T20 World Cup final: Pakistan v England 1992 - the moment a country fell in love with cricket

Babar & Rizwan lead Pakistan to World Cup final

By Aatif Nawaz
Actor, comedian, Test Match Special commentator

1992 mein bhi yehi hua tha.

That's Urdu for 'This also happened in 1992'.

The phrase started circulating among Pakistan fans on Twitter last month as a bit of humour, a coping mechanism in the aftermath of two heartbreaking defeats to start the Men's T20 World Cup.

Pakistan also began their ultimately successful 50-over World Cup campaign in 1992 with two consecutive defeats before a remarkable run to the final to face England.

Sound familiar?

As this year's tournament in Australia has unfolded, the list of uncanny similarities between Pakistan's performances in 1992 and 2022 has continued to grow.

Pakistan lost their opening match of both tournaments at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. They lost to India in the group stage before winning three consecutive matches. They would go on to qualify for the semi-finals on the last day of fixtures by a solitary point.

As if that wasn't enough to sense something was in the air, Pakistan faced New Zealand in the semi-finals on Wednesday, lost the toss but won the match - a sequence which also mirrors 1992.

Pakistan beat England by 22 runs in that year's final, also at the MCG.

Can it happen again?

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Pakistan's fascination with 1992 goes far beyond that being the year of their greatest triumph, which remains their only ODI World Cup trophy.

It was the moment a whole country fell deeply and hopelessly in love with cricket.

It wasn't just the beautiful crystal trophy they won. It was the hearts and minds of a nation. It was a future prime minister in World Cup-winning captain Imran Khan and the cancer hospitals he would go on to found.

Imran's counter-punching batting in the final, Inzamam-ul-Haq's blistering knock and especially Wasim Akram's breathtaking spell of fast bowling live rent free in the minds of many fans.

Aged seven, I was one of those fans.

British-Pakistanis have a complex relationship with sporting loyalties. In 1990 Conservative politician Lord Tebbit coined the 'cricket test' as a measure of the loyalty of immigrants and their children to the UK by whether or not they supported the England cricket team.

The Tebbit Test has long been established as archaic and irrelevant as every Pakistan fixture in England draws an enormous contingent of green shirts, often outnumbering England fans. I know, it's wild.

Far from being an act of sedition, it's something that makes this country so wonderful - the incredible diversity and heritages of its inhabitants.

I'm one of those people. One might think it odd. A BBC Test Match Special commentator, a London-born son of Pakistan-born parents, I spend an enormous amount of time working around and often with the England cricket teams.

I have a tremendous fondness for them. I'd go so far as to say I adore them, particularly the current men's and women's teams. Not just the way they play the game, but how they carry themselves and represent our country.

But my favourite team? That's not the same thing. Even as I get to commentate and present on more cricket for the BBC, I'm still that seven-year-old kid at heart, watching his heroes in lime green.

In 1992 I didn't know anything about them. I didn't fully understand what they had accomplished. And I certainly didn't fully grasp the concept of countries. All I knew for sure was that I loved this team. And, unlike some of the other loves in my life, this one would go the distance.

I'm not alone. Many Pakistani cricket fans can trace their fandom back to that one glorious evening in Melbourne in 1992 - one which the Pakistan team of 2022 perhaps seem destined to repeat.

But Pakistan now face their final hurdle in recreating the single most crucial moment in their cricketing history. Of course it's the same opponents who stood before them 30 years prior: England.

There is an enormous amount of good will for the England team from Pakistan fans - and I don't mean just British-Pakistani fans. The team's recent and forthcoming historic trips to the country have only enhanced the fondness Pakistanis feel for English cricket.

They want them to succeed. They want them to flourish. Against all but one team.

After all, 1992 mein bhi yeh hua tha.

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