World Cup History: Four iconic moments from the India-Pakistan rivalry
The India-Pakistan rivalry in cricket is one of the most intense and celebrated rivalries in sports. With the past history and recurring off-field tensions between the two countries, the match is of utmost importance to the fans on both sides. The stakes get even higher when the match takes place on the biggest platform, the World Cup. Additionally, since the teams now face each other only in ICC tournaments, there is huge excitement and eagerness amongst the fans.
The World Cup matches between the two have always lived up to the hype and have given some iconic moments that are forever stored in the minds of the people.
Till date the Indian team holds the bragging rights as they have maintained their 100 percent win record against Pakistan in both the 20 and the 50 over World Cups and with the teams set to face each other on Sunday in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, it’ll be exciting to see how the new chapter in this evergreen rivalry unfolds.
Here we look at 4 iconic moments from the past encounters of both the teams on the biggest platform of the sport.
#4 World Cup 2003: "That" cut shot
One of the much anticipated individual clashes in the 2003 World Cup, was that of Sachin Tendulkar and Shoaib Akhtar. On one side was Tendulkar - who by that time had established himself into one of the world’s best batsmen. On the other side, Akhtar was an exciting fast bowler who was touted to be the heir to the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.
Fans across the globe wanted to see this battle of quick pace bowling of Akhtar against the elegant and majestic batting of Tendulkar.
Even though before this encounter, Akhtar had managed to trouble Sachin with his pace but things changed post this match. The Indian batsmen gained the bragging rights this time around as he conquered the challenge thrown at him and among all of this, he produced one of the most memorable moments of this arch-rivalry - the cut shot for six in the match's second over.
Akhtar’s short and wide delivery was sent into stands over the point region by Tendulkar. This was followed up by a couple of more boundaries in the next few balls and Sachin continued to dominate in that match and ended up scoring a match-winning knock of 98.
Also read - World cup winners list