The last time India and Pakistan played an international cricket match, it was estimated that over a billion around the globe tuned into it. Why not? India-Pakistan cricketing encounters are more than just another sporting event. It was both the side’s inaugural match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and India once again had the last laugh. On Saturday, both the sides will square off for the first time in an Asia Cup T20 match. Going by Asia Cup history, both sides have won five matches apiece, against each other. But when it comes to the Twenty20 format, India clearly have an upper head. While Pakistan will still look out for their ‘Mauka’, the battlefield this time is Mirpur, Dhaka and ahead of another much-anticipated war, Suvajit Mustafi looks at all the six T20Is played between India and Pakistan so far. READ: India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2016, 4th T20I at Mirpur: Virat Kohli vs Mohammad Aamer and other Key Battles
1. ICC World T20 2007, Group Match at Durban
A near perfect game of cricket and heartbreak for Pakistan. It was the first time both these sides played each other in a T20I. A sell out crowd in Kingsmead, Durban witnessed the classic battle. With seniors like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid having backed out from the tournament, not many gave a chance to young MS Dhoni’s Indian side. Pakistan put Indian in and by seventh over had them reeling at 36 for 4. Mohammad Asif’s 4 for 18 restricted India to 141. Thanks to Robin Uthappa’s 39-ball 50, India could manage to reach a respectable score.
Pakistan struggled with the bat and were 5 for 87 after 15 overs, however Misbah-ul-Haq was in no mood to give up. The match went down the wire. From 12 off the last over, Misbah got it to one from two balls. What followed was a miss and then a run out. The match was tied.
The format ‘s rule does not allow points to be shared and hence the teams contested in a bowl-out. Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Uthappa were accurate and hit the wood, and in contrast the Pakistanis, much famed for their bowling, missed all three times, with the culprits being Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi. The Indian joys knew no bounds.
Brief scores:
India 141-9 in 20 overs [Robin Uthappa 50(39), MS Dhoni 33(31); Mohammad Asif 4-0-18-4] tied with Pakistan 141-7 in 20 overs [Misbah-ul-Haq 53(35); Irfan Pathan 4-1-20-2]
India won bowl-out 3-0
2. ICC World T20 2007, Final at Johannesburg
Another near perfect game of cricket and heartbreak for Pakistan. This game was all set to be the most watched cricket match in history and it almost went on to be a repeat of their Durban encounter. This time, India chose to bat and Gautam Gambhir was India’s hero with 75 from 54-balls. The innings received a late boost from Rohit Sharma who smacked an unbeaten 30 from 16 balls.
Once again, it was Misbah who starred for Pakistan. 54 runs from four overs looked an impossible task but when Mishbah hoisted Harbhajan for three sixes, things came within the reach. Pakistan needed 13 from the final over with one wicket in hand and Dhoni handed the ball to Joginder Sharma. The over went — wide, dot and then a six. Misbah had got it down to six from four balls. Pakistan fans rejoiced while Indians groaned. Misbah could have hit the third ball anywhere but chose to scoop it over short fine-leg. Millions had heart in their mouth as the ball went up and Sreesanth was under it who made no mistake. Wanderers erupted as India had won the inaugural World T20.
Brief scores:
India 157-5 in 20 overs [Gautam Gambhir 75(54), Rohit Sharma 30(16)*; Umar Gul 4-0-28-3] vs Pakistan 152 in 19.3 overs [Misbah-ul-Haq 43(38), Imran Nazir 33(14); RP Singh 4-0-26-3, Irfan Pathan 4-0-16-3] — by five runs
3. ICC World T20 2012, Super Eight Match at Colombo (RPS)
Five years since the epic final, the teams squared off in a T20I game in the ICC World T20 2012 event in Sri Lanka. Pakistan led by Mohammad Hafeez chose to bat first and were bowled out for 128. Virat Kohli smacked an unbeaten 78 as India chased the runs with three overs to spare. Saeed Ajmal was touted to be a big threat but Kohli played him with utmost ease as India cruised to another win.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 128 in 19.4 overs [Shoaib Malik 28(22); L Balaji 3.4-0-22-3, R Ashwin 4-0-16-2, Yuvraj Singh 3-0-16-2] lost to India 129-2 in 17 overs [Virat Kohli 78(61)*, Virender Sehwag 29(24); Raza Hasan 4-0-22-1] — by eight wickets
4. Pakistan tour India, 1st T20I, Bangalore – 2012-13
In December 2012, Pakistan toured India to play a T20I and ODI series. Pakistan put India in to bat and the hosts were off to a good start. Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane put up a 77-run opening stand but Gambhir’s wicket triggered a dramatic collapse and India could only manage 133.
It was Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s first international outing and the UP youngster swