Top 5 Heart-breaking Moments in Indian Cricket History

Indian Cricket team is not a dream-team and comprises human beings who can never achieve perfection.

India has gone through its fair share of heartbreaks in the various matches that the team has played over the years. We take a look at 5 such moments which proved to be heartbreaking for the Indian cricket team as well as the fanatic followers of the game.

1. Javed Miandad's six against India: Sharjah Cup 1986

Perhaps the most famous six of all time, was the one hit by Javed Miandad off Chetan Sharma in the last ball of the final over at the Sharjah Cup in 1986. In this India-Pakistan match, Miandad's six led the Pakistani team to a thrilling victory. Prior to Sharjah, Pakistan had lost six of their nine ODI matches against India. Miandad's thundering six probably had a crushing effect on the Indian bowlers which is why India lost the next eight out of nine matches to Pakistan.

2. India vs Australia: World Cup 1987

The first match of the 1987 World Cup was totally heartbreaking for the followers of the Indian team. Riding on their '83 World Cup win, India came across as a confident team. Australia posted a score of 270 for India to chase. Following an aggressive 70 and 73 by Srikkanth and Sidhu, India looked set for a win at 207-3.
Suddenly India's batting order collapsed like a house of cards and India was reduced to 256-8. The last over saw India needing just 2 runs to win with 1 wicket in hand. Maninder was bowled and India lost the match by 1 run.

3. India Vs Sri Lanka: World Cup Semi-final 1996

After putting up a score of 251, Sri Lanka sought to defend it under the captaincy of Sanath Jayasuriya.
Sachin, like usual, led the Indian team's attack before he was stumped at 65 from 88 balls. After his dismissal, India dramatically slumped to 120-8 owing to the brilliance of Jayasuriya. It was then that the match turned controversial after the crowd vented their frustration by burning paper and throwing bottles and stones at the fielders. The match was called of by the match referee and was awarded to Sri Lanka by default.

4. India vs England: 1987 World Cup

Kapil Dev won the toss and decided to let England bat. However, he became clueless when Graham Goochrepeatedly smacked the spinners towards the boundary. England posted a competitive score of 254.
Sunil Gavaskar fell cheaply and a similar tale of collapse followed. Kapil Dev got out to what people still remember as a reckless shot after scoring a brisk 30 leaving India at 204-6. The last 4 wickets were wrapped up for just 19 runs which left the nation stunned. India's dream of lifting a consecutive World Cup were crushed and so were a million hopes.

5. India vs Pakistan: Chennai Test 1999

This was one of the most heart-breaking moments for Sachin Tendulkar fans i.e cricket fans in general. Sachin played brilliantly on a pitch that was not meant to favour the batsmen.Sachin was determined to steady the rocky Indian ship and steer them to victory against the Pakistani team. He put up a brave score of 136 before falling prey to Saqlain Mushtaq. Moin Khan stated, in a press conference, that he had never seen shots like that in his career before. India needed just 17 runs to win in 95 overs with 3 wickets remaining. India, however, lost 3 wickets for 4 runs in 4 overs and India lost the match by a 12 run victory. Sachin, who was adjudged the Man of the Match, was so upset that he never turned up to collect the award.