Credit: ICC
On March 10, 2025, India won the World Championship of Cricket final after bagging a convincing eight-wicket win against their arch-rivals Pakistan in Melbourne. At the toss, Pakistan skipper Javed Miandad emerged victorious and elected to bat first. In the big game, Kapil Dev stepped up and wreaked havoc on the Men in Green. The pacer clinched the key scalps of Mohsin Khan, Mudassar Nazar and Qasim Umar in the early stage of the contest and handed India a momentum in the game. Ramiz Raja, whose responsibility was to stabilise the innings and take the team out of crisis, also couldn’t hold his nerves and fell against Chetan Sharma after scoring only four off 12.
Pakistan captain Miandad along with experienced Imran Khan spent some time in the middle and stitched a 68-run stand for the fifth wicket. However, Imran got run-out while stealing a run which undermined Pakistan’s condition in the game. After Kapil’s attack, Pakistan struggled to counter the leg-spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, who got rid of dangerous Saleem Malik (14 off 14), Miandad (48 off 92), and wicketkeeper-batter Anil Dalpat (0 off two). India’s disciplined bowling contained Pakistan on 176/9 in 50 overs. Kapil (3/23 in nine overs) and Sivaramakrishnan (3/35 in nine overs) became the highest wicket-takers in the game.
Openers guide India to comfortable win
Chasing the target, India openers Ravi Shastri and Kris Srikkanth displayed their extraordinary side against bowlers. Srikkanth looked ruthless and notched up 67 off 77 with eight boundaries (six fours and two maximums). Imran Khan brought an end to Srikkanth’s innings and replacing the right-handed batter at the crease, Mohammad Azharuddin played a 25-run innings off 26 deliveries.
Shastri stayed at the crease and took India home in 47.1 overs with his unbeaten 63 runs off 148 deliveries. His innings was studded with three fours. Shastri was accompanied by Dilip Vengsarkar, who scored an unbeaten 18 off 32. Srikkanth became the player of the match for his superb batting in the game while Shastri got the player of the tournament award for racking 182 runs and eight wickets in the tournament.
