India Vs Pakistan at ICC Cricket World Cups
Believe me or not when the cricketing world says India Vs Pakistan, then the adrenaline oozes. That’s the specialty of an India Vs Pakistan cricket match. It’s analogous to the Epic England Vs Australia rivalry. This is the period when emotions surface through the minds of the Indians and the Pakistani’s. We have been arch-rivals and every India Vs Pakistan game is a do or die battle for us. Pakistan was always known for its incredible bowling line up.
But what’s the use of having such a talented bowling brigade when you can’t use them to win a match against arch-rivals at Prestigious tournaments. These are the bowlers who represented the Pakistani National Team at different World Cups. India Vs Pakistan has not just cricket but more to it. It is the battle of supremacy whenever both the teams play.
It is the Indian batting Vs the Pakistani bowling. Though Pakistan may have out got an edge over the statistics in overall games played they haven’t tasted victory against India in any World Cup games. Today we would be looking at the Glorious World Cup finishes that involved India and Pakistan – the mother of all sports.
1. India Vs Pakistan, at Sydney, March 4, 1992. – Benson and Hedges World Cup, Australia, New Zealand
It was the first world cup that witnessed the first India Vs Pakistan epic clash. It was an exciting clash with two equally talented teams battled it out in Sydney. The Pakistan team had some gifted talents such as Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, and many. On the other side, India relied on the experience of 1983 World Cup-winning Captain Kapil Dev, Youth Sensation Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Manoj Prabhakar, Srinath and so. India won the toss and elected to bat. With the help of Sachin Tendulkar’s almost run a ball 54, Kapil Dev’s 35, and Ajay Jadeja’s 46, India put down a modest total of 216. Mushtaq Ahmad claimed three wickets.
Chasing 216, the Pakistan team bundled out for 173. Aamir Sohail’s 62 and Javed Miandad’s 40 couldn’t catapult the Pakistani chase, and they lost their first World Cup battle at Sydney. Javed Miandad imitated wicket-keeper Kiran More and that cracked some! Kapil Dev, J Srinath, and Prabhakar claimed two wickets each. Young Sachin Tendulkar was announced as the Man of the Match. Sachin Tendulkar’s involvement is crucial games at the World Cup are known, and of course, his records speak. India won by 43 runs.
India 1 – Pakistan 0
2. India Vs Pakistan, at Bangalore, March 9, 1996. – Wills World Cup, India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka.
India and Pakistan faced each for the 2nd time at the 2nd Quarter Finals at Bangalore in the Wills World Cup. India chose to bat after winning the toss and put down a total of 287. Sidhu scored 93 and Tendulkar scored 31. This game saw Ajay Jadeja scoring 45 of 25 deliveries. He took on to the bowling of Waqar Younis in the Slog overs and sent the ball across the boundaries. Waqar Younis and Mushtaq Ahmad took two wickets each.
In pursuit of 288, Pakistani batsmen scored well. But Aamir Sohail’s 55, Saeed Anwar’s 48, Javed Miandad and Saleem Malik’s 38 could get them close to the Target and succumbed to India. Anil Kumble and Venkatesh Prasad took three wickets each. This match features the rivalry between Aamir Sohail and Prasad with Prasad getting the wicket of Sohail after being hit for a boundary in the previous ball. Sidhu was declared the man of the match for his blitzkrieg 93. India won by 43 runs.
India 2 – Pakistan 0
3. India Vs Pakistan, at Manchester, June 8, 1999. – ICC World Cup, England.
This year the World Cup was back to the United Kingdom after a gap of 16 years. And India faced Pakistan in a fierce Super 6 clash at Manchester. It was a bowling pitch and India put down a modest score of 227 with the help of Sachin Tendulkar’s 45, Rahul Dravid’s 61, and Mohd. Azharuddin’s 59. Wasim Akram and Azhar Mahmood took 2 wickets each. With efforts to reach 228, Pakistan managed just 180. Saeed Anwar’s 36 and Moin Khan’s 34 couldn’t help them. Venkatesh Prasad’s 5 for 27 and Srinath’s 3 annihilated the Pakistani innings. Venkatesh Prasad was the man of the match for his 5/27. India won by 47 runs. India 3 – Pakistan 0
India 3 – Pakistan 0
4. India Vs Pakistan, at Centurion, March 1, 2003. – ICC World Cup, South Africa.
South Africa was hosting its first Cricket World Cup and it was a special one. After being Humbled by Australia, Pakistan proved to be a tough opponent for India. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. This was the first time Pakistan was batting first in their previous three clashes. With Veteran Batsman Saeed Anwar’s 126 balls 101, Pakistan put down a respectable total of 273. Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan took 2 wickets each.
