India-Pakistan is probably the most high-octane clash in the cricket world. Since both teams play each other only in the multi-team events, the excitement and anticipation for each and every clash goes through the roof. The ODI World Cup is back in India after 12 years and the buzz for the India-Pakistan game at the world's biggest cricket stadium has been on an all-time high since the schedule was released.
India and Pakistan last time took on each other in an ODI in the World Cup 2019 and since then they have played each other in just T20Is. India have had the wood over Pakistan in World Cup matches winning all of them in the 50-over format and the most memorable win probably was in the 2011 World Cup semi-final in Mohali which India won by 29 runs.
While bowlers played a starring role in the win, it was Sachin Tendulkar's 85-run knock that helped India get to a respectable score of 260. However, it wasn't a chanceless knock from Tendulkar as he got as many as five chances including dropped catches and a LBW call survival.
Tendulkar was batting on 23 when Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal had trapped him LBW in front. The umpire Ian Gould raised his finger before the Master Blaster was quick to send it upstairs for a review. The decision was overturned as the Hawkeye showed the ball to be turning a little too much and missing the leg stump.
Now, 12 years later, Ajmal has alleged foul play in the dismissal saying that the last two frames were cut to make it look like the ball was missing the stumps. “I played in the 2011 World Cup in India. If you could remember the controversial call of Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket. Umpire and I still say he was out. They cut the last two frames to make the ball miss the stumps. Otherwise, it would have directly hit the middle stump,” said Ajmal on the Nadir Ali podcast while mentioning that he received a lot of abuse from Indian fans after he dismissed the legendary batter eventually.
