Watch: Ijaz Ahmed smashes 139 against a hapless Indian attack

Watch: Ijaz Ahmed smashes 139 against a hapless Indian attack: While talking about some of the best batsmen to have emerged from Pakistan, Ijaz Ahmed is a name which rarely pops up. But that can be debatable if we look at impressive career stats.

The right hander, known for his wide array of strokes than his consistency, was one of the veterans of Pakistan batting order in the 1990s. Overshadowed by the likes of Inzamam and Salim Malik, his accomplishments have been swept under the rug as the time passed post his retirement. And controversies post his career did not help him either.

But leaving those discussions apart, Ijaz could rip apart any opposition on his day. His best was reserved against Australians, having scored an impressive tally of 6 centuries against an impressive bowling attack.

And he went absolutely ballistic against the touring Indians in 1997. In a series decider in the Gadaffi stadium at Lahore, India was asked to bat in a pitch which had little demons. But some tight bowling and poor batting reduced India to 77 for 5. But an fighting partnership between Ajay Jadeja and Saba Karim eventually helped India post a modest 216 on board.

Requiring 217 to win, everyone favored Pakistan to cross the victory line. But what everyone witnessed was absolute carnage from Ijaz Ahmed. An inexperienced attack consisting of Abey Kuruvilla, Debasis Mohanty and co, were taken apart by Ijaz Ahmed, and he absolutely outscored his opening parter, who was a teenager named Shahid Afridi.

He reached his century off just 69 balls, and chased down the target of 217 withing 27 overs. Ijaz contributed 139 of those runs and consisted of a whopping 9 sixes. On his birthday, lets revive one of the better knocks of India-Pakistan rivalry.

Watch: Ijaz Ahmed smashes 139 against a hapless Indian attack: