5 epic India-Pakistan encounters

This match is also known as the 'Kanitkar' match

A cricket match between India and Pakistan is a dream match for everyone involved; be it the broadcasters, the fans, the media or the players.Many players from both the nations have gone on record to say that the pressure of an India-Pakistan match surpasses everything else in comparison. When these two teams meet, the past record hardly matters and the players know that a loss against the arch-rival will not go down well with the supporters back home.Even the people who otherwise do not follow cricket will be ready dressed up in their lucky clothes right from the first ball of the match for an India-Pakistan encounter.It is difficult to put the passion of the people of two nations into words and one has to experience it to believe it.Given this history, each and every match between these two estranged neighbors is a do-or-die affair. Over the years, the two nations have played some really close and exciting matches.Here, we take a look at five epic India-Pakistan encounters in ODIs and T20I.Disclaimer: This list is not a comprehensive list of epic India-Pakistan matches and some great matches like the 2003 World Cup Super-Six match or the 2011 World Cup semifinal just missed out being part of this list. They were nevertheless matches which would be written with golden letters in the history of India-Pakistan cricket. A conscious attempt was made to have equal representation of Indian & Pakistani victories in this list.

#5 3rd Final of the Silver Jubilee Independence Cup 1997, Dhaka India won by 3 wickets

This match is also known as the 'Kanitkar' match

It was the 3rd of the best of three finals of the Silver Jubilee Independence Cup in Dhaka and Pakistan were put into bat by Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin. India made early inroads in the Pakistani batting line up with wickets of Shahid Afridi and Aamer Sohail. However, India’s nemesis Saeed Anwar and middle order batsman Ijaz Ahmed put together a record partnership of 230 runs for the third wicket.

Anwar went on to score 140 whereas Ijaz was dismissed for 117. Riding on these two centuries, Pakistan scored 314 for the loss of 5 wickets in 48 overs. (Two overs were reduced from both the innings due to bad light)

India needed a miracle as no team had previously scored 315 runs to win an ODI match. The Indian openers Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, in particular, started in blazing fashion. Tendulkar was dismissed after a brisk 41 off 26 balls. Ganguly went on to score a century and in the company of pinch-hitter, Robin Singh added 179 runs for the second wicket.

India seemed to be cruising at 250-1 in the 38th over. But the light was fading fast and it became increasingly difficult to spot the ball. Note that The National Stadium in Dhaka had floodlights but they were designed only for football matches and hence were not sufficient for a cricket match.

At one point, the umpires even decided to call off the match, but Indian captain Azharuddin intervened and it was decided that the match would continue. Azhar was fully aware that if the match was to be stopped at that point, Indians would have lost the match on the basis of Duckworth-Lewis calculations.

Soon after the resumption of play, India started losing wickets in quick succession. With 18 needed off 2 overs, wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia joined Hrishikesh Kanitkar. Mongia hit a boundary before getting run out in the last ball of the 47th over. As a result, India needed 9 runs to win the match in the final over. With fast bowler Javagal Srinath and Kanitkar at the crease, the odds were heavily stacked up against India.

The last over was to be bowled by off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq who had so far taken three wickets in the match. Both Srinath and Kanitkar initially failed to clear the boundary, but nevertheless, their mishits had got India within 3 runs of the target with two balls to spare. With the ball in Saqlain’s hand, the Pakistani supporters were confident of a victory for their team but Kanitkar had other ideas. He swung the next ball over the vacant mid-wicket region for a boundary and India completed a record run chase.

#4 2014 Asia Cup, Bangladesh Pakistan won by 1 wicket

Afridi brought back the ghost of Javed Miandad hitting Ashwin for consecutive sixes

The league match of the 2014 Asia Cup between India & Pakistan turned out to be yet another thriller. India who were put into bat by Pakistani skipper Misbah-ul-Haq managed to score 245 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in their allotted quota of 50 overs. This total was possible thanks to half-centuries from Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayadu & Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja, in particular, was responsible for increasing the scoring rate during the later stages of the innings.

In reply, Pakistani openers made a brisk start and added 71 runs in 11 overs for the first wicket. But they soon lost their way losing 4 wickets for only 113 runs. This comeback was possible due to the excellent bowling by the Indian spinners. Amit Mishra was particularly impressive and he had taken two wickets for 9 runs in 6 overs.

As with most of India-Pakistan matches, the pendulum again swung in favor of Pakistan thanks to an 87 runs partnership between Mohammad Hafeez & Sohaib Maqsood. Just when it looked that Pakistan would run away with the chase, Indians came back with wickets at regular intervals.

13 runs were needed off the last 12 deliveries and seam bowler Bhuvneswar Kumar bowled a near perfect over to concede just 3 runs off the penultimate over. He also accounted for two Pakistani wickets in that over. Now 10 runs were required off the last over, Indians though had an upper hand but could not afford to relax as the dangerous Shahid Afridi was still at the crease.

Ravichandran Ashwin began the last overtaking Saeed Ajmal’s wicket off the very first delivery. This reduced Pakistan to 236 runs for the loss of 9 wickets. The last man Junaid Khan managed to take a single off the first delivery that he faced and now all eyes were on Shahid Afridi. Pakistan needed 9 runs off the last four deliveries to win the match. In the next two balls, Afridi brought back the ghost of Javed Miandad hitting Ashwin for consecutive sixes and in the process ensuring a famous Pakistan victory.

#3 1996 World Cup Quarter Final, Bangalore India won by 39 runs

aamir sohail-prasad
This game is famous for the tussle between Pakistan’s Aamer Sohail & India’s Venkatesh Prasad.

The second quarter final of the 1996 World Cup between India & Pakistan was not a battle for the faint-hearted. It had emotion, drama, passion and some excellent performance by individuals of both the teams. Fans often remember this match for two reasons - one was the onslaught by India’s Ajay Jadeja on Waqar Younis and the other was the tussle between Pakistani stand-in-skipper Aamer Sohail & India’s Venkatesh Prasad.

Controversy had started even before a ball was bowled in the match when Pakistan captain Wasim Akram had withdrawn from the match owing to injury. This did not go down too well with the Pakistani fans and media who accused Akram of deliberately withdrawing from the match, a charge that he denied.

Coming back to the match, India batted first after skipper Mohammad Azharuddin had won the toss. Indians had a steady start and scored 90 runs before the fall of the first wicket in the form of Sachin Tendulkar. Opener Navjot Sidhu who top-scored with 93 runs got able support from the middle-order. As a result, the Indians were poised for a respectable total. However, Ajay Jadeja’s cameo of 45 runs from 25 balls ensured that the respectable total turned into a match-winning score. He was particularly harsh on fast bowler Waqar Younis whose last two overs went for 40 runs.

The Pakistani chase began in style with openers Saeed Anwar and Aamer Sohail punishing the Indian bowlers to every corner of the ground. Javagal Srinath got the first breakthrough when he had Anwar caught by Kumble for 48 runs. Meanwhile, Sohail continued his aggressive approach until he lost his cool and challenged Prasad. Prasad who was furious at the exchange of words knocked over Sohail’s off-stump in the very next delivery.

Sohail’s wicket started the downfall for the Pakistanis. Although veterans Saleem Malik & Javed Miandad tried to stage a comeback with a 52 runs partnership it was never going to be enough. And when Miandad was run out (in his last ODI match) for 38 runs, the match was all but over for Pakistan. Anil Kumble accounted for the tail and in the end Pakistan fell short by 39 runs.

Indian fans rejoiced this victory throughout the night and they believed that India had already won the World Cup. Sadly for them, India lost the semi-finals to eventual champions, Sri Lanka. But the Indian fans found solace in the fact that India had defeated Pakistan.

#2 1986 Austral-Asia Cup Final, Sharjah Pakistan won by 1 wicket

Miandad hit that ball for a six and scripted one of the most famous victories

This is one match which the Pakistani fans often remind the Indian fans about whenever there’s a debate on the cricket supremacy between the two neighbors. The hero of the match, of course, was Javed Miandad and the villain as far as the Indian fans were concerned was Chetan Sharma. Thirty years have passed since that epic match but still people don’t forget to remind Chetan Sharma of that final over.

It was the final of the Astral-Asia Cup in Sharjah in 1986. India who were put into bat by the Pakistan captain Imran Khan scored 245 runs in 50 overs which was a more than the decent score in the 1980s. Sunil Gavaskar was the top-scorer for India with 92 runs. He got good support from Krishnamachari Srikkanth & Dilip Vengsarkar who scored 75 & 50 runs respectively.

India seemed to have the match within control during most of the second innings as well. At one time Pakistan were struggling at 110 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. However, old warhorse Javed Miandad was going great guns at the other end.

Pakistan needed 90 runs to win from the last 10 overs and now the Indians were clearly the favorites. Miandad kept the Pakistani hopes alive with some bold hitting and with 11 runs needed off the last over it was anybody’s game. Chetan Sharma was given the responsibility of bowling the last over and when two wickets fell down in that over it looked all but over for Pakistan.

There was more drama in that over as an otherwise brilliant fielder Mohammad Azharuddin missed a simple run out. With one ball to go, Pakistan needed four runs to win. Chetan Sharma decided to bowl a Yorker which turned out to be a full toss and the rest as they is history. Miandad hit that ball for a six and scripted one of the most famous victories in ODI cricket. Pakistan were crowned the champions of the Austral-Asia Cup.

#1 2007 World T20 Finals India won by 5 runs

2007 T20 world cup
India had won the inaugural World T20

“It cannot get bigger than this” was the tagline that people were using in build up to the 2007 World T20 finals in Johannesburg. It was the final of a World Cup and the teams face-to-face were longtime rivals India & Pakistan. So, it definitely could not get bigger than this.

Indians had an ominous start even before the match began as explosive opener Virender Sehwag was ruled out of the final due to a groin injury. India scored 157 runs in the 20 overs thanks mainly to Gautam Gambhir’s 75 and Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 16-ball 30.

T20 format was still in its nascent stages and no one knew what an ideal T20 score was. Still going by the runs scored in the tournament so far, the Indian total seemed to be 15-20 runs short of an ideal total. The only thing in favor of the Indians was the fact that this being a World Cup final, the chasing team would be under pressure.

The chase did not start well for the Pakistanis as they lost two quick wickets. But Imran Nazir was going strong at one end. His blazing innings was cut short by a brilliant throw from Robin Uthappa. And then Irfan Pathan accounted for two Pakistani wickets in an over. At the fall of the sixth wicket with the score at 77, celebrations had already begun in the Indian camp. The team could sense a victory.

But Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq had other plans. Together with the tail-enders, he got his team within 13 runs short of the world title with one wicket in hand and an over to go. Indian captain Dhoni then surprised everyone with his choice of Joginder Sharma for the final over. And when Misbah hit Joginder for a six off the second ball the target was down to 6 runs off 4 balls.

It looked as if the ghost of Miandad had come back to haunt India again. But with due respects to Misbah, he was no Miandad and with fine leg up in the circle he tried to scoop the ball over the fielder. S Sreesanth finished the Pakistani hope taking the catch which was simple from a cricketing point of view but given the situation of the match it was as difficult as it gets.

With this India had won the inaugural World T20 and Irfan Pathan was named as the man of the match for his figures of 3-16.

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Edited by Staff Editor