Daily Times

DUBAI: Sparks generally fly when India take on Pakistan at cricket, and Wednesday’s Asia Cup clash in Dubai will be an emotionally charged fixture as always. A look at five of the most memorable previous encounters, the first since Pakistan thrashed India by 180 runs in the Champions Trophy final in June 2017.

Dark day: On the same day the teams were playing a one-day match at Sialkot in Pakistan on October 31, 1984, the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her bodyguards in New Delhi. Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri were piling on runs for India when the news came. Pakistan’s president Zia ul Haq ordered the match stopped, and India’s captain Sunil Gavaskar wanted the same. “Obviously, we weren’t in any frame of mind to carry on and, sure enough, the ODI had to be abandoned,” Vengsarkar told India’s Telegraph later. “Thirty years have gone by, but it’s a day one can’t forget,” he said.

PM’s XI: Imran Khan’s best bowling figures of 6-14 were in a one-day international against India March 22, 1985, but for the swashbuckling Pakistan fast bowler it was all in vain. Khan ripped apart the Indian batting line-up at Sharjah in the UAE to send the opposition packing for 125. But Pakistan’s own batting imploded, skittled for just 87. Khan – now Pakistani Prime Minister – was still man of the match, however.

A sword for a six: The match that will always evoke the bitterest memories for India, and the sweetest ones for Pakistan, was on April 18, 1986, again an ODI in Sharjah. With Pakistan needing four off the last ball to win, India’s Chetan Sharma ran in and bowled a full toss — which Javed Miandad swatted for six. Miandad, who was presented with a golden sword, became a national hero, while Sharma faced barbs and insults on his return home.

Tendulkar’s tears: A century from Sachin Tendulkar, India’s most celebrated batsman, was usually a recipe for success in the 1990s and 2000s but not in the 1999 Test match against Pakistan in Chennai. Chasing 271 for victory, Tendulkar brought India close with a sparkling 136, but Pakistani off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq got him out and India eventually lost by 12 runs. A sporting Indian home crowd gave the Wasim Akram-led side a standing ovation, but Tendulkar was heartbroken. Weeping in the dressing room, according to then-coach Anshuman Gaekwad, the “little master” refused to come out of the dressing room to receive his man of the match award.

Misbah’s mishit: An India-Pakistan final in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup and a sell-out crowd in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2007 was a perfect setting for cricket’s newest format. Pakistan’s Misbah ul Haq was on the cusp of taking his team to a memorable win with his gritty batting in a chase of 158. But then came a moment of madness as Haq tried to play an audacious paddle shot to seal victory against paceman Joginder Sharma in the final over. The ball went high into the waiting hands of Shanthakumaran Sreesanth. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s India celebrated like never before as Haq missed a chance of a lifetime.

Published in Daily Times, September 19^th 2018.