Thanks to the geopolitical tension, sporting fans across the globe are robbed of, to a large extent, the joy of witnessing one of the biggest rivalries in the cricketing arena: India VS Pakistan matches. Except for a few major ICC tournaments, India and Pakistan cricket teams don’t play each other at all. Whenever the arch-rivals have clashed with each other, the mercury has soared so much that it could even melt the entire Arctic region. Everything came to a standstill in the “friendly” neighbourhood countries of Asia when Sachin took on Akram/Akhtar in the past or Virat faced up to Amir in recent times.
In the T-20 World Cup encounters, India have a superior record against Pakistan (5-0). However, past records are insignificant when the two teams clash with each other as the duel becomes more of an emotional conflict than a game of cricket. So, before the two countries square off in Dubai on October 24, let us live through the roller coaster rides again involving the two teams, not only in the T-20s but ODIs as well.
Austral-Asia Cup (1986- Sharjah ODI)
Unlike these days, the Asian neighbours used to play each other quite regularly in the ’80s and the 90’s as the mutual ties were not as scalded as it is today. This was the final of the tournament and India had posted a challenging total of 245, thanks to half-centuries from Srikkanth (75), Gavaskar (92) and Vengsarkar (50). In reply, Pakistan started in the worst possible manner as they lost wickets at regular intervals but one man held fort: Javed Miandad. Nobody in Pakistan managed a fifty except for Miandad and he single-handedly broke the heart of millions of Indians across the world when he hit Chetan Sharma for a six off the final delivery of the match to pull off a miraculous victory.
T-20 World Cup (2007-Durban)
This was the first time the two Asian giants clashed with one another in a T-20 contest. Batting first India got 141 in 20 overs, thanks largely to Robin Uthappa (50) and MS Dhoni (33). In reply, Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular points but stayed in the hunt due to Misbah ul Haq’s stubborn knock of 53. However, as the match went down to the very last ball it ended up in a tie. This prompted a bowl out to decide the winner and India trumped Pakistan in the tie-breaking round by hitting the wickets on all occasions and the latter failing to hit the target even once.
T-20 World Cup Final (2007-Johannesburg)
In the inaugural world cup, India and Pakistan met for the second time in a riveting finale. This time as well India batted first and got to a score of 157, riding on the contributions of Gautam Gambhir (75) and Rohit Sharma (30). As for Pakistan, the chase hardly got going with wickets tumbling regularly at one end and only Imran Nazir (33) showing the eagerness to fight it out in the middle. When Nazir got out it was again up to Misbah (43), who kept Pakistan afloat till the very end but on the third delivery of the final over of the match he perished playing a cheeky scoop shot off Joginder Sharma to help India clinch the T-20 World Cup title for the first time.
Asia Cup (2010-Dambulla ODI)
Thanks to half-centuries from Salman Butt (74) and Kamran Akmal (50) and useful contributions from Shoaib Malik (39) and Shahid Afridi (32) Pakistan reached a fighting total of 267. It was a tough ask for India, considering the bowling arsenal of Pakistan: Akhtar, Amir, Ajmal, Razzaq etc. However, India kept the contest alive, courtesy of the valiant knocks of 86 and 52 by Gambhir and Dhoni respectively. Eventually, India needed the belligerence of Harbhajan Singh (15), who lofted Amir for a six off the penultimate delivery of the match to seal the deal in India’s favour.
Asia Cup (2014-Dhaka ODI)
For a change, Virat led India in the absence of Dhoni in the 2014 Asia Cup and it was a forgettable outing for the team in the tournament as they could not make it to the Semi-Final. However, this match went down the wire to increase the heartbeat of everyone in the two neighbouring countries. India posted 245 in 50 overs, thanks to Rohit Sharma (56) and Ambati Rayadu (58). Pakistan in pursuit of 246 were precariously placed at 200 for 5 in the 43rd over. But Shahid Afridi (34) with a couple of sixes in the final over bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin swung the match in favour of Pakistan. For the men in green Mohammad Hafeez top-scored with 75 to set up the chase nicely.
