CHENNAI: As the Men in Green prepare to face Afghanistan at Chennai's Chidambaram Stadium on Monday (tomorrow) it's vital to dwell on the history of the arena holding an iconic significance with regards to Pakistan's rich cricketing history.
The enclosure holds a special place for the Pakistan cricket team as not only does it remain a venue where the national side remains unbeaten in one-day internationals (ODIs) so far, but also displays Green Shirt's famous victory over India by way of a mural on the stadium wall.
The artistic portrayal commemorates Pakistani players taking a victory lap after a historic win over India in a nail-biting Test match in 1999.
In that memorable Chennai Test, the game was once slipping out of the hands of Pakistan before Saqlain Mushtaq took the wicket of century-maker Sachin Tendulkar to help Pakistan win the game by 12 runs.
In 1997, Pakistan defeated India by 35 runs, the match will be remembered for the historic 194-run knock by Saeed Anwar which remained the highest individual ODI score for several years. In 2012, Pakistan again triumphed over the home side and secured a six-wicket win.
The Green Shirts have also played four Test matches at this venue winning one and drawing two of them.
The players of the national team are aware of the past records at this venue and Imam-ul-Haq is confident that the team can draw inspiration from the glory Pakistan achieved at this venue in the past and extend their winning streak in Chennai.
It is worth mentioning that Pakistan is currently having a tough time in the World Cup after suffering back-to-back defeats against India and Australia in Ahmedabad and Bengaluru, respectively.
The Men in Green also have two victories to their name but they came against relatively weak sides of the Netherlands and Sri Lanka, with the latter missing a few key players.
And now, the match against Afghanistan is a must-win for Pakistan because any outcome other than a victory would make things difficult for the Babar Azam-led side in the World Cup.
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