When India and Pakistan face off in their T20 World Cup first match in Melbourne on Sunday, their longstanding cricket rivalry is expected to continue. The shortest format of cricket will have both sides against one another for the 12th time.
With nine victories to Pakistan’s three in head-to-head matches, India holds a commanding advantage. But in the last three meetings between the two teams, Pakistan has triumphed in two of the games.
Here is a look at five of these two teams’ most exciting T20 games:
World T20 2007 conclusion (Johannesburg)
An errant improvised shot, an India-Pakistan World Cup final conclusion, and a last-over result. This match from the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa is probably their most epic contest in the shortest version of the game, bringing overwhelming delight to India and heartbreak to Pakistan.
In order to face Pakistan’s highly anticipated bowling lineup, MS Dhoni opted to bat first. Thanks to a 54-ball 75 from Gautam Gambhir and a late blitz by Rohit Sharma, his team ultimately set a target of 158. Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq were able to get Pakistan’s chase back on track after it had stalled due to a consistent loss of wickets.
It was the game that won over millions of Indian cricket fans, who went on to invest millions of dollars in the sport by creating the Indian Premier League in 2008.
2021 T20 World Cup group game (Dubai)
Pakistan had the disgraceful record of never defeating India in a World Cup match going into this meeting. Based on this record and India’s ranking, the pre-match analysis gave India the edge. Babar Azam decided to field first despite having a potent bowling lineup with Shaheen Shah Afridi at the top.
KL Rahul was removed off the fourth delivery, and Rohit Sharma was removed in the second over by Afridi, who has a propensity for getting wickets in his first over. India made it to position 157.
The best T20 opening combo in Babar and Mohammad Rizwan represented Pakistan’s batting. The openers played up to their reputation and guided Pakistan to an astounding 10-wicket victory, which perplexed both the crowd and the media.
Against India, Pakistan had finally overcome the World Cup curse.
Group stage, 2007 World T20 Cup (Durban)
Cricket’s fiercest rivalry had two dramatic finishes during the first T20 World Cup. While the championship match received all the attention, India and Pakistan engaged in another intense contest during the group stages. In fact, it was a tie, which was as near as it could be.
A half-century from Robin Uthappa and contributions from MS Dhoni, the captain, and all-rounder Irfan Pathan helped India reach its final score of 141. Pakistan’s cunning fast bowler Mohammad Asif claimed four wickets for 18 runs.
For Pakistan, Misbah-ul-Haq and skipper Shoaib Malik scored the majority of the runs. When Misbah was run out with two balls remaining, Pakistan tied the game on runs.
The rules then mandated that a tie be broken with a bowl-out, which is cricket’s equivalent of penalties, rather than a super over. India won the rare bowl-out match 3-0 because its bowlers hit the stumps on their first three attempts while Pakistan’s bowlers failed on all three.
Super Four, 2022 Asia Cup (Dubai)
India defeated Pakistan in the group stages of the Asia Cup 2022 by a margin of five wickets. This was the team’s second encounter. Both teams made it to the Super Fours where they needed to win two games in order to have a chance of making it to the championship match.
Pakistan’s victory at the 2021 World Cup was made possible by the brilliant bowling of Shaheen Shah Afridi and the unbreakable Babar-Rizwan duo. This time, Afridi was hurt, and Babar’s performance was suffering.
Up until Haris Rauf removed Rohit Sharma, India appeared confident against Pakistan’s quick attack. Pakistan’s spinners were then required to contain India, who concluded at 181-7.
In order to revenge their tournament loss in the group stage, Pakistan had to rely on their lower-order squad of all-rounders and heavy hitters. In a tight finish, Mohammad Nawaz saved Pakistan with a 20-ball 41 as they crossed the finish line with one ball left.