In the quest of 273, Indian Batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Virendra Sehwag thrashed Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Shoaib Akhtar’s bowling. This match is a memorable match because in this game we got to witness Sachin Tendulkar’s explosive avatar where a quickfire 98 of 75 deliveries stole the match from Pakistan. Yuvraj Singh’s 50 and Rahul Dravid’s 44 was instrumental in India’s chase. Sachin Tendulkar was the man of the match for this match. I fondly remember this match because the following day I had my SSC board exams and I took the service of Radio FM to listen to the match and got thrashed by my mother.
India 4 – Pakistan 0
5. India Vs Pakistan, at Durban, September 14, 2007. – ICC T20 World Cup, South Africa.
The battle was the same. Arch Rivals met once again at Durban in South Africa but in a shorter format of the Game. It was the inaugural T20 world cup and the Indo-Pak clash was a Group D encounter. The Indian team sans the experienced trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly relied on the youth power. It was a young team and on the other hand, Pakistan had experienced players like Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan followed by some awesome young bowlers like Mohammad Asif who was good at swinging the ball at any surface. MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first. India was struggling at 36 for 4 with both the openers getting out cheaply.
Robin Uthappa and Captain Dhoni resurrected the innings by showing some responsible batting and India scored 141 in the 20 overs. Mohammad Asif took 4 wickets and Shahid Afridi claimed 2. Pakistan in the quest of 141 managed to tie to match. India and the Pakistan score was at par and it was because of Misbah -ul-Haq, the lone warrior’s effort of 53 that Pakistan went on to tie the match.
Those days there were no super overs and hence, a bowl out system was implemented to decide the game. India nominated Sehwag, Harbhajan, Uthappa, Sreesanth, and Pathan while Pakistan nominated Gul, Afridi, Tanvir, and Asif. Bowl Out is similar to the Penalty shoot out from the Football world. India managed to break the stumps thrice but Pakistan couldn’t even break once. By that, India won the game. Mohammad Asif was the man of the match for his 4 for 18.
India 5 – Pakistan 0
6. India Vs Pakistan, at Johannesburg, September 24, 2007. – ICC T20 World Cup, South Africa.
Who would have imagined an Indo-Pak final at the inaugural T20 World Cup? It all happened. India won the toss and batter first. They put down a respectable total of 157 in 20 overs. Gambhir’s 75 and Rohit Sharma’s 30 helped India. Umar Gul took 3 wickets. 158 runs away from the T20 World Cup, Pakistan came on to bat and lost quick wickets.
It was Misbah-Ul-Haq’s 43 that once again got Pakistan close to the target. Every Indian and Pakistani had their heart in their mouth as Pakistan needed 13 off the last over. Joginder Sharma bowled the last over. Every cricketing pundit claimed it to be Dhoni’s biggest blunder. But Joginder bowled well and they needed 5 runs in the last ball and Misbah gave a catch to Sreesanth and India won the 1st T20 World Cup by 5 runs. Irfan Pathan was the man of the match.
India 6 – Pakistan 0
7. India Vs Pakistan, at Mohali, March 30, 2011. – ICC World Cup, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh.
This time, India and Pakistan faced each other in the semi-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup. With the help of Tendulkar’s 85 India put on a score of 260 in their 50 overs. Wahab Riyaz took 5 wickets. Pakistan scored 231 in reply to India’s total and again it was Misbah who played a crucial role else they would have restricted to a lower total. Zaheer, Nehra, Munaf, Harbhajan and Yuvraj Singh took 2 wickets each. India marched on to the Finals and defeated Srilanka. Sachin Tendulkar was the Man of the Match.
India 7- Pakistan 0
8. India Vs Pakistan, at Adelaide, February 15, 2015. – ICC World Cup, Australia & New Zealand.
India and Pakistan were placed in Group B. With the help of Virat Kohli’s 107, Shikar Dhawan’s 73, and Raina’s 74, India put a good score of 300. Sohail Khan was the star of the Pakistani bowling. He took 5 wickets for 55 runs. In reply to India’s 300, Pakistan was bowled out for 224. Misbah-ul-Haq’s love for the Indian bowling was quite evident once again. His 76 along with Shahzad’s 47 helped them reach 224. Virat Kohli was the Man of the Match for his brilliant 107.
India 8 – Pakistan 0
9. India Vs Pakistan, at Old Trafford, June 16, 2019. – ICC World Cup, England.
India was put to bat first and put a mammoth score of 336 with the help of Rohit Sharma’s incredible knock of 140. He was assted by Captain Kohli on the other side who scored 77. Pakistan who went on to bat only managed 212 on a match cut short due to the rains. Rohit Sharma was the man of the match for his brilliant knock.
India 9 – Pakistan 0
Check my favorite India Vs Pakistan World Cup encounters. I had never seen Sachin in such a monster mode ever. It was his best innings ever but sadly he couldn’t score a century. Enjoy this innings.
