A Look At India And Pakistan’s T20I Rivalry Over The Years: Only 48 hours left for India-Pak mega clash in T20 World Cup. This classic battle is on Sunday, October 23 at 1:30 PM. This time, the former players have given advice to both teams before the arch-rivals’ first clash in the tournament. Despite the threat of rain, the Melbourne Cricket Ground and all partners of the International Cricket Council are gearing up for the blockbuster encounter.
India has entered the tournament as the top T20I team in the ICC rankings. Pakistan will be in the third position. Team India has an 8-3 advantage over their neighbors in T20 cricket. Recently, the two countries have met only in multi-nation tournaments. It is also noteworthy that Pakistan has won two of the last three encounters between the arch-rivals. Before the two meet once again in this World Cup, let’s take a look through that path.
‘Bowl Out’ (2007 Durban)
The India-Pak T20 match was played for the first time in the group stage of the 2007 World Cup. In the match, on the back of Robin Uthappa’s half-century, India scored 141 runs for the loss of 9 wickets. In reply, Misbah-ul-Haq scored a half-century to bring Pakistan closer to the target. But the match ended in a draw as the Indian bowlers bowled brilliantly in the last overs. In the early days of the format, India was declared the eventual winner through a ‘bowl-out’, which was used to decide the winners following a draw.
#OnThisDay in 2007, India v Pakistan at #WT20 ended with scores level, and India won a bowl-out 3-0 in a thrilling tie in Durban! pic.twitter.com/dXf27ruAm8
— ICC (@ICC) September 14, 2017
Dhoni’s maiden World Cup (Johannesburg 2007)
India and Pakistan faced each other once again in the 2007 World Cup final. Gautam Gambhir’s 75 helped India reach 157/5. Pakistan’s reply batting started with a bang through opener Imran Nazir. He scored 33 runs off just 14 balls. But losing wickets at regular intervals put Pakistan under pressure. Misbah fought back in the last overs and came close to victory. Pakistan needed 13 runs from six balls to win. India is one wicket away from their maiden World Cup title. Misbah was caught by Sreesanth as he lofted Joginder Sharma’s third ball toward a short fine leg and attempted a six. Then history was born.
India claimed the first ever @T20WorldCup trophy #OTD in 2007 pic.twitter.com/ySKx6NyO1J
— ICC (@ICC) September 24, 2021
Koli Balaji Magic (2012 Colombo)
The two teams met again in the group stage of the 2012 T20 World Cup. Batting first, India bowled out Pakistan for 128 runs thanks to Lakshmipathy Balaji’s brilliant performance. He took 3 wickets for just 22 runs that day. Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 75 off 61 balls as India won the one-sided match with eight wickets and three overs to spare.
Pakistan’s first win (Bengaluru 2012)
Months after their World Cup defeat, Pakistan arrived in India for a three-match ODI and T20 series. It was also the last bilateral series between the two sides. After a good start by openers Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane, Indian wickets started falling at a rapid pace. Umar Gul’s three-wicket spell (3/21) restricted the hosts to 133/9. Half-centuries from Mohammad Hafeez (61) and Shoaib Malik (57 not out) put an end to their wait for a first T20 win against rivals Pakistan as they defeated their team by five wickets on Indian soil.
India’s Revenge (2012 Ahmedabad)
After the defeat in the first T20I, India left for Ahmedabad. Yuvraj Singh scored 72 off just 36 balls to guide the hosts to a massive 192/5. Opener Nazir Jamshed scored 41 runs and Hafeez scored 55 runs off 26 balls to shake India. But Hafeez was dismissed and India came back into the match. Pak struggles to fall 11 runs short.
First T20 Asia Cup win (Mirpur 2016)
The two teams met in the fourth match of the tournament in the maiden T20 Asia Cup held in Bangladesh. Brilliant performances from Hardik Pandya (3/8) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/11) restricted Pakistan to 83 runs. After some early setbacks, Virat Kohli scored 49 off 51 balls to lead India to victory. With this, they got their first win against Pakistan in the T20 edition of the continental event.
Kohli’s Ararat (Kolkata 2016)
A month after winning the Asia Cup, India faced Pakistan in the World Cup Super 10 match in Kolkata. Batting first, India restricted Pakistan to just 118/5. India did not get off to a good start as they lost both their openers very early. But the in-form Kohli scored an unbeaten 55 off 37 balls with six wickets in hand to lead India to victory.
Big Defeat for India (Dubai 2021)
After a gap of five years, India faced Pakistan in the T20 World Cup group opener. India has already lost Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul due to Shaheen Afridi’s brilliant performance. Captain Kohli’s fifty and Rishabh Pant’s valuable 39 runs took the Indian score to 151. But Pakistan openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan remained unbeaten on 68 and 79 respectively to win by 10 wickets.
The last time India and Pakistan met in a Men’s T20I, history was rewritten
Relive the thrilling encounter from the ICC Men’s @T20WorldCup 2021
— ICC (@ICC) August 28, 2022
Hardik’s All-Round Show (Dubai 2022)
India under new captain Rohit locked horns with Pakistan in the group stage of the second T20 edition of the Asia Cup last August. The performance of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/26) and Hardik Pandya (3/25) restricted the Pak innings to 147 runs. Hardik played the role of the finisher with an unbeaten 33 off 17 balls to defeat Pakistan by five wickets.
