India and Pakistan have a tremendous rivalry across any sport they play. The rivalry hits fever pitch when the two nations lock horns on cricket. World Cup is an event where the men in blue have enjoyed an upper hand over their traditional rivals. The two teams also see a lot of memorable moments during the said encounters. The fans enjoy the needle between the two teams during the game which has lot riding on them. One of the biggest games that any Indian fan would remember and cast his mind back to is the 2003 world cup between the two rivals. The match was keenly anticipated as centurion became the place to be as the one first cricket World Cup of the millennium saw the big name battle between the two teams was played on 1st March, 2003.
The story as it happened -
India and Pakistan locked horns in a big game with lots at stake at the famed Centurion cricket ground in South Africa. this was the first meeting between the two teams after the Asia Cup 2000 which was held on Bangladesh. Pakistan had coasted to an easy win during the Asia Cup encounter. Batting first Pakistan had scored 273 on the board. Saeed Anwar had scored yet another century against his favourite rival. Indian bowlers had bowled well to keep the Pakistani team under 300. The Indian team was the team to beat as they were in form under the captiancy of Sourav Ganguly.
Sehwag reveals the story about Shahid Afridi abusing Sachin Tendulkar
Chasing 274 to win, the Indian opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag started off with adding 50 runs for the first wicket in mere 5 overs before Waqar Younis struck twice to get rid of Sehwag and Ganguly. Sachin played well to score 98 which the former Indian great revealed as his favourite innings. During the course of the innings, Sachin Tendulkar had pulled a muscle in his leg and had to resort to asking for a runner. The runner in question was his opening partner, Virender Sehwag. The former dashing opener revealed a never heard before incident We knew it was an important game. But Tendulkar was so experienced, he had played so many games against Pakistan.. he knew that he need to be prepared for it. If I have to consider his World Cup knocks, it was his best. I also came to run for him during the game because he was having cramps, and Pakistan's Shahid Afridi was abusing him a lot, kept saying something or the other. But he remained focused. He knew it was important for him to stay at the crease. He usually doesn't take a runner, but still he knew that if I come, I will run like he does. There won't be any misunderstanding,"
Sehwag speaks about the game -
India and Pakistan play again after nearly an year during the August 28 game during the Asia Cup 2022 edition. The game will be played at the Dubai international cricket stadium. The same venue where Pakistan had beaten India during the T20 World Cup last year by ten wickets. Virender Sehwag who has been part of many big India and Pakistan games spoke about the significance of the game and said
“No matter what series it is (ICC tournament or bilateral), the match between India and Pakistan is always intense. And we will always see fights or incidents taking place between players of both the countries. And I remember there was a statement from Shoaib Akhtar that he will absolutely destroy the top order. I didn't read the statement, neither did Sachin, but Sachin did respond strongly to it in the first over of our innings. He hit 18 runs in that over"