14th October 2023, Mumbai: After four years, it is now. India versus Pakistan. “World Cup.” war that started it all. most intense competition. When these two Asian giants square off on Saturday at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, no adage, maxim, or marketing ploy, not even the iconic “Mauka-Mauka” commercial, can adequately capture the excitement. India and Pakistan have had a long-standing rivalry, which dates back to the early 1980s, that has only grown more heated over the years. The matchups between India and Pakistan gain an additional degree of intrigue during the World Cup. The Indian team’s perfect record is the cause.
Fans will be curious to see if Babar’s team can improve their lopsided head-to-head ratio going into this high-stakes match between India and Pakistan. In the seven ODI World Cup matches between the two teams, India has a perfect winning record. In 50-over World Cups, India has dominated Pakistan since 1992; there have been many memorable moments, but only one champion. We are here to jog your mind, take you down memory lane, and relive each of India’s seven victories over Pakistan on the biggest stage of them all in advance of the weekend blockbuster.
1992: India triumphs in Sydney by 43 runs.
India and Pakistan did not play each other in the first four World Cups, which may sound odd. As India and Pakistan faced off at the revered Sydney Cricket Ground, the opening chapter of their rivalry was written in colorful attire and lit by floodlights. India reached 216/7 in 49 overs while batting first thanks to a youthful Sachin Tendulkar’s 54 off 62 balls while competing in his first-ever World Cup. Aaqib Javed scored twice, and Pakistan’s Mushtaq Ahmed claimed three wickets. Fans witnessed the Indian bowling staff function as a team while defending 217 runs, skipping Pakistan for 173 in 48.1 overs. Manoj Prabhakar, Javagal Srinath, and Sachin each grabbed two wickets, and Venkatapathy Raju and Kapil Dev also contributed. The legendary Javed Miandad tried but was out for 40, but not before he gave the World Cup a moment to remember by losing his composure in the face of Kiran More’s relentless chirping. Amer Sohail reached his half-century, scoring 62 off 95 balls.
1996: In Bengaluru, India triumphs by 39 runs.
Wasim Akram’s injury forced him out of the crucial match against Pakistan in the 1996 Wills World Cup quarterfinal, which was a game that may have meant the difference between life and death for both teams. Navjot Sidhu provided India the perfect start with a confident 93 off 115 balls, while Ajay Jadeja’s savage attack against Waqar Younis cemented India’s status in the IND-PAK rivalry. With Waqar and Mushtaq Ahmed both taking two wickets, India reached 287/8 in 50 overs with to Jadeja’s heroics in the dying overs.
In response, Pakistan raced to 84/0 in 10 overs after receiving a strong start from Saeed Anwar and Sohail. After being teased by Sohail, Venkatesh Prasad produced a World Cup moment that will live on forever by ripping the Pakistan opener’s middle stump and capping it off with a vicious send-off. This was the turning point in the match. Saleem Malik and Miandad both had starts in the middle order, but Prasad and Anil Kumble were simply too strong on their home ground of Bangalore. Pakistan was ousted from the World Cup in Miandad’s final game, which gave India a chance to go to the semifinal.
1999: India triumphs in Manchester by 47 runs
The game between India and Pakistan was the most intense and emotionally charged one yet. Both teams did well to prevent the animosity from spilling onto the field at the storied Old Trafford in Manchester as the World Cup began around the same time as the Kargil war between India and Pakistan. On the strength of some excellent batting and Prasad’s incredible five-wicket performance, India increased their advantage to 3-0. With a quickfire 45, Tendulkar launched India off the blocks. Rahul Dravid and skipper Mohammad Azharuddin then added to it with fiftys each, which was just about enough to advance India to 227/5. Anwar once again raced away to 36 with ruthlessness to give India an early worry, but once Prasad brought him back, everything deteriorated. With 27 balls remaining, Prasad and Javagal Srinath destroyed Pakistan’s middle order to dismiss Pakistan for 180.
2003: India win by six wickets in Centurion
This World Cup encounter between Pakistan and India is regarded as the best of all time. When India and Pakistan met at the 2003 World Cup in Centurion, where political tensions were hindering bilateral relations between the two countries, fireworks broke out. How often does a 90 cast a shadow over a hundred? This was definitely unusual because Tendulkar may have played his finest World Cup match ever. His 98 not only eclipsed Anwar’s century but also gave India the momentum they required to chase down 273 runs. The Pakistani speed three of Wasim, Waqar, and Shoaib Akhtar were destroyed by Tendulkar’s barrage of brilliant strokes as he lost control. He eventually fell short of his century by two runs due to cramping episodes, but he had already prepared the ground for Dravid and Yuvraj Singh to push India’s score to 4-0.
2011: India triumphs in Mohali by 29 runs
The renowned rivalry returned in 2008, and the stakes were bigger than ever. India’s World Cup semifinal more than lived up to the expectations. Tendulkar led India in scoring once more, just as he did eight years before, but this performance was very different from his disastrous eight-year-old outing. Before his luck finally ran out, Sachin was dropped four times, made it through a notorious LBW appeal, and fought his way up to 85 before giving up. Virat Kohli, Yuvraj, and MS Dhoni were all bowled out by Wahab Riaz in his five-wicket haul, but Suresh Raina’s unbeaten 36 helped India reach 260/6. In response, all five of the Indian bowlers claimed two wickets each; however, Yuvraj’s twin strike to remove Asad Shafiq and Younis Khan, as well as Munaf Patel’s miraculous ball to rattle Abdul Razzaq’s stumps, completely altered Pakistan’s pursuit. Even though memories of Johannesburg 2007 flooded people’s thoughts, India won the game in the final over and advanced to the championship, leaving Misbah-ul-Haq with a lot to get.
2015: India win by 76 runs in Adelaide
For the first time ever, India’s World Cup campaign at the 2015 tournament in Adelaide got underway against Pakistan. Virat Kohli scored his second World Cup century as India was batting first. This, along with half-centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina, helped India achieve 300 runs with the loss of seven wickets, five of which belonged to Sohail Khan.
Pakistan was expected to put up a fight against India, but the result was everything but what was anticipated thanks to Mohammed Shami’s four wickets. Other than Misbah’s fifty, no hitter made a move, and two middle order batsmen even registered ducks. India blew past their neighbors to take a 5-0 World Cup lead in one of the most lopsided games ever played.
2019: India win by 89 runs (DLS method) in Manchester
Twenty years after the 1999 World Cup, India and Pakistan met at the same stadium once more. While Rohit Sharma stole the spotlight at the 2019 World Cup with his second of five hundreds there, MS Dhoni was still the captain of India and hadn’t yet announced his retirement. India’s 336/5 World Cup total against Pakistan was their highest-ever total, helped beautifully by Kohli’s stroke-filled 77. The game was shortened to 40 overs due to rain, and Pakistan had to chase 300, but things didn’t go as planned. Only Fakhar Zaman (62) for Pakistan reached the fifty-wicket mark, while Vijay Shankar, Kuldeep Yadav, and Hardik Pandya each claimed two wickets. Pakistan could only muster 212/6. India enjoyed a commanding 7-0 lead as the Pakistani journalists in the press box pondered whether the curse will ever stop.
By Vaishnavi Rastogi