Aamer Sohail, the former Pakistan captain and a member of the 1992 World Cup-winning team, has opened up about the Men in Green’s historic title victory under the charismatic captain Imran Khan.
Pakistan’s only World Cup triumph in 1992 is still remembered as one of the unexpected wins in cricket history as they outsmarted title favorites England in the finals to win the coveted trophy two decades ago.
The legends like Ramiz Raja, Inzamam-Ul-Haq, Javed Miandad, Saleem Malik, and Wasim Akram gave their all to take the World Cup 1992 trophy to Pakistan, apart from Imran’s captaincy.
Recently, Sohail revealed that former captain Imran had actually given up at one point during the World Cup 1992, but it was Miandad who kept the morale of the team-high while claiming the latter was the “major inspiration” behind Pakistan’s famous World Cup triumph.
Sohail said on the Cricket Life Stories Youtube channel: “The major contribution came from Javed Miandad. He was the inspiration. At one time, Imran (Khan) had given up. He was not 100 percent fit and was thinking of going back to Pakistan. But it was Javed Miandad, who kept on urging him that 'you are the captain; you have to lead from the front.”
He further added, “He asked Imran not to worry about injuries because every international athlete takes ground with some kind of injury. So muster your strength, and you have to represent Pakistan. It was Miandad who actually influenced everybody. He was guiding Imran through with everything and it really worked for Pakistan.”
The former batsman has further recalled how Imran was inspiring youngsters and helped him out during the practice games and shown confidence in him during the World Cup back in 1992.
Sohail recalled, “Imran was a great inspiration as well. He was great at giving confidence to youngsters. I was not in the final squad for the World Cup, I was on trial. So, I scored a few runs in practice games. I got a 70-odd in a practice match against South Africa in Canberra.
After the game, he took me aside at the hotel reception and said, ‘you played really well. I am assuring you that you would be playing the entire World Cup. Even if you score 10 ducks in a row, I will still play you in the final'.”
He signed off by saying, “That was the confidence given to a youngster by Imran Khan, and it did work most of the time. These little things combined in that famous 1992 victory.”
