WT20 Pak-Ind Special: Brilliant, but not good enough….

Each time Pakistan and India lock horns in a cricket match, players roll up their sleeves and often construct their finest masterpieces, but in some unfortunate games, even their best performances go wasted in a losing cause.

The real thrill of cricket comes alive in an India-Pakistan game. The marquee clash, played wherever in the world, in whatever tournament, regardless of the political jigsaws and security troubles, is always a big occasion in every sense of the word.

The game that used to stop the two nations has out-grown to halt the entire world. Television viewership creates fresh records with each new game.  If the 2011 WC semi final was watched by 988 million, the one played in Adelaide four years later crossed the billion mark, rivaled only by the FIFA World Cup finals. The 2015 match was also a gate crasher by Indian standards that attracted 288 million eyeballs.

The rating arrow usually goes crazy during these cliff hangers and at times shoots up to tear through ceilings. Only a SWAT unit can bring it back from there.  

Things are no different on the Social Media front. During the 2015 WC match, 324,000 users in India generated 500,000 conversations with over 3 billion impressions, and when India eventually won the game, the hashtag #Indwins was used 90 thousand times. That you can be forced to pay 1000 for a 100 rupee ticket is not news anymore, rather a commonly accepted fact.

With stakes so high, it’s no wonder that fans demand nothing less than the extraordinary from the players. They too in return don’t disappoint and sweat out hard to give it everything. Just by going through the stats and you will find most players from both countries giving their career best performances when pitted against each other.

Although most would win laurels, a few remain out of luck. We take a look at some captivating performances from Indian and Pakistani players that despite their best efforts, failed to take their sides past the finish line.

1 – Imran Khan, 6/14, Rothmans Cup 1985, Sharjah

1980’s was perhaps the golden era of Pak-India cricket rivalry and Sharjah had fast emerged as the favorite battle ground. In the opening match of the Rothmans Cup, a star studded India was led by the meticulous Kapil Dev while a street smart Jawaid Miandad had his own arsenal to boost about.

With blood running in his eyes and fumes through nostrils, Imran Khan, in the mid 80’s was at the zenith of his career. Eager to stamp his authority over the Indian brigade, he brought out his most killer performance the world had ever seen. His tear away pace jolted the famed Indian batting from the very first ball of the match when he trapped Ravi Shastri LBW. What followed was a dreadful collapse that stopped many an Indian heart beats. Imran’s burst of 6 for 14 send the Indians licking their wounds for a meager 125.

That performance could well have ended the match, but that was not to be. The topsy turvy nature of Pak-India cricket cooked another shocker. A wicket with a reputation of being a bowler’s graveyard suddenly turned hostile for batsmen and buried the entire Pakistani team for a cheap 87.  Kapil Dev was the chief tormentor while Sunil Gavaskar made up for the batting failure with four sharp catches.

Nonetheless, Imran was named player of the match. How many times has a player form the losing side won that honour? Not many.

2- Maninder Singh, 4 for 22, Champions Trophy December 1986, Sharjah

For the best Indian bowling performance against Pakistan that failed to win the game, we once again turn to Sharjah. The year was 1986 and the tournament Champions Trophy. Imran Khan won the toss and put India into bat. Pakistani bowling stuck to their plan and trashed the Indians for a paltry 144.

The road to victory for Pakistan wasn’t as easy as the scorecard would suggest. From a commanding 51 for 1, they slipped to 65 for 6 with the young Maninder Singh dislodging the cream of Pakistan’s batting. His career best 4 for 22 included the prized wickets of constant troublemakers Javed Miandad and Imran Khan. It needed Manzoor Elahi to play out his career best, a combatant 50* to bailout Pakistan.

3- Inzamam-ul-Haq, 122 of 102 balls, 1st ODI, Karachi 2004

India was touring Pakistan after a gap of 14 long years, a series that the fans from both countries had waited long with bated breath. Their wait paid instant dividends in the series opener, when they were treated with an incredibly thrilling match at Karachi.

Pakistan’s big man Inzi, got his math horribly mixed up when he failed to read the conditions and put India into bat on historically flat bread NSK wicket. The Indian batsmen made a mockery of that decision and piled up a record 349, their highest score against Pakistan at that time.

Pakistan’s fight back started off with a shocker as they lost both their openers for just 34. In stepped the great Inzamam-ul-Haq to trigger an astounding run chase. Along with Youhana and then Younis Khan, the gentle giant gave a powerful display of his superior class and galvanized the India bowling. The 33,000 NSK crowds were treated with perhaps the most commanding ODI innings under pressure. His 122 of just 102 balls injected life in local fans. Murli Karthik had to produce a beauty and make shift keeper Rahul Dravid took a sharp catch to dismiss Inzi and save the day for India.

4- Sachin Tendulkar, 141 of 135 balls, 2nd ODI, Rawalpindi 2004   

Another high-scoring thriller where the hunters again fell tantalizingly short of the target. Just three days after Inzamam’s masterpiece at Karachi, it was time for an Indian counterpart to step up and emulate his heroics. The Titans next met at Rawalpindi. Inzi had learned his lesson and this time decided to bat first. Yasir Hameed and Shahid Afridi laid the foundation with a 135 opening stand and Pakistan ended up posting 329/6, their highest score against India batting first.

Running after a challenging 330, India needed a gladiator to battle Pakistan’s fearsome pace attack. Sachin Tandulkar, as countless times before, rose up to the occasion and produced some high octane stuff. He scored a dazzling 141 of 135, his highest score against Pakistan, but it wasn’t enough to inspire India to an improbable victory. Interestingly, out of the five centuries Sachin scored against Pakistan, four failed to win India the game.

5 - Misbah-ul-Haq, 43 of 38 balls, T20 WC final, Johannesburg 2007

The first T20 WC, its first final and that to between the two traditional titans, what better could the world ask for.  Inspired by a sparkling 75 from Gautham Gambhir, India questioned Pakistan’s chasing skills with a daunting 157 on board.

Muhammad Hafeez exposed Pakistan’s fallible batting when he exited after scoring just a single. Wickets kept falling at one end but a rock solid Misbah held guard from the other. It all came down to the last over with Pakistan requiring 12. Misbah launched Joginder Sharma’s delivery down the ground to put Pakistani fans in a sense of déjà vu. 6 required of 4 balls and Misbah did the unthinkable, attempting an unnecessarily scoop that landed in the hands of Sreesanth at short fine leg. The Indian crowd at the Wanderers went into a deafening ecstasy while the Pakistanis had many a heart sinks.

6- Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 3 for 9, 1st T20, Bangalore 2012.

The famous arch rivalry was returning after a gap of five years in the backdrop of the deadly Mumbai attacks had put a stop on bilateral tours. To the pleasant surprise of many, the cricket heads on both sides hurriedly squeezed in a short series during the New Years eve and you had both teams testing their nerves in the middle.

Pakistan’s balanced and well orchestrated attack showed its lethality by restricting the Indians to 133, with only Gautham Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane showing resistance. To counter Pakistan’s pace battery, India introduced Meerut born pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the debutant shone bright by striking thrice early in the innings, removing Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad and the danger man Umar Akmal.

Pakistan were bleeding at 12-3 but the experienced duo of Shoaib Malik and Skipper Hafeez took it upon their shoulders to steer the ship home. Bhuvneshwars 3 for 9, till Hardik Pandya’s heroics at the Asia Cup clash in Dhaka, was the best Indian T20 figures against Pakistan.  

7- Wahab Riaz, 5 for 46, 2011 Semi-Final, Mohali 2011

30th March was a big day for 2011 World Cup, yet it turned out to be a day that Wahab Riaz would remember for his cherished fortunes. Preferred over the misfiring Shoaib Akhtar, the lively Mohali pitch was ready for the exuberant Wahab to bang in hard. Having spent three sleepless nights cooking his strategy against Dhoni’s men, both Wahab and his luck were itching to shine.

While the more experienced Umar Gul came under the hammer, Wahab dried runs and kept hunting big names. The highlight came with the first ball dismissal of India’s darling Yuvraj Singh on the perfect swinging full toss, a delivery good enough to send Shoaib himself into frenzy.

Wahab’s first 5 wicket haul would restrict India to a challenging 260 to defend, a job made easy by yet another Pakistani batting collapse.

And now the hostile neighbors return to Kolkata for what fans expect to be another sensational thriller. One is destined to lose while the other would walk out victorious. Like always, a few players would be crowded heroes while the under performers would face the popular demand of being sent under the guillotine. Players on their part are ready to live out of that fear as they realize that a stellar performance on this biggest stage could well earn them immortality.

-Ashar Zaidi is a Senior Anchor/Sports Journalist with Geo News. He tweets @AsharZaidiGeo