious was Aamer that he gestured Prasad that he will hit the last ball of the over as well for a four and that too through covers. The way he was hitting 'em that evening, he could have had a walking stick and still scored. But the pacer had the last laugh as Sohail's timbers went cartwheeling. Prasad proceeded with a send-off. Perhaps the only time ever that the lanky pacer showed any emotion. But Aamer's wicket brought about a slow down and the chase of 289 hit a massive road block. Pakistan's middle order never really did enough to clear it away.
India batted first in arguably one of the biggest battles of that decade. Up against the defending champions, Navjot Sidhu and Sachin Tendulkar added 90 runs for the first wicket. For a change, Sachin was the subdued partner. Sachin, Sanjay Manjrekar, Mohammad Azharuddin and Vinod Kambli got off to starts but never converted them into anything substantial. Sidhu also missed out on his ton. A final flourish looked out of reach before Ajay Jadeja launched his counter-attack. His brute onslaught against Waqar Younis towards the end of the innings is another memory fresh in the annals of the Chinnaswamy.
Pakistan also replied fire with fire. Anwar and Sohail were off to a breezy start. 84 runs for the first wicket and that too in no time. But once the pair was separated, the pace of the game got altered and India sucked out all the momentum that was garnered by the Pakistanis. Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble were the wreckers-in-chief as they scalped three wickets apiece. India entered the semis at the expense of the defending champions and till 2007 T20 WC, it remained as the biggest platform where the arch rivals had met.
June 08, 1999: Prasad's heroics keep India alive
You can't keep Venkatesh Prasad out of the India Pakistan documentation for too long. If he pulled the trigger in 1996, 1999 saw him being the gun himself. A fifer against Pakistan in a low scoring game ensured that the Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin was congratulated by the Indian army, who were fighting the Kargil war then against their neighbours. An Indo-Pak clash never had such hype.
On a slightly
