The rivalry between India and Pakistan is the fiercest on the cricket field. There have been characters from both sides who have spiced up the contest in the past. Former Pakistan player Javed Miandad was one such player. He was anyway famous for on-field antics but Mercury broke the case when he flummoxed the Indian wicketkeeper Kiran More with his mimicking talent in the 1992 World Cup.
India and Pakistan faced off in the group stage of the 1992 World Cup in Australia. It was a very important fixture for both sides and the fans saw some entertaining stuff in the much-anticipated affair. The Indian team batted first after winning the toss and the impressive batting display from the Indians guided them to a formidable total of 216 runs. Young Sachin Tendulkar played an unbeaten knock of 54 runs to play a crucial part in the first innings.
Miandad means entertainment
The chasing side could not get a compact start in the run chase as India dismissed Inzamam-ul-Haq and Zahid Fazal were dismissed in the first few overs. But the Indians were still cautious as they knew that Javed Miandad was master at rescuing his team from such a crisis. Miandad did exactly that, he built a partnership with Aamer Sohail to ensure that there was no collapse in the batting order. During his stay on the crease, there were constant verbal exchanges between Javed Miandad and some Indian players as was the custom whenever Miandad would bat against India. On some occasions, the Indian wicketkeeper Kiran More made aggressive appeals for a caught behind or stumpings that angered Javed Miandad. The Pakistan veteran replied in the same style by mimicking the over-enthusiastic More.
For Pakistan, the match did not end on a good note as after Miandad’s dismissal none of the batters could take responsibility and their run chase was wrapped up with only 173 runs in the account. As a result, India won the match by 43 runs to register some crucial points.