Asian cricket got a tremendous boost when captain Imran Khan led Pakistan to a memorable victory from a virtually hopeless position in the 1992 World Cup.

India had already achieved the feat in 1983 and Sri Lanka were to follow the two sub-continental sides in 1996. Never before have Asian nations enjoyed such success in the cricketing world.

Pakistan owed their victory to Imran. They were facing elimination when Imran told his players to play like “cornered tigers”. It had instant effect as Pakistan roared back into contention with three successive wins in the round-robin league.

Imran was one of the finest all-rounders with 3,807 runs in Tests and 3,709 in one-dayers. He also bagged 362 Test wickets and 182 in the ODIs.

Pakistan had suffered a blow even before the tournament started when key paceman Waqar Younis was ruled out due to an injury. They were then plagued with form and fitness problems.

Imran himself was struggling with a shoulder injury and was forced to skip two early matches. Nothing seemed to be going right for his side which claimed just one win in the first five games.

Things changed when Pakistan beat Australia at Perth. There was no stopping them now as they won the remaining two league matches before beating in-form New Zealand in the semi-final and then England in the final.

The batsman who played a crucial role in restoring Pakistan’s fortunes was Imran’s find —- a 22-year old Inzamam-ul-Haq. Imran also cleverly used leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, who was to grab three big wickets in the final.

When the Pakistani captain himself took the last England wicket to seal his team’s triumph, he described the win as “the most fulfilling and satisfying cricket moment of my life”.