Continued from 'Down the World Cup lane: Pakistan’s journey through the years - Part I'

From Pakistan's glorious triumph in the 1992 World Cup to just a week remaining before the 2019 World Cup kicks off in England, here is a look back at the national team's journey through the mega tournament's history.

1996

The 1996 World Cup, called the Wills World Cup 1996 after its sponsor, was the second mega event to be hosted by Pakistan and India, and the first to be hosted by Sri Lanka.

All the Test-playing nations participated in the competition including Zimbabwe. Three Associate teams also made their World Cup debuts in 1996: the United Arab Emirates, Kenya and the Netherlands.

Sri Lanka were crowned the champions after they defeated Australia by seven wickets in the final held at the historic Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Pakistan won four of their five games in the group stage, making it to the quarterfinals where they lost to India by 39 runs at Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium. India posted a total of 287-8, Player of the Match Navjot Singh Sidhu top scoring with 93. In reply, Aamer Sohail's 55 and Saeed Anwar's 48 saw Pakistan to 248-9. 

India were eliminated by Sri Lanka in the semifinal, while Australia beat the West Indies in the other semifinal.

1999

The ICC World Cup 1999, hosted mainly by England, and by Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Netherlands, was the closest Pakistan ever got to the trophy aside from the 1992 World Cup triumph.

Wasim Akram-led Pakistan finished at the top of their table in the group stage with four wins from five games. The Green Shirts beat heavyweights including Australia, West Indies and New Zealand in the group stage but lost their first match of the tournament to World Cup debutants Bangladesh in what remains one of the most stunning upsets in the history of the competition.

In the Super Six stage, Pakistan lost to South Africa and India but managed to thrash Zimbabwe to qualify for the semifinals, where they beat New Zealand comprehensively by nine wickets. Shoaib Akhtar starred with three wickets and Saeed Anwar smashed 113 not out, as the team came within a match's reach of another World Cup glory.

But it was not to be. Pakistan's batting imploded against Australia in the final at Lord's, as the team collapsed to 132 all out. Shane Warne tore through the side with four wickets, and Ijaz Ahmed was the top scorer with a mere 22 runs. Australia chased down the target with eight wickets in hand. 

2003

The ICC World Cup 2003 was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya, and turned out to be a forgettable tournament for Pakistan, who were eliminated at the group stage along with major teams such as South Africa, West Indies and England.

This World Cup saw several controversies, with some matches forfeited due to political unrest and spin legend Shane Warne sent back home to Australia after testing positive for a banned substance.

This was also Pakistan's shortest-ever World Cup campaign since 1975 - the last time they were eliminated at the group stage before this. The Green Shirts, led by Waqar Younis, managed to register only two wins out of their six games, against Namibia and the Netherlands.

Australia went on to win the 2003 World Cup, remaining unbeaten throughout. The Ricky Ponting-led XI beat India in the final played at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. With this, Australia became the only team to lift three World Cup trophies.

To be continued..

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