India vs Pakistan in World Cup: Top 10 memorable batting moments

      1. Kapil Dev’s blitz —1992 World Cup

In a match where scoring quick runs was nigh impossible, India’s star all-rounder came out all guns blazing. Batting at No. 7, Kapil hammered 35 off just 26 balls to boost India to a halfway decent 216 for seven.

Kapil scored his runs at a strike rate of 134.61 in a match where hardly anyone (except Sachin Tendulkar) scored runs quickly. In fact, Javed Miandad’s 40 came off an agonising 110 deliveries!

Add Cricket Country as a Preferred Source

2. Javed Miandad’s leap of hilarity — 1992 World Cup

Javed Miandad was India’s bane for years. Chasing a mere 216, he came in to bat at 17 for two. With Aamer Sohail at the other end, the runs were coming along without too much of a problem. However, India’s wicketkeeper Kiran More was getting under the skin of the Pakistani maestro with his frequent appeals. In the 25th over — bowled by Tendulkar — More had vociferously appealed once again, claiming a nothing catch down the leg side. Miandad, fuming, pulled out before the next delivery could be bowled, and told More just what he thought about him. The confrontation lasted a few moments before the match resumed.

Miandad played the next ball to covers, set off for a single, but turned back. More whipped off the bails despite the batsman being back safely. Miandad, evidently trying to imitate More, then proceeded to jump about, both arms in the air and knees coming up to his ribs in mock appeal. The incident has gone down as one of the most amusing ones in history, and certainly an endearing — if slightly absurd — one in India-Pakistan matches.

3. Ajay Jadeja’s assault on Waqar Younis — 1996 World Cup

Few batsmen in cricketing history have managed to dominate a bowler of the stature of Waqar Younis. Fewer still managed to do so in a World Cup quarter-final. But on that fateful day at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Ajay Jadeja did just that.

Coming in at 200 for four with India meandering toward a middling score, Jadeja opened up against the Pakistani spearhead, whacking him for 40 runs in two overs — with a little help from Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath — en route to a 25-ball 45. It should be kept in mind that this was almost a decade before Twenty20 cricket was introduced. Jadeja hit four fours and two sixes in the innings, but it was his assault on Waqar that turned the tide and boosted India to a match-winning 287 for eight.

4. Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar scare India — 1996 World Cup

If Jadeja’s assault was carnage, Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar attacked India with grace and poise. The Pakistani openers got their side off to a tremendous start. Both men were aggressive, getting away with a flurry of boundaries.

Anwar hit five boundaries and two sixes for his 32-ball 48, while Sohail was the more restrained of the two, hitting nine fours and as six in his 46-ball 55. The duo ensured that Pakistan crossed 100 by the 15th over. Unfortunately for Pakistan, once Sohail fell — in what has become another iconic India-Pakistan moment, with a clash with Venkatesh Prasad —  the rest of the batsmen folded up as India romped home.

5. Mohammad Azharuddin’s dropped catch — 1999 World Cup

It was another low-scoring thriller; Sachin Tendulkar and Sadagoppan Ramesh got India off to a watchful start, but neither man cut loose. India were reduced to 107 for three in the 25th over when Rahul Dravid was joined by Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin.

Azharuddin started slowly, scoring his first run only off the 16th ball he faced. He was on 21 from 43 balls when he tried to hit Saqlain Mushtaq for six over midwicket. The ball didn’t have enough on it, and was going toward Shahid Afridi in the deep. However, Afridi was unable to hold on to the diving catch, as the ball went over the ropes for four. Azharuddin went on to score a match-winning 59 off 77 balls as India reached 227 for six.

6. Sachin Tendulkar’s iconic uppercut — 2003 World Cup

Possibly the most iconic six in any World Cup, before or since; Sachin Tendulkar’s upper cut off Shoaib Akhtar has gone down as folklore in the game. Pakistan batted first for the only time in India-Pakistan World Cup matches, and got to 273 for seven after Saeed Anwar’s century. It remains the only century in India-Pakistan World Cup clashes.

In reply, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar got India off to a spectacular start. At 13 for two in the second over, Shoaib Akhtar sent down a short, quick ball to the little master. Tendulkar responded by going after it, crunching it from the middle of the bat, as the ball sailed away over point for six. Wasim Akram later revealed in an interview that Akhtar asked to be taken off after that. Tendulkar went on to score 98, as India won by six wickets.

7. Rahul Dravid’s winning boundary — 2003 World Cup

Despite Tendulkar’s master-class, India were in trouble at 177 for four in the 28th over with Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh at the crease and only Dinesh Mongia to follow before the tail-enders.  The duo batted calmly, with Dravid dropping anchor and allowing Yuvraj to go for his shots. Yuvraj went on to score a high-quality 50 not out off 53 balls. Dravid ended the match with an emphatic pull shot off Waqar Younis that went for four — the only time in India-Pakistan World Cup matches that a team has won while chasing.

8. Virender Sehwag’s explosion — 2011 World Cup

Trust Virender Sehwag to get India off to a flier! Sehwag was in prime form in the 2011 World Cup, and had got India off the mark with first-ball boundaries a number of times. He reserved his attacking best for Umar Gul in the semi-final against Pakistan. Sehwag hit Gul for eight boundaries in three overs, thereby ensuring that India were up and running from the very start. Sehwag was finally dismissed for 38 off 25 balls as India got to 50 in only the seventh over.

9. Sachin Tendulkar’s numerous chances — 2011 World Cup

Dropping Sachin Tendulkar once is a mistake. Dropping him twice is foolish. Dropping him three times is criminal. But dropping him four times, in a World Cup semi-final? Insane! And yet, Pakistan managed to do just that in the 2011 World Cup.

Shahid Afridi was the aggrieved bowled on three of those occasions; in the 14th over, he had Tendulkar — batting on 27 — play the ball in the air to Misbah-ul-Haq only to see the experienced fielder drop it. Later, in 20th over, Tendulkar — this time on 45 — drove one from Afridi to the right of Younis Khan at cover. Younis was unable to hang on, and Tendulkar survived again. But Pakistan were not done dropping the little master off their captain’s bowling! This time, it was Kamran Akmal (how could he miss out on dropping a catch?) who fluffed a chance off Afridi when Tendulkar was on 70. Then it was Mohammad Hafeez’s chance to cry in anguish, as Umar Akmal dropped a whip to midwicket when Tendulkar was on 81. He ended up scoring 85, falling to a catch from the man most aggrieved: Afridi.

10. Misbah-ul-Haq’s crawl – 2011 World Cup

Chasing 261, Pakistan got off to a decent start, with Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez putting on 44 in nine overs. Hafeez and Asad Shafiq then got going as well, but some quick wickets saw Pakistan slump to 106 for four, with Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal at the crease. The younger Akmal batted quickly, but was cleaned up by Harbhajan for a 24-ball 29. Abdul Razzaq and Shahid Afridi followed as well.

Misbah was at the other end all the while, and played a strange innings. Unlike his knock in the final of the 2007 World T20, he failed to accelerate and bring out the big hits even at the death. He was dismissed in the last over of the innings for a 76-ball 56. Had he batted at even a run-a-ball, Pakistan might have won.

(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek and cricket fanatic. You can follow him on Twitter @ShiamakUnwalla)