India v Pakistan

A fairy-tale match

One of the most abused clichés in sport is the one about the game, ratherthan a team or individual, being the winner. For those on the losing side,especially after a contest decided by the length of a fingernail, such aglib phrase is no more than a slap in the face, another reminder of fallingagonisingly short. But sometimes, maybe once every decade or so, sport hasthe ability to transcend itself and render the result immaterial. So it waswith this one-day international at Karachi

Dileep Premchandran revisits a night touched by magic

India v Pakistan

The birth of reverse swing

This wasn't a Test that you would call great in the traditional sense. It was a no-contest: Pakistan won by an innings and 87 runs, their biggest win over India at the time. But the match was significant for the performance of one man – Imran Khan took 11 wickets, eight of them in the second innings, five in the space of 25 balls, and the legend of reverse-swing was born

Sambit Bal on Imran Khan’s Test in 1982

India v Pakistan

One resounding stroke

Almost two decades later, Javed Miandad, the scrapper who knew not how to throw in the towel, would confess to having almost done just that

Dileep Premachandran on that Sharjah game in 1986

An epochal moment

Dileep Premachandran on Gavaskar’s last Test in 1987

Jadeja's blitz, Prasad's triumph and Miandad's last gasp

Amit Varma on the 1996 World Cup ODI

The rollercoaster Test

Anand Vasu on the spinetingler at Chennai in 1999

Many points of crescendo

Chandrahas Choudhury on the Kolkata Test of 1999

The Tempest

Chandrahas Choudhury on the 2003 World Cup game