The ODI History of Pakistan
You can’t talk about Cricket World Cup history without mentioning Pakistan. After all, this is a country who has tasted success in this tournament, with the team having fallen short in the competition when making their bow out in 1975 but soon getting to grips with the format.
In the years 1979, 1983 and 1987, the Pakistan One Day International team were able reach the semi-final stage on each occasion. The first appearance saw them fall short against a rampant West Indies by 43 runs at The Oval in London.
In 1983, the Pakistan team produced some eye-catching performances en route to reaching the last four stage once again. On that occasion, they once again ran into a Windies team who were dead set on reaching a third consecutive final, with the latter achieving an eight-wicket success.
In 1987, the Pakistanis got closer to achieving their dream of a first ever World Cup when clashing with Australia when losing by eighteen runs. There were clear signs that Pakistan were knocking on the door when it came to One Day International cricket, especially with Imran Khan taking so many wickets.
The 1992 World Cup was staged by Australia and New Zealand, with this being the moment where the nation held its breath as Pakistan navigated their way through the group stage. It was actually a fraught route to the final four as the team only managed to secure fourth spot narrowly ahead of Australia.
There was then a thrilling semi-final at Eden Park when Pakistan clashed against the Kiwis and the legendary Inzamam Ul-Haq was able to reel off 60 runs off 37 balls, with Wasim Akram and Mushtaq Ahmed taking a couple of wickets apiece to reach the final.
The stage was then set at Melbourne Cricket Ground on 25 March 1992 where Pakistan clashed with England and the former was able to register a 22-run victory. Imran Khan was a star turn with the bat, with the all-rounder scoring 72 runs off 110 balls.
Despite being co-hosts of the 1996 World Cup, Pakistan could only manage a last eight appearance before going on to reach their second ever final in 1999. Despite beating Australia during the group stage, they were hammered in the final, with Shane Warne skittling four batsmen out.
Who Holds the ODI Records for Pakistan?
When it comes to batting records, Inzamam-ul-Haq had a truly excellent career for his country between 1991-2007. One day cricket seemed perfectly suited to a player who could slog the ball all day and he ended up with an impressive 11,739 runs for his country over a sixteen-year period.
It means that Inzamam is actually sixth on the all-time run scorer list, with Saeed Anwar having achieved the highest ever ODI total with 194 runs. Shahid Afridi is a well-known name in the world of Pakistan cricket and he has an honorable achievement of the fastest ever century being scored off 37 balls.
Wasim Akram is top of the Pakistan ODI bowling charts having taken 502 wickets between 1984-2003, with this putting him second on the all-time list. He is also one of three ODI bowlers to take two hat-tricks.
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