The present World Cup is a long drawn event which will drag on till the end of the next month whenthe final will be played on March 29 between the two lucky teams who will get to that stage at the MCG. It could be any team. Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are talked about as the finalists. Any upset during the course of the competition may turn the tables for others.

Like we saw India reaching the final of the 1983 World Cup at Lord’s and win it for the first time, Pakistan doing that in 1992 at the MCG and beat England in the final, and Lahore in the 1996 tournament when Sri Lanka strangled Australia to lift the coveted trophy.

Today’s much publicised match between Pakistan and India at The Adelaide is just the start, but the billing of the game is no less than that of a final. A sellout match will no doubt be the focus of everyone who will be watching it or following its progress round the globe. And they will predictably be in millions.

For many it will be the ultimate showdown. On every run scored and every wicket lost, moods will change, emotions will sway and the game promises to enthral all and sundry.

Which brings to mind Pakistan v India matches that I happened to cover round the globe, including in Australia.

Three matches, therefore, immediately come flashing back in which India was the winner each time.

It was in 1985 that a World Cricket Championship was played at Melbourne in celebration of 150 years of Victoria State. Pakistan having lost a Test series against New Zealand under Javed Miandad had flown over the Tasman sea to Melbourne to join the others.

In their first encounter against India on an Australian turf, Pakistan lost in a 50-over game at the MCG by six wickets. After being all out for 183 in which Qasim Omar scored 57, Pakistan failed to stop India as Mohammad Azharuddin with an unbeaten 93 sealed the fate with the help of Sunil Gavaskar who contributed 54.

But Pakistan was good enough though to do better against Australia and the West Indies to get to the final against India and then lose it again by eight wickets. Ravi Shastri and Srikkanth, with 63 and 67 respectively, had chased 177 to win comfortably.

It was the championship in which a raw and inexperienced Wasim Akram who had made his Test debut against New Zealand and having done well had demolished Kim Hughe’s Australia at the MCG taking 5 for 21 to announce his coming.

In the 1992 World Cup which Pakistan finally won, India again had the best of them by winning at the SCG in Sydney. Having saved their neck against England in a rain-affected game at Adelaide, Pakistan faced India to suffer yet another disappointment.

India’s 216 for 7, in which Sachin Tendulkar made 54, was tough enough for Imran Khan’s men as they collapsed to be all out for 173 in the penultimate over. Even young Aamir Sohail’s 62 and Javed Miandad’s 40 did not help as Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath and Manoj Prabhakar picked up two wickets each to bring Pakistan down.

The match is also remembered for Miandad’s frog like leaps in the air to taunt wicket-keeper Kiran More who was clowning behind the stumps to disturb Miandad’s concentration.

But those setbacks do not count any more, because Pakistan and not India were the eventual winners of the Cup.

Published in Dawn February 15th , 2015

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