Present and past members of the Pakistan national cricket teams on Thursday joined to celebrate one of the most iconic and memorable moments in the country’s cricket history — a 22-run victory over England in the final of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup on March 25, 1992, in front of more than 89,000 spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
While Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Nida Dar, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Younis Khan reflected on the impact of Melbourne win on their careers, members of the 1992 side Aamer Sohail, Aqib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed shared their experiences and the champions’ mindset with current members of the national teams. The World Cup victory was the catalyst for future triumphs, including back-to-back ICC U19 Cricket World Cup titles in 2004 and 2006, ICC T20 World Cup 2009 trophy, lifting of the ICC Test Championship mace in 2016 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 victory at The Oval.
When Pakistan won the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, it became only the second country after India to win all four ICC Majors — the World Cup, the T20 World Cup, Champions Trophy and the ICC Test Championship mace.
Younis Khan was 14 in 1992 and subsequently became the second Pakistan captain to win a major ICC event in 2009 before finishing as the most successful Test batsman.
“The final of the 1992 World Cup changed the scenario of Pakistan cricket forever.” Khan said.