I define *really* by: occasion (a final, a decider), the opponent (Australia, Pakistan), and importance (World Cup, Sharjah).
Cricinfo has a nice query interface called Statsguru to answer some of these questions.
It has some limitations though. For e.g., the View Format can contain either all-round fields (match result, for example), or individual fields (batting/bowling results, for example) but not both. So we need to run two queries and correlate the results. I've reproduced the result tables for easy reference.
| What was India's performance against Australia or Pakistan, in the finals, semi-finals or quarter-finals of a one-day tournament? |
| Bat1 | Runs | BF | SR | 4s | 6s | Opposition | Ground | Start Date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | v Pakistan | Sharjah | 25 Oct 1991 | ODI # 685 | |
| 4 | 4 | 10 | 40.00 | 0 | 0 | v Australia | Melbourne | 18 Jan 1992 | ODI # 709 | |
| 69 | 69 | 100 | 69.00 | 3 | 0 | v Australia | Sydney | 20 Jan 1992 | ODI # 711 | |
| 6 | 6 | 7 | 85.71 | 1 | 0 | v Australia | Sharjah | 19 Apr 1994 | ODI # 910 | |
| 24 | 24 | 26 | 92.30 | 4 | 0 | v Pakistan | Sharjah | 22 Apr 1994 | ODI # 912 | |
| 31 | 31 | 59 | 52.54 | 3 | 0 | v Pakistan | Bangalore | 9 Mar 1996 | ODI # 1078 | |
| 95 | 95 | 78 | 121.79 | 6 | 5 | v Pakistan | Dhaka | 14 Jan 1998 | ODI # 1276 | |
| 1 | 1 | 6 | 16.66 | 0 | 0 | v Pakistan | Dhaka | 16 Jan 1998 | ODI # 1277 | |
| 41 | 41 | 26 | 157.69 | 7 | 1 | v Pakistan | Dhaka | 18 Jan 1998 | ODI # 1279 | |
| 15 | 15 | 24 | 62.50 | 2 | 0 | v Australia | Delhi | 14 Apr 1998 | ODI # 1316 | |
| 134 | 134 | 131 | 102.29 | 12 | 3 | v Australia | Sharjah | 24 Apr 1998 | ODI # 1327 | |
| 141 | 141 | 128 | 110.15 | 13 | 3 | v Australia | Dhaka | 28 Oct 1998 | ODI # 1360 | |
| 38 | 38 | 37 | 102.70 | 3 | 3 | v Australia | Nairobi (Gym) | 7 Oct 2000 | ODI # 1633 | |
| 4 | 4 | 5 | 80.00 | 1 | 0 | v Australia | Johannesburg | 23 Mar 2003 | ODI # 1993 | |
| 45 | 45 | 66 | 68.18 | 5 | 0 | v Australia | Kolkata | 18 Nov 2003 | ODI # 2064 | |
| 8 | 8 | 22 | 36.36 | 1 | 0 | v Australia | Melbourne | 6 Feb 2004 | ODI # 2097 | |
| 27 | 27 | 40 | 67.50 | 4 | 0 | v Australia | Sydney | 8 Feb 2004 | ODI # 2098 | |
| 117* | 117 | 120 | 97.50 | 10 | 0 | v Australia | Sydney | 2 Mar 2008 | ODI # 2688 | |
| 91 | 91 | 121 | 75.20 | 7 | 0 | v Australia | Brisbane | 4 Mar 2008 | ODI # 2689 | |
| 53 | 53 | 68 | 77.94 | 7 | 0 | v Australia | Ahmedabad | 24 Mar 2011 | ODI # 3143 | |
| 85 | 85 | 115 | 73.91 | 11 | 0 | v Pakistan | Mohali | 30 Mar 2011 | ODI # 3147 |
- Surprisingly, India has won 11/21 of these matches. Sachin scored more than 50 in 7/11 of these matches, more than 90 in 5/11, and centuries in 3/11.
- In the 10 matches India lost, Sachin scored less than 50 in 9/10.
Of course, one could vary the query parameters; add Sri Lanka to the mix, for example, or pick certain venues, like Sharjah which I feel is more intense for India than Dhaka, for example.
