India Vs Pakistan 2003
Considered as the most watched and the most talked about India-Pakistan encounter in the ICC Cricket World Cup, the fixture between the two great cricketing nations did live up to all the hype, with India’s very own Sachin Tendulkar being the flag bearer of the enthralling contest, through one of the most belligerent knocks in his cricketing career.
Centurion was the venue, and it was a hot day in South Africa. For the very first time, it ws Pakistan who chose to bat first, after Waqar Younis had won the toss. India’s familiar for – Saeed Anwar was in for a show this time around as the opener scored a hundred with brief cameos from the other end, which posted a formidable target of 274 under challenging conditions.
Chasing 274, against the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Shoaib Akhtar was never going to be an easy task, but that’s when the little master – Sachin Tendulkar took the onus of dominating the Pakistani bowlers, which was ever so evident through his intent with the willow, as Sachin took the strike that day, while Virender Sehwag was made to watch from the non strikers end (as per his request of not facing Wasim early on in the innings).
What soon followed was havoc by the master blaster, as Sachin took on the fast bowling greats through counter-attacking manner, which even saw him pull off one of the most skilful and outrageous shots against Shoaib Akhtar who banged it in at a pace of 150 clicks, as Tendulkar smashed him for a six over point, with both feet off the ground – making it as one of the most memorable shots in cricketing history.
(The little master takes Pakistan to the cleaners)
By the 12th over India had reached the 100 runs mark, but Sachin ultimately fell just short of 2 runs for his 32nd One Day ton, after going through a series of cramps.
Though Pakistan had a ray of hope after getting the big wicket of Sachin, contributions from Kaif, Dravid, and Yuvraj Singh were enough to steer India past the target of 274 with 6 wickets to spare, as Sourav Ganguly’s brigade added another feather to their caps, while also adding further misery to Pakistan in the World Cup as they had face yet another defeat against India.
India Vs Pakistan 2011
A World Cup semi-final - Mohali the venue - India-Pakistan the team’s contesting with a large number of fans coming in to support them, along with the honourable Prime Ministers from both nations stepping in on the field after the anthems were done, to wish the players good luck while sending a global message of peace in the process.
It was almost like Bollywood movie had come to life with the two skipper’s MS Dhoni and Shahid Afridi looking to make way in the finals to face Sri Lanka. Batting first Team India got off in grand style as Sehwag’s trailblazing knock derailed the man in form – Umar Gul after smashing the pacer for boundaries left, right and centre.
Sachin Tendulkar was dropped on four separate occasions and survived a few dodgy LBW decisions. Ajmal finally got the better of Tendulkar before he fell short of just 15 runs of securing his 100th hundred in international cricket. There was heaps of criticism the Pakistan skipper, Shahid Afridi had to face after omitting the veteran Shoaib Akhtar from the playing XI, but Wahab Riaz made the most of his inclusion to the team, as he registered a memorable outing by scalping a fifer against the men in blue in a big game.
India was struggling to add runs in the final few overs of the innings but that's won a 36 run cameo from Suresh Raina catapulted India to score 260.
By far, it was the Indian bowlers who turned out to be the more disciplined team in the field, after bowling an extra on the 37th over of the second innings, which simultaneously added pressure on the Pakistani batsmen.
(The prince of Punjab derails Pakistan in Mohali)
Two wickets each from Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh, and Harbhajan signified the nature of that “well oiled” machine the Indian bowling united functioned as, which eventually lead India to win the high voltage semifinal round against Pakistan, in spite late efforts from Misbah ul Haq, as the visitors fell short of 29 runs, which enraged the Pakistani audience even more as they unleashed their frustration on their home appliances, and even slammed Misbah for a sluggish knock.
India eventually won the tournament that year, ending a 28 long year wait at the Wankhede Stadium.
India Vs Pakistan 2015
Though the 2015 encounter between the arch-rivals wasn’t considered as a classic to all its previous fixtures, the match did manage to attract near to 50,000 fans, who were crammed in at the Adelaide Oval in Australia. The stadium seemed like a sea of blue, predominantly due to the presence of the ‘Bharat Army,’ and their compatriots.
Captain cool – MS Dhoni made the call of having a bat first, as the Indian fans were in for a treat with a half-century from Shikhar Dhawan, while Virat Kohli took the mantle of dominating the Pakistani bowlers after scoring his 22nd ton while taking the baton from his idol Sachin Tendulkar who enjoyed making runs against the neighbours. India ended up scoring 300 in their 50 overs of play which was always going to be a challenge for Pakistani batsmen as they weren’t the best of chasers.
(King Kohli at his best)
Pakistan was rarely in the hunt, with them losing wickets at regular intervals, as Mohammed Shami lead the pace attack from the front, with 4 wickets under his belt. Pakistan skipper – Misbah ul Haq played the lone warrior role after scoring a 76 from 84 deliveries.
Team India did business as usual against their rivals at the World Cup and won their sixth straight encounter in the event by securing a 76 runs win, which now makes Pakistan wait for another ‘Mauqa-Mauqa,’ in 2019.
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