Golden Time of Cricket Teams: Pakistan 1989-1992

A notorious selection it was, perchance. Pakistan, despite all their victories, has never shown resilience and consistency, even during their 1992 World Cup triumph.  They flirted with the game during the league matches in 1992 World Cup. Had the downpour not interceded soon after the Pakistani batting line up was sent to the pavilion for just 74 by the Englishmen, Pakistan would have been out from the tournament. As it was the superb captaincy of Imran Khan, Javed Mianadad’s optimum dexterity and Wasim Akram’s magical in-swingers that produced some unforgettable moments of Pakistani cricket to grab the crystal the trophy.

The killer combination of two ‘W’s –Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis along with some  irrepressible performances by  Javed Miandad, Salim Malik, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Aamir Sohail, Pakistan possessed all the ingredients to dominate the game during 1989-1992.

During 1989-1992 Pakistan not only ruled the cricket world but also they won The Champions Trophy by defeating West Indies and India in UAE. Furthemore, a memorable performance of Pakistan at The Nehru Cup where the green shirts defeated Australia, India, England, West Indies and Sri Lanka on the Indian soil. The Australasia Cup ( India, Bangladesh, Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand were defeated) and The Wills Trophy (again defeating West Indies and India) played in UAE were some of the memorable moments of Pakistan cricket history.

History of opening ceremony of ICC Cricket World Cups

An opening ceremony marks the start of any event, may it be a sports event or any other governmental event. Opening ceremony has a very old history relating back to Ancient Greek times when Olympics were started with a ceremony which included extravagance feasts, singing and recitation of poetry. People were presented with olive wreaths. The traditions have continued and are now considered as an integral part of the modern day Olympics. Today all major sporting events like FIFA World Cup, Olympics Games start with an opening ceremony which is watched by people from all over the world.

ICC Cricket World Cup is considered as the most important and widely watched event of the cricketing world. The history of ICC Cricket World Cup starts from 1975 when it was known as Prudential Cup. The opening ceremonies remained pretty simple till 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup. It mostly consisted of a welcome dinner followed by group photos of participating teams. Infact, opening ceremony of 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup was described as ‘pathetic’ by Wisden. Pakistan added new flavors by arranging few musical concerts on the eve of 1996 Wills World Cup held in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka but still a grand ceremony did not take place.

At last in 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup, South Africa gave a new direction to the opening ceremony of a cricket world cup. 4,000 performers gathered at the Cape Town for a ceremony which is still remembered by many people. Different themes were performed by the singers, musicians and dancers gathered for the big event. Almost 1.4 billion people have watched the ceremony. In 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup, West Indies followed the tradion set by South Africa and amazed the world by showing its wonderful colors of heritage. The budget utilized was small and only 1500 performers participated but still it was considered as the biggest extravaganza night in cricket history.

Highest partnership runs in world cup

The highest runs partnership at any World Cup match is the 2^nd wicket partnership between Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid against Srilanka at Taunton during 1999 Cricket World Cup played on May 26, 1999. Ganguly and Dravid jointly posted 318 runs on the scoreboard where their corresponding scores of 183 runs and 145 runs. Saurav Ganguly was awarded ‘Player of the Match’ where India won the match by 157 runs.

Here is a list of top 10 highest runs partnerships recorded at World Cup tournaments to date.

Most player of the match in Cricket World Cups

With exceptional talent against any bowling attack Sachin Tendulker is one man who excelled in all formats of cricket. His significant contribution to cricket has enabled him to earn a status of an academy for new entrants who want to excel in batting. With loads of cricket records in his bag, yet another record is there for him i.e. the most ‘Player of the Match’ award in Cricket World Cups to date. He has earned this ward 8 times. Following is the list of ‘Player of the Match’ award winners in Cricket World Cup tournaments.

Player of the Match	Country	Matches	No of  Awards
SR Tendulkar	India	36	8
GD McGrath	Australia	39	6
L Klusener	South Africa	14	5
GA Gooch	England	21	5
IVA Richards	West Indies	23	5
ST Jayasuriya	Srilanka	38	5
DC Boon	Australia	16	4
SK Warne	Australia	17	4
SC Ganguly	India	21	4
ME Waugh	Australia	33	4

Most stumps in World Cup innings

To stump out a batsman in a World Cup match is always a treat for a wicketkeeper as he is the sole member of the team who does it for his country. A wicketkeeper’s expertise and excellent reflexes to any ball coming towards his gloves enables him to go for stumping if he sees a batsman out of the batting crease. Cricket World Cup has seen very less stumpings, however; the award for most stumps in cricket World Cup goes to India’s Kiran More who has stumped out 2 batsmen in a single inning. Although Kenyan wicketkeeper KO Otieno has done it twice as well, but he did it in two innings. Following is the list of wicketkeepers with most stumps in world cup tournaments.

Wicketkeeper	Country	Dismissals	Stumpings	Innings
KS More	India	4	2	1
KO Otieno	Kenya	4	2	2
JC Adams	West Indies	5	1	1
Rashid Latif	Pakistan	5	1	2
NR Mongia	India	5	1	1
Wasim Bari	Pakistan	4	1	1
KC Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	4	1	2
KO Otieno	Kenya	4	1	1
KC Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	4	1	1
Kamran Akmal	Pakistan	4	1	1

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