By Admin 
On April 18 next year, it will be precisely 40 years since a six from Javed Miandad’s bat shattered Indian hearts. For a brief recap, Pakistan needed four runs from the final delivery of the Austral-Asia Cup final in Sharjah — a 50-over event — when the maverick genius from Karachi, batting on 110, deposited Chetan Sharma’s low full-toss into the stands over deep midwicket and sealed a dramatic one-wicket win.
That singular moment of brilliance from Miandad consigned the Indian pacer, all of 20 years old then, to ignominy despite some subsequent accomplishments in his career. But more significantly, it went on to have repercussions on the psyche of the two teams for the next 15-odd years. Before that, India was just marginally ahead in the head-to-head battle against the neighbour with eight wins and seven losses in 16 ODIs.
But Miandad’s heist in Sharjah’s humid air sparked a period of prosperity for Pakistan. In 68 ODIs from then till 2000, the mercurial bunch maintained a stranglehold over India with 44 wins and just 21 defeats.
All of this is to simply highlight that the tables have well and truly turned in the past two decades. So much so that India skipper Suryakumar Yadav, after a six-wicket win over Pakistan in a Super Four clash of the Asia Cup on Sunday, doesn’t think there is a rivalry anymore. It is important to note in this context that even when Pakistan was superior in the 1990s, the edge to the contest was intact because of India’s wins in ODI World Cup meetings.
“According to me, if two teams play 15-20 matches and if [head-to-head] it is 7-7 or 8-7, then that is called a rivalry and good cricket. But 13-0, 10-1… I don’t know what the stats are. But this is not a rivalry anymore,” Suryakumar, with a smirk planted on his face, told the media.
Cold numbers bear testimony. Since India suffered a five-wicket loss in the 2022 Asia Cup, it has notched up seven straight wins across the two white-ball formats. Out of 15 T20Is, since the first encounter in 2007, India has won 12 while Pakistan just thrice. In ODIs, 29 victories in 51 games since 2003, including across World Cups, encapsulates the supremacy of the Men in Blue.
Beyond the data, the lack of individual match-ups to arouse excitement is a worrying indicator of Pakistan’s talent drain. On Sunday, Salman Agha’s men did mount a better effort compared to a week ago by recording a total of 171 for five to seemingly give the Shaheen Afridi-led attack a chance.
But Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill, courtesy an opening stand of 105 runs, responded by unleashing their breathtaking repertoire of shots to effectively make a mockery of the target. As fours and sixes rained from the bats of these best mates in another comfortable win, it was hard to avoid the impression that Miandad’s six all those years ago had been firmly relegated to the annals of history.