It did put the squeeze on pak. Even then Imran and Inzi were batting extremely well and had the rain not messed up the scoring rate for Pakistan, Pakistan had a decent chance.MacMillan engaging in some revisionism here. As has been said, the rain rule definitely put the squeeze on Pakistan in their match against South Africa. Mind you, South Africa's attack was strong and Pakistan had a few out-of-form batters at the time so even without the rain, it would have been a close match.
lol......so trueUnless I’m mistaken, South Africa never played Pak (ever) before the 1992 WC. So not sure what mental edge they held over them…
Aus were probably favourites in 1992 - holders, a better side than when they won it in 1987 + home advantage were pretty persuasive arguments iirc.1975 - Australia
1979 - West Indies
1983 - West Indies
1987 - India
1992 - ?
1996 - Pakistan
1999 - South Africa
2003 - Australia
2007 - Australia
2011 - India
IMO
So SA "choked" once, against an Australian side in ascendancy to arguably the best side in modern times, because of one player's balls-up.1975 - Australia
1979 - West Indies
1983 - West Indies
1987 - India
1992 - ?
1996 - Pakistan
1999 - South Africa
2003 - Australia
2007 - Australia
2011 - India
IMO
Believe the choker tag really took hold after they lost to the WI in the 1996 WC QF, especially since they pissed and moaned about it, that the format was unfair, etc.So SA "choked" once, against an Australian side in ascendancy to arguably the best side in modern times, because of one player's balls-up.
Choking has to do with when you lose in a situation where you were expected to win, with high probability, not whether you whine about an outcome.Believe the choker tag really took hold after they lost to the WI in the 1996 WC QF, especially since they pissed and moaned about it, that the format was unfair, etc.
Eh, was just saying the tag of choker took hold. If they'd taken the loss more gracefully, I'm sure people would have been more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt. Instead, heaps of people dogpiled on them when they lost to an inferior opponent, calling it a choke even when they had injuries or just had a bad day.
Agree with this. We got dicked when it didn't rain in the semi-final when you were 4/140.all teams got dicked by the rain rule atleast once at the 92 world cup, reckon a SA-Pak final would have been a closer affair.
AWTA. You usually need your bowlers to win atleast one knockout match for you, because no matter how good your batsmen are, they won't score 275+ every match.Regardless of how strong our batting line-up is, I can't see how we can be favourites with our bowling especially given that the quarter-finals are going to be knock-out matches as well.
Agree with this. We got dicked when it didn't rain in the semi-final when you were 4/140.
That last ball was actually one of the most hilarios things I have seen in cricket... And that, as an Indian fan.. Watching Srinath slog the ball to the deep and not run, Steve Waugh drop the sitter and then these guys scamper 2 runs and try for the third with the throw well on the way...More like robbed by their inability to get 5 runs off 4 balls with 3 wickets remaining TBH.
Pakistan was probably the favourite in 87 they had just smashed India 5-1 in India the previous year.In 92 Aus was probably the most favored side going inI was wondering who the favorites were before the start of the WC's? (with class, form, venue in mind)
1975 - WI
1979 - WI
1983 - WI
1987 - India
1992 - ?
1996 - Aus? SL?
1999 - SA?
2003 - Aus
2007 - Aus
2011 - India?
No favorites come to mind for 1992. Aus were going well before the Cup, I guess. SA came back with a bang too, as expected.