Some people may not remember it now, but right before this series, Pakistan A walloped a full-strength India, chasing over 330 thanks to Taufeeq Umar's greatest day in Limited Overs cricket. Unfortunately, the national team fell short of replicating the heroics a few days later.
An incredible ODI of an incredible series that we should have won. We were 2-1 up and had India 90/4 chasing 290, before Dravid and Kaif played sublime knocks. The decider was pretty much a thrashing.
The first, second and fourth ODIs were classics. This was the first of the four bilateral series in 4 years between Pakistan and India. The 2005 ODI series was fantastic as well, but the 2006 and 2007 ones were largely forgettable.
I was in school and I remember how shocked we were at Sehwag and Tendulkar's onslaught. Hardly anyone gave Pakistan a chance before the second innings, but it we put in a heck of a shift. Ultimately, it was a game of fine margins and the result could have been very different.
MoYo getting caught inches off the rope, Inzamam getting out after playing a sublime knock and that Kaif catch. Malik and Moin pretty much bottled a cakewalk in the end. The 344 that Pakistan scored was the highest ever second innings total in ODIs until South Africa's world record chase exactly 1 year and 364 days later.
We were comfortably second best in the Test series, but I do feel we should have won the ODI series. However, we made amends with aplomb in the return series in 2005, the last great ODI series between the two sides.