On This Day In 1985: India Beat Pakistan To Win World Championship Of Cricket
On March 10, 1985, India beat Pakistan at the MCG to win the Benson & Hedges World Championship. Kapil Dev and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan took three wickets each. Kris Srikkanth was Player of the Match.
On This Day In 1985: Two years after securing their first World Cup, India thrashed Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to win the Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket. The historic final was played on this day, March 10, 1985. Apart from the Asian giants, five other teams, including hosts Australia, featured in the multi-national competition.
The tournament was organised to celebrate the 150th anniversary of European settlement in the Australian state of Victoria. India and Pakistan qualified for the semi-finals from Group A, while the West Indies finished at the top of Group B, followed by New Zealand. After winning their semi-final, the Men in Blue went on to beat their arch-rivals by eight wickets in the final.
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#OnThisDay in 1985, India won the ‘World Championship of Cricket’ at @MCG when they beat Pakistan by 8 Wickets .. pic.twitter.com/nPXcOnKSiA— Mohammed Azharuddin (@azharflicks) March 10, 2018
India were in red-hot form during the first semi-final. A star performance from Ravi Shastri ensured the 1983 World Cup winners’ victory over the Kiwis. They won the match by seven wickets at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Pakistan, whereas, faced the West Indies in the tournament’s second semi-final in Melbourne.
Muddasar Nazar won the Player of the Match award as the Asian side thrashed the Caribbean powerhouse by seven wickets.
The stage was set with fans excited to see who would come out on top in another episode of this epic rivalry. The high-octane affair began with Pakistan winning the toss and electing to bat first. They endured a complicated start to the final as Kapil Dev ran through their top order early.
The legendary all-rounder dismissed the likes of Mudassar Nazar, Mohsin Khan and Qasim Umar to put Pakistan at 29/3. Imran Khan formed a partnership with his skipper, Javed Miandad, to stabilise Pakistan’s innings.
The duo helped Pakistan reach triple digits before Imran got run-out. Wasim Raja added another 21 runs to help his team finish with a total of 176/9. Indian bowlers Kapil Dev and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan finished the innings with three wickets each.
India were flawless in their run-chase, putting up an opening stand of 103 runs. Kris Srikkanth scored a 77-ball 67 runs whereas Ravi Shastri added another 63 runs. India completed the chase in the 48th over after losing just two wickets.
Srikkanth was awarded the Player of the Match, whereas Ravi Shastri bagged the Player of the Series trophy. The victory solidified India’s status as the best cricket team in the world at the time.
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