India vs Pakistan in the Asia Cup in UAE: A reminder of an era gone by

The deserts of the UAE were witness to the cricketing rivalry between India and Pakistan as they battled it out against each other in Sharjah through the 1980s and 90s

India-Pakistan cricket rivalry is incomplete without mentioning the iconic last ball six by Javed Miandad off a Chetan Sharma full-toss at Sharjah in 1986. It is one moment that has sometimes overshadowed even the numerous World Cup victories India has achieved against their neighbours. 

 

Ever since that fateful day when Pakistan won against India for the first time in Sharjah, there has been a high voltage build-up every time the two nations meet, and the match in the upcoming Asia Cup will be no different. 

 

This Asia Cup 2022 meeting will be the second ever between the two teams in the Gulf nation in T20Is. The only other time was in the T20 World Cup 2021, where Pakistan won the game by ten wickets in a one-sided affair. Of late, most Ind-Pak meetings have been one-sided.

 

However, it wasn't always like this. From the late 80s till the late 90s, the ODIs played between India and Pakistan in the neutral deserts of Sharjah shaped the rivalry known as the biggest rivalry in the cricketing world. 

 

Initial victories for India

 

India and Pakistan met in Sharjah for the first time in 1984, which was also the inaugural edition of the Asia Cup. The Indian team won the game easily. The next meeting in Sharjah was almost a year later, in March 1985. After India was rolled over for a meagre 125, the chase was considered a cakewalk for Pakistan. Laxman Sivaramakrishnan had other ideas as he, alongside Ravi Shastri, choked Pakistan. The two spinners picked two wickets each to bowl out the neighbours for only 87. 

 

The iconic Miandad victory 

 

India had a 3-0 record against Pakistan in Sharjah and looked all set to register its fourth win. Chasing 246 in the '80s was not easy, and if the chasing team was 4-110 in the first 25 overs, with in-form batters Salim Malik, Ramiz Raja and Mohsin Khan out, it seemed almost impossible for Pakistan to win. 

 

Kris Srikanth, who had hit a fifty for India in that game, later confessed in an interview that he had heard Javed Miandad say, "Mere ko bas ek banda chahiye jo khada rahe (I need just one man to stay at the other end, I will win this one)."

 

Chetan Sharma bowled five brilliant balls with 12 runs needed off the last over. Pakistan was nine down and would have lost had Mohd. Azharuddin thrown the ball to Sharma at the non-striker's end, where Tauseef Ahmed was short by a considerable margin. But that did not happen. What happened was that Miandad, who had already hit a century, was back on strike for the last ball.

 

With five needed off the last ball, Sharma bowled a low full toss, and Miandad deposited it in the mid-wicket stand to become an overnight legend. 

 

A tale of another 12 runs and India finishing second again

 

There was a chance for India to exact revenge for the 1986 loss, five years later in 1991. Thanks to Aamer Sohail's brilliant 91, Pakistan made 257 in their 50 overs. India, who had ended their eight-match losing run against Pakistan at Sharjah in their previous match, looked all set to chase the target down with a 124-run stand for the first wicket between Vinod Kambli and Ravi Shastri. 

 

Three wickets fell in quick succession, and India was 133-3. Sanjay Manjrekar and Sachin Tendulkar added 85 for the fourth wicket. With only 38 needed to win and seven wickets in hand, it never looked like Pakistan would win. But lights started to fade in the stadium, and the umpires offered Indian batters light.  

 

As Manjrekar would later confess, the Indian team did not take the light because the management was never told whether they were ahead of the required runs or not. Manjrekar continued as wickets kept falling. With 12 needed off six balls, Waqar Younis bowled a fantastic over. It eventually boiled down to Kiran More on strike and India needing five runs to win. No run came off the last ball, and India lost by four runs. 

 

Going beyond Sharjah and the decline in the intensity 

 

After the match-fixing sagas of the mid and late 90s, India vs Pakistan cricket couldn't return to Sharjah. The last time the two teams played in a cricket series in Sharjah was way back in 1999-2000. 

 

Later, they met for a two-match ODI series at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi in 2005-06. After that, it was the 2018-19 Asia Cup (50 overs tournament) where India-Pakistan met, and India won both matches comfortably. 

India vs Pak in UAE

Total Matches	29
India Win	09
Pakistan Win	20