If the World Cup is the biggest stage of them all and a player's true measure is to be assessed by what all he has done at the Cup, then probably Pakistan's most experienced player disappointed is the biggest test of all cricketing achievements. Although whenever he scored big - a fifty, Pakistan always won, but in the five World Cups he has just four fifties in as many as 32 innings (before his final World Cup match against Zimbabwe). Worse, Inzamam's World Cup average of 23 is at least 16 percentage points less than his career average. This huge gap between his overall ODI performance and show in the World Cups shows that the 1992 World Cup star could never really translate his talent into performance. But perhaps, even bigger regret that Inzamam will be carrying, will be his failure to demonstrate his true caliber at the World Cup against India. Just one good knock could have fetched Pakistan a victory, but that knock always eluded him. Sixty-one runs in four matches was never going to be enough in these gallows-or-glory battles.
| | Match inning | | Runs | | Avg | | 100s/50s | | | | | | | | | | | Career Average | | 349 | | 11702 | | 39.5 | | 10/83 | | | | | | | | | | | In World Cups | | 32 | | 680 | | 23.4 | | 0/4 | | | | | | | | | | | Against India | | 4 | | 61 | | 15.3 | | 0/0 | | | | | | | | | |
Encounter One - Opening Woes At Sydney, the atmosphere on March 4, 1992 was electrifying as India and Pakistan, meeting for the first time in a World Cup, were virtually fighting for survival in this critical match. Pakistan had won just one of their first three matches while India had none. Setting could not have been more critical, and tense. India won the toss and elected to bat, which was a bold move against a Pak attack comprising of Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Aaquib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed. After the early departure of Srikaanth, Rookie Jadeja, only in his 3rd ODI, kept the innings together. However, at 148 for five, India appeared in danger of not crossing even 200 run mark. It was then the former skipper Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar got involved in a 60 run partnership which gave their team a fair score to bowl at. The eventual score of 216 was somewhat reasonable in those conservative days, though not something which could terrorise the batting lineup. Pakistan sent their hard-hitting batsman Inzamam to open but he could make only two before Kapil claimed him. A good 20-30 runs in quick time from the youngster would probably have helped Pakistan to a comfortable start but one moment of laziness did Inzy in. Probably changing his batting position from one down to opener was little too much to handle for the young batsman. He was never made to open in that tournament again. A middle order collapse involving Salim Malik, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Javed Miandad for just 14 runs (from 127 for four to 141 for seven) saw Pakistan losing by 43 runs. Pakistan did go on to win the tournament, and it was because Inzamam, so much subdued against India, was too hot to handle for New Zealand (60 off 37 balls in semis) and England (42 off 35 balls in final). Encounter Two - Bullied at Bangalore The stage was even more electrifying. Inzamam, now a pillar of the Pakistan batting brigade, was to muffle the Indian roar in their own den. The battle for Banglore would have earned Pakistan a spot in the semifinal. It was the mother of all knockout matches! Chasing 288 to win, Pakistan's future captain's position was once again critical in the batting line-up. When he came in to bat, Pakistan were in reasonably healthy position of 113 for the loss of two wickets. Just 19 runs later, the situation has reversed. Inzamam was back, nicking one from Prasad to Nayan Mongia, with Pakistan struggling at 132 for four. In the end, India won by 39 runs. Just 12 runs from Pakistan's key batsman were a big letdown. Encounter Three - Hat trick of failures for Inzamam The atmosphere at Old Trafford was even more tense for the third World Cup encounter between the two sides. The super-six match on 8th June 1999 in Manchester city was being played in the backdrop of the Kargil war. Under tremendous pressure to win, the players would have liked the match to be treated just as another outing, but for some sections of the media and most of the expatriates, the cricketing ground had become an extension of the battlefield. India once again won the toss, but frittered away the advantage. All top order batsmen barring Ajay Jadeja got starts but failed to convert them into decisive advantage. Two fifties from Dravid and Azhar were not enough and 227 in 50 overs was inadequate to say the least. Considering since mid-nineties, free scoring openers like Jayasuriya, Tendulkar and Gilchrist had ensured that any score was chasable. Pakistan expected a lot from Inzamam, and he almost delivered. But only almost. Coming at the fall of the 3rd wicket, he stood there among the ruins scoring team's highest, 41 runs. He did held the innings together but that he consumed nearly hundred deliveries to score these runs was a reflection as much on his state of mind, as on the shaky state Pakistan gradually found itself in. Probably a little more urgency would have taken Pakistan closer for the final kill, but that was not to be. Like in 1996, it was Prasad once again who sent him and all Pakistan hopes crashing. Once Inzy fell, win was a formality. The margin - 47 runs. Final Encounter - Inzy Tumbles again Probably, Pakistan gave their best performance against India in the World Cups after they won the toss and elected to bat at SuperSports Park, Centurion. They needed to make first use of the pitch to prevent an Indian Grand Slam of World Cup wins against them, and their 273 on the back of Saeed Anwar's century was more than competitive score. But Inzamam, again, had nothing to contribute to this total. He ran himself out. Six runs off three balls was not the kind of score expected from Pakistan's most experienced batsman. A good knock from him, and 300+ score from Pakistan could have been a winning one. India did not have too many problems overhauling this big, but not overpowering, total despite one minor hiccup when they lost two wickets - Sehwag and Sourav - to successive balls of Waqar with score on 53. Despite such good score, Pakistan lost by a big margin of six wickets. Inzamam failed to perform adequately in any of the matches. His astonishing rate of failure against India is much in contrast with his otherwise healthy average against the archrivals of about 44 from 64 innings, including four centuries and 12 half-centuries. His World Cup average against India is just one-third of this! Inzy's 2403 runs are a testimony to his domination over the Indian bowling, which somehow could never extend to the World Cups. That should be his biggest regret in the World Cup, of course after the worst ever performance of his team in the ninth edition of the World Cup. | 
