India vs Pakistan cricket rivalry is one of the most intense face-offs in the annals of the game.
These thrilling clashes between the two sides have gained a reputation as one of the biggest sporting events and are often called ‘El-Clasico’ of cricket.
Pakistan cricket team has dominated India in the long formats of cricket with 73 wins in ODIs.
Since its inception, India has maintained its winning streak against Pakistan with eight (8) wins at ICC Men’s ODI Cricket World Cup.
The Indian Boys also boast of five victories out of seven clashes at T20 World Cup except for the single defeat they had in November 2021 to Pakistan.
Moreover, India has won five ICC tournaments at the senior level while Pakistan has won three, and at the junior level, India has again won five tournaments while the latter has won only two.
India vs Pakistan Rivalry History
India’s iconic cricket encounter with Pakistan began some seventy years ago when a test match was played using the red ball in 1952, where the Indian team beat Pakistan by an innings and 70 runs during Pakistan’s visit to India.
Even though several cricket fraternity members label the rivalry between them to be solely a cause of the political tensions and diplomatic relations between the two countries.
But, looking at the sporting events and the tight neck-to-neck encounters, the matches between India and Pakistan have witnessed stellar performances from both sides where the players look to outshine one another in an attempt to win the match for their home side.
Cricket started collapsing after two major wars between both countries took place in 1965 and 1971, which resulted in no cricket being played from 1962 through 1977.
Furthermore, Indira Gandhi’s assassination marked the cancellation of the Indian tour of Pakistan in 1984, hence no bilateral series between players from both nations occurred for a very long time, the Kargil war of 1999 being another reason.
In the late eighties up to most part of the nineties, India versus Pakistan games were played at neutral venues like Sharjah in UAE and Toronto Canada, among others, where supporters turned up in great numbers.
However, despite being neutral ground, Sharjah was generally referred by many cricket enthusiasts as ‘Pakistan’s backyard’ due to overwhelming support from this country.
And for several reasons, the political engagements prevented the home series from taking place for both teams.
Attempt to Reinstate the Cricket Relations
India’s then Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s peace initiative in 2003 led India to tour Pakistan after a long 15-year gap and several subsequent exchanges towards tours were conducted in 2005 and 2006 between the countries.
However, the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks prompted the Indian government to end the string of bilateral series with Pakistan in international cricket.
Since then, India has only met Pakistan for international cricket matches at the global stage for marquee ICC tournament matches like that in the ODI World Cup, Champions Trophy, and T20 World Cup.
Bilateral ties were resumed by the BCCI (the board of control for cricket in India) in 2012 as India invited the Pakistan cricket team for three ODIs and two T20Is in December.
In 2014, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that both parties had reached an agreement to play six bilateral series spread across eight years.
After long negotiations, both boards failed to reach a common venue and scheduling which aborted the series.
Pakistan’s First Win
In October, during the T20 World Cup 2021 in the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan won their first ICC match against India after constantly facing setbacks 13 times in the global tournaments, in either format.
The Tension Stays
In the subsequent year, India confirmed to not visit Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023 and proposed the matches to be played at a neutral venue due to security concerns, the games were later played in Sri Lanka.
However, Pakistan travelled to India after 6 years (T20 World Cup 2016) for the ODI World Cup 2023.
India and Pakistan will next lock horns for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 on June 9 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, the United States of America and have been grouped together in Pool A.
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