Cornered Tigers roar to the championship

"I always entered every event with a self-belief that I could win, although our team had a bad track record in Australia. To add to that we had several injuries." That's what Imran Khan had to deal with as captain of the 1992 Pakistan team in the Benson & Hedges World Cup. And it's a good thing that he had self belief, for Pakistan's initial performance, losing 4 of their first five games did not give too much hope to their supporters.

Pakistan's campaign got off to a disastrous start when they lost to the West Indies by 10 wickets. Ramiz Raja scored a painfully slow 102 (158 balls) but the Windies chased it down with Haynes scoring 93*, Lara retiring hurt for 88 and Richie Richardson and the extras contributing 20 each. Pakistan then won against minnows Zimbabwe but the respite was brief as they went on to lose their next two games against India (by 43 runs), South Africa (by 20 runs) and managed to avoid defeat against England thanks to rain.

In fact, Pakistan made it through only because rain saved them against England when they had been bundled out for 74. Had it not been for that stroke of luck, they would perhaps have never advanced to the semi-finals. Thereafter, though, Pakistan rose to the occasion and started a quiet march towards the trophy. In their last four matches, they beat Australia (48 runs), Sri Lanka (4 wickets) and New Zealand (7 wickets) to make it to the semi-finals.

Pakistan really set the stage alight only in the last two matches. But not before some historic advise from their enigmatic captain. "Listen, just be as if you were a cornered tiger," he is said to have told them and as if they were magic words, the Pakistan team sprung to life. That they were facing New Zealand who they had just beaten literally three days before did help a lot as the Kiwis ran out of steam having peaked too soon. They also ran into an unknown quantity by the name Inzamam-ul-Haq who tore them apart scoring 60 (37 balls) before being run out! But Pakistan had won and was to face England in the final.

This was to be England's third World Cup final and second successive one (having lost to Australia in 1987). It was also going to be the last time Ian Botham had a shot at the Cup. And Pakistan almost gave him the perfect farewell! Led again by Imran Khan with the bat, Pakistan set England 250 to win and Wasim Akram and Mushtaq Ahmed ensured England did not get too close for comfort. A historic moment for Pakistan and one that greatly helped change the way the world looked at Pakistan cricket.

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