The stage is all set for the final showdown in this T20 World Cup as Pakistan will be up against England in Melbourne on Sunday. But this won’t be the first instance when a Pakistan side will be locking horns with England in a World Cup final at MCG. Cricket fans have witnessed this before when the Imran Khan-led Pakistan team took on Graham Gooch’s England in the 1992 ODI World Cup final in Melbourne.
The two teams will once again come face to face in a title clash at the same venue after more than 30 years.
Re-visiting the 1992 final
Batting first, Pakistan were not off to a good start as they lost a couple of early wickets but skipper Imran and an experienced Javed Miandad came in for the rescue and stitched a 139-run stand for the third wicket. Miandad scored 58 off 98 while Imran got 72 off 110.
Later, Inzamam-ul-Haq also made a valuable contribution as he chipped in with a 35-ball 42 but it was a late surge from Wasim Akram that took the Asian side to 249/6 in 50 overs. Wasim struck 33 in just 18 deliveries.
In reply, England too had a struggling start as they were left struggling at 69/4 before Neil Fairbrother and Allan Lamb provided the resistance to the side.
The two batters put up a partnership of 72 runs for the fifth wicket before Lamb eventually departed for 31 off 41. Fairbrother top-scored with 62 off 70 but his efforts weren’t really enough as England were bowled out for 227 to lose the match and the final by 22 runs. Wasim and Mushtaq Ahmed scalped three wickets apiece while Aaqib Javed bagged a couple.
This was the first time that Pakistan had won a World Cup. Later, in the 1999 edition of the ODI World Cup, Pakistan reached the finals of the tournament but lost to Australia.
The side then had a disappointing run in the 2003 and 2007 ODI World Cups but made a good comeback in the inaugural T20 World Cup that also took place in 2007 in South Africa as they reached the final.
However, they lost the title clash to arch-rivals India.
In the 2009 edition of the T20 World Cup, Pakistan finally ended their drought as they defeated Sri Lanka at Lord’s in the final to lift the cup. But they could only remain the T20 champions for one year as England took home the trophy in the 2010 edition that was held in West Indies.
Both Pakistan and England have won the T20 World Cup once and if rain doesn’t play spoilsport in Melbourne, then one of them will become the second team after West Indies to have won two T20 World Cups.
What did Imran Khan say to his troops ahead of the big final?
Ramiz Raja who is the PCB chairman, during his interaction with the current Pakistan team, revealed what Imran Khan told his side ahead of the big final. Raja was a part of the 1992 World Cup-winning Pakistan side.
“It was the shortest World Cup speech”
“90k people were outside and Imran Khan said: ‘This is probably not going to happen ever again in our life. Just go out there and enjoy.’
“Aur kuch karne ki jaroorat nahi hai. Apne upar second guess nahi karna hai.. ye nahi kehna hai ki mai is mauke ke liye taiyyar hoon ya nahi.. aap sab taiyyar hai just enjoy the atmospehere (You don’t have to do anything extra. Do not have any second guesses about whether you belong to this stage or not. All of you are ready just go there and enjoy the atmosphere.”
“Ja ke relax approach ke saath strong body language ke saath khele (Have a relaxed approach and play with a strong body language.”
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