Classic India vs Pakistan cricket encounters to enjoy during 21-day lockdown period
The coronavirus outbreak has put a brake on all the sporting events across the globe. In a country like India, where people religiously follow cricket, fans are disappointed sitting at home without any live-action of their favourite game. But the need of the hour is to take a short break from anything and keep social distancing to combat coronavirus in the country.
Amid no live cricket action, we bring you a list of classic India versus Pakistan clashes, one that has remained in all our hearts eternally:
Javed Miandad's last-ball six in Sharjah
Indo-Pak rivalry has a rich history and players from the past make it even more special. The last ball six from Javed Miandad in the final of Australia-Asia Cup in Sharjah, 1986.
It was a full packed stadium, where Pakistan were chasing 246 against then World Champions India. Paceman Chetan Sharma was bowling the final over and the Green Army were still 4 runs away from victory on the last ball when Miandad skied it for a maximum to create history. It was the first time Pakistan won any significant tournament. After the match, Miandad said, "The Indians were together, excitedly talking strategy. The whole contest had been reduced to getting four from the last ball. I came up with my own strategy. I was certain Sharma was going to attempt a yorker and aim for my legs. So I decided to stand well forward of the batting crease. My plan was to lean back, make room for myself and give it everything I had."
Sachin Tendulkar's masterclass 98 in 2003 World Cup
In the 2003 mega-tournament, the stage was set for both the nations to prove their supremacy but it was India who actually came on top in the end. Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar's ferocious innings of 98 runs will always remain intact in every cricket lover's heart. Pakistan batted first and posted a competitive target of 273/7 with the help of Saeed Anwar's century but it was Tendulkar's day. The way he hit Shoaib Akhtar to upper cut over the midwicket area left the opponents dumbfounded. Master Blaster was the man of the tournament but the people will always remember that tournament for that knock.
'Bowl-out' in 2007 T20 World Cup Group Match
It was the inaugural T20 World Cup and all eyes were on the two teams to build some hype for the ICC tournament. It was a new format for both the teams as they didn't play much T20 cricket before that. MS Dhoni, who was arguably the best skipper ever of the Indian team, was captaining the side for the first time in the tournament. In the group match, India batted first and put 141/9 on the scoreboard which seemed an easy target as per T20 standards. Pakistan needed 12 runs in the last over of the match, later 1 run of 2 balls, but Sreesanth's tight bowling proved heavy for Misbah-ul-Haq and the match ended in a tie prompting the second and last ever 'Bowl-out' in cricket. For India, Dhoni applied his excellent game awareness and picked only spinners to try their hand in the ball out which was very effective as Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and Robin Uthappa were on-point whereas Pakistan chose Umar Gul, Shahid Afridi and Yasir Arafat who failed terribly. Later on, India beat Pakistan again in the final of the tournament to give birth to a T20 revolution not just in India but across the world.
Virat Kohli's dominating show in Asia Cup 2012
The Men in Blue faced the neighbours in a must-win match and King Kohli created history with the bat in a 330 run-chase. Batting first, Pakistan had a great start with both openers - Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed - scoring a century each. They forged an Asia Cup record partnership of 224 runs for the first wicket. It led the Pakistanis to a score of 329 runs for 6 wickets. In reply, India had a poor start with opener Gautam Gambhir getting out for a duck. In spite of losing the first wicket on a score of naught, all the Indians were pretty happy as they had the chance to witness the fluent batting of India's two best batsmen of all time - Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. The current Indian skipper was on full fire in Dhaka and scored his highest individual score - 183 runs in just 148 balls. He and Tendulkar had an excellent partnership of 133 runs for the second wicket. India managed to win the match by six wickets and eliminate Pakistan from the Asia Cup.
Mohammad Amir's spell of fire in 2017 Champions Trophy final
The rivalry between the two teams got heated up in the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy, as India were riding high on confidence with their dominating performances throughout the tournament. Whereas Pakistan had already lost their opening match to the Men in Blue which made India hot favourites in the tournament. But left-arm paceman Mohammad Amir had something else in store as he rattled the Indian batsmen with his inswingers. India were chasing a 339-run target but still, Kohli's men had the upper hand with their strong batting line-up. Amir took the match away single-handedly by dismantling India's top 3 - Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli.
It was not the first time when the left armer troubled Indian batsmen though. In the 2016 Asia Cup, he toyed with Rohit and Dhawan, but Kohli stood tall against his nemesis to take his team across the finish line.
