India vs Pakistan: At 6-0, India's dominance against Pakistan in World Cup is fascinating
Cricket is enriched with a decorated history and complimented by intense rivalries. Widely regarded as a 'Gentleman's game', cricket parts ways with this cliche as these rivalries grow fierce and emotions take over on the field.
One of the greatest stories of rivalries is shared between India and Pakistan - the two neighbours with a troubled socio-economic past. Both the nations share a jaded history, and it reflected fervently when the two sides took each other on inside the field.
The games between India and Pakistan have almost always taken nationalistic turns. When the rivalry was at its absolute prime, the game was preceded with weeks of prime-time coverage. Analysis, fights, exaggerated claims, and analysis again - these were some of the favourite build-up tactics in media coverage for both the nations.
The games between the two sides may have gone considerably cold these days - majorly due to the fall in quality in Pakistan's national side. However, the history attached with the two nations still makes this rivalry the biggest in the sport.
As both the sides meet for the seventh time in the World Cup on June 15, we take a look at the history of the games between the two.
1992 World Cup - India 1-0 Pakistan
Pakistan lifted their first World Cup title in this edition, but India won the first game between the two sides. The 1992 World Cup saw the rise of a 19-year-old Indian batsman who would go on to assume godly status among the Indian cricketing circle - Sachin Tendulkar.
The Mumbai-born batsman scored an unbeaten 54 to steer India to 216. However, the game is best remembered for Javed Miandad's theatrics in protest of Kiran More's consistent appeals behind the wickets.
India bowled Pakistan out for 173, winning the game by 43 runs.
1996 World Cup - India 2-0 Pakistan
If the Miandad-moment stole the show in the first clash, Venkatesh Prasad levelled the field this time around, going one-up against Aamir Sohail, as he provided the greatest send-off in the history of send-offs.
Chinnaswamy Stadium hosted the second game between the two sides, and India overcame a fiery start from Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar to secure a 39-run victory.
This was the time when Navjot Singh Sidhu only let his bat do the talking. Sidhu scored 93 and was awarded the man of the match, while Prasad and Anil Kumble took 3-wickets each to secure a place in the semifinal.
1999 World Cup - India 3-0 Pakistan
The World Cup campaign was disappointing for India, but the side defeated Pakistan nevertheless. Rahul Dravid shined with the bat, scoring 61, as Pakistan failed to chase the target for a third consecutive time.
The night belonged to Venkatesh Prasad, again - as he took a five-for. This was the first five-wicket haul in the history of the clashes between the two sides at the World Cup.
2003 World Cup - India 4-0 Pakistan
Many fans regard this game as the best they've seen in the World Cup, and there's a pretty valid reason for it - Sachin Tendulkar.
Tendulkar played arguably his greatest World Cup innings, as he treated the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar with utter disregard. The Master Blaster scored 98 in 75 deliveries as India chased 274 with over three overs to spare.
This edition of the World Cup also saw the arrival of Yuvraj Singh, who would go on to win the Man of the Tournament in 2011. Yuvraj also scored a half-century in this game and remained unbeaten.
2011 World Cup - India 5-0 Pakistan
The 2007 World Cup saw both the sides crashing out in the group stages, thus depriving the fans of the taste of the rivalry. Nevertheless, India and Pakistan met in 2011 amidst tensions between both the nations.
Mohali hosted the semifinal of the World Cup, which was attended by the Prime Ministers of both the nations.
India batted first, and Sachin Tendulkar showed his class again - even when he was dropped on multiple occasions. Wahab Riaz took five wickets, but his performance was overshadowed by an all-round Indian bowling attack. All the five Indian bowlers took two-wickets each as India registered a 29-run victory to secure a place in the final.
The Men in Blue went on to lift the World Cup for the only second time in their history.
2015 World Cup - India 6-0 Pakistan
This was the time when the famous 'Mauka Mauka' advertisements preceded the World Cup to build the excitement around the fixture. It didn't change anything, though.
India outclassed Pakistan this time, winning the game by 76 runs. Virat Kohli scored a century (107), while Suresh Raina complimented him brilliantly with 74 runs.
As with almost every India-Pakistan game, Misbah-ul-Haq remained the lone man standing, as he continued to run out of partners throughout the innings. Pakistan were bundled out for 224.
Both the sides lost in the knock-out stages to the eventual champions, Australia.
2019 World Cup - ?
India will hope to maintain their unbeaten streak as they take on their decorated rivals for the seventh time in the World Cup. The Indian side looks fairly strong on the paper, but everyone remembers the result when India last played Pakistan in an ICC tournament.
