WC fiver vs Pak beckons India at Mohali

New Delhi: Alright Wednesday, March 30 is an unofficial public holiday. As India and Pakistan take on each other in a World Cup game after eight years in a high-octane clash that will be witnessed through the peace-envisioned glasses of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, India will look to extend their unbeaten run from four to five games against the neighbours in the World Cup.
What makes this contest even more exciting than the previous four is the fact that at stake for the winner is a World Cup final berth. Here's a quick look at what has transpired between the two in the four times they have met each other in the World Cups.

4th March 1992, Sydney Cricket Ground (D/N)
Result: India won by 43 runs. Sachin Tendulkar adjudged the man-of-the-match.
The 1992 Benson and Hedges World Cup was special for many reasons. The dull white uniforms made way for a flurry of colors, matches were played under floodlights, balls were white and the mood was chuffed up with South Africa's return to international cricket.
It was the third round-robin league match for India and after close misses against England and hosts Australia, and the match against Sri Lanka being washed away, India faced the daunting task of putting Imran Khan’s cornered tigers to rest.
India had dropped Ravi Shashtri and opted for Ajay Jadeja to open the innings with Krishnamachari Srikanth. The two-game-old Jadeja justified the decision with a gritty 46 and a solid partnership with Mohammed Azharuddin. But the hero of the Indian innings was Sachin Tendulkar. Another page to the epic called Sachin, who was to be immortalised later, was added that day. His knock of 54 off 62 deliveries was filled with fire and frolic. Kapil Dev added the pyrotechnics and India managed to put up a total of 216 runs with largely individual efforts.
In reply, Pakistan lost two quick wickets with 17 runs on board. But a steady Aamer Sohail and painstakingly slow Javed Miandad held the oar of the team's sinking boat. But that was only for a while. The dismissal of Sohail off Tendulkar and an amazing display of pace bowling by Kapil, Manoj Prabhakar and Javagal Srinath ensured Pakistan surrendered in that low-scoring battle.
9th March 1996, M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore (D/N)
Result: India won by 39 runs. Man-of-the-match: Navjot Sidhu.
Those were days when Indo-Pak encounters could empty streets, shut down businesses and bring buzzing city lives to a standstill. This match being the quarter-final of the World Cup, jointly hosted by these two arch rivals, only added tadka to an already fiery curry.
After winning the toss, India chose to bat and started at a steady but slow pace. Sachin contributed a useful 31 and by the time he left, the Indians were 90/1. Navjot Singh Sidhu played a gem of a knock piling up 93 runs, there were major contributions from Azharuddin and Vinod Kambli too but Jadeja's 45 off 25 balls defined India's batting that day.
Chasing 288 to win, Pakistan's opening pair of Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar took them off to a flier. Fours and sixes came at ease and soon it was 84 on the board before Anwar departed. Aamer continued in flow until he misjudged Prasad's docile looks and paid the price by losing his off stump.
An on-track Pakistan was derailed by Prasad, who struck two more times. Rashid Latif's lusty hits and Miandad's run-out later, Pakistan crumbled to what was to be their second World cup loss to India.
Outrage was on the streets back home. Effigies burnt and players denounced. Reportedly a fan shot at his television and then shot himself, unable to bear his cricket team's loss to its neighbor-next-shore.
8th June 1999, Old Trafford, Manchester
Result: India won by 47 runs. Man-of-the-match: Venkatesh Prasad.
The crowd-puller was back again but this time the crowds of the two countries were more divided than ever before. This World Cup coincided with one of the fiercest war between India and Pakistan and so this match was an adrenaline pumper by any means.
Three arrests, nine ejections, and an Indian flag burned were mere allegories to how emotions simmered in the two plains neighboring each other.
Indian batsmen though looked unruffled by the happenings and almost soporific as, barring some early domination by Tendulkar, the team progressed at snail's pace. Rahul Dravid made a laborious 61 while Azhar made 59 runs off 77 balls.
The Indians ended at a paltry 227 and looking at the way Anwar started, anyone would have expected Pakistan to write a new page in history. But history was too stubborn to be altered by a single willow's sway. Javagal Srinath picked up three wickets and Prasad with 5 wickets for 27 runs turned out to be Pakistan's devout nemesis yet again.
1st March 2003, SuperSport Park, Centurion
Result: India won by 6 wickets. Man-of-the-match: Sachin Tendulkar.
Going in to this match, India and Pakistan hadn't played a single international match in three years time. Anticipation was in the air. Fans were like drug-addicts in forced abstinence. For cricketers, like always, this match provided a platform to get painted as a national hero.
In the pre-match press conference Rahul Dravid reportedly tried to tone down the temperature saying, "We see it as an important World Cup game. But it is like any other game of cricket, played with a bat and ball, played over 22 yards with 22 players." Yet somewhere deep inside he too was aware of the intensity.
Pakistan started in a blazing manner with Saeed Anwar hitting a stroke-filled century followed by late flourish from Younis Khan and Rashid Latif. They piled up a competitive 273 runs in their stipulated 50 overs, giving hopes that the World Cup jinx would end here.
If not for Sachin, things would have fallen on expected lines. Perennial chokers, while chasing, the Indians started like tornado this time. The master-blaster looking in sublime touch played one of his career best knocks. His 98 off 75 deliveries along with contributions from Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif and Dravid saw the team home.
Rahul Dravid's pre-match tranquiliser was blatantly undone by a fan who screamed to the camera, "Who cares about the rest of the games. We have already won the real World Cup."