Former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq played international cricket at a time when the Men in Green were touted as among the best in the circuit. The Pakistan team that Razzaq was part of boasted of quite a many match-winners both with the bat and ball. They were undoubtedly the better team of the India-Pakistan rivalry in the 1990s and had a better record than the Indian team in every other series/ tournament the only exception being the ICC Cricket World Cup.
Notably, Pakistan is yet to beat India in a world-cup match as the Men in Blue have won all their matches against the neighbouring opponents.
“India will continue to maintain that record,” said Razzaq, who was part of three Ind-Pak World Cup games (1999, 2003, 2011), in an interview with the Press Trust of India.
“It is rare that India and Pakistan play each other in knock-out matches of ICC events. They mostly play in the league stage and India are favourites. Our players are not able to absorb the pressure that comes with this game,” he added.
“We used to win a lot against India in Sharjah and also beat them in Canada twice. I remember the 1999 World Cup, people and media put pressure on the players before the game and we wilted. It has stayed like that, unfortunately,” he further said.
“The pressure builds on the players though it is like any other match. The players are not confident about beating India in the World Cup. Pakistan had the best chance of beating India in the 2011 edition,” Razzaq added.
India defeated Pakistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 and now have a 7-0 head to head record over the arch-rivals in the history of the ICC World Cup.