Bengaluru, May 7: It was March 4, 1992. The venue was the Sydney Cricket Ground. It was a historic occasion as it was for the first time that Asian arch-rivals India and Pakistan were meeting in a ICC Cricket World Cup.

In the points table, Pakistan were better placed with one win while India were yet to bag their first after having lost close games to England and Australia.

However, this game will be better known in mnay ways for Pakistan batting great Javed Miandad's antics.

Mohammad Azharuddin won the toss and elected to bat first in the match which was reduced to 49 overs.

Sachin Tendulkar scored his first fifty in the World Cup (54 not out off 62 balls at No.5) after Ajay Jadeja's 46 off 77 balls gave India the launching pad. A brisk 35 off 26 balls by Kapil Dev towards the end saw India registering a decenr score of 216 for seven in their allotted overs. Leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers with three wickets for 59 runs.

During the chase, Pakistan were in for early trouble as Inzamam-ul-Haq, who opened the innings, fell for just two and Zahid Fazal also followed him. At 17 for two, Miandad (40) joined opener Aamer Sohail (62) and the two added 88 runs to steady the ship.

Miandad was irked by More's appealing

It was during this partnership that the bizarre incident involving Miandad and Indian wicket-keeper Kiran More took place. Pakistan were 85 for two in the 25th over when Tendulkar was about to bowl.

Miandad was on strike but he backed away from his stance and complained to the umpire about what he felt More's excessive appealing.

He had a verbal duel with More before turning to the umpire and the Indian keeper denied his charges. The next ball saw Miandad pushing it to the covers but failed to complete a run and rushed back to the crease.

More dislodged the bails and Miandad then came up with a funny mimicry of More's appealing by jumping in the air with his bat held in both hands. More tried to ignore Miandad's mock gesture while the commentators were in splits.

The image which dates back to 27 years still remains a symbol of India-Pakistan rivalry, especially when it comes to the World Cup.

India had the last laugh in the game as the break in the Sohail-Miandad partnership opened the floodgates and Pakistan lost their last eight wickets for only 68 and falling short of the target by 43 runs.

Match scorecard