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When Ajay Jadeja Bashed Waqar Younis In 1996 To End Pakistan's World Cup Dream

image-lo4gxik3Ajay Jadeja is Mentoring Afghanistan Camp (Source: X)

Afghanistan's victory against Pakistan in the World Cup 2023 was not just a moral win, it was more than what words can express for a team that has seen so much in the past decade. The chief architect of that win was their mentor, Ajay Jadeja, who was hired right before the mega-event to provide crucial insights to the team.

Jadeja's side getting better of Pakistan in an ICC event isn't something new, rewinding the clocks to 1996, the middle-order batter did what he was known for back then. It was the quarter-final of World Cup 1996 when India were playing the Green Nation for the crucial semi-final spot.

Coming in at four, Jadeja played an expressive knock of 45 runs from just 25 deliveries with four boundaries and two biggies. The most memorable thing about his innings happened against one of the finest pacers in cricket at that time, Waqar Younis, who was smashed like a gully cricketer for 22 runs in a single over.

This changed the complexion of the game as they were able to finish on a high with the final score of 287. In reply, their arch-rivals could only manage 248 for the loss of nine wickets, handing India the victory by 39 runs and a progression to the next stage.

Incidentally, this was the same game where pacer Venkatesh Prasad knocked over Aamer Sohail's stump after the latter challenged him for consecutive boundaries, making it one of the most iconic memories in cricketing history.

Coming back to Jadeja, this was the second time that he and his side dented Pakistan's hopes of making it to the next stage, as back then, the neighbours were eliminated from the WC after losing the game. However, the road has only gotten more challenging this time for the Babar Azam-led side.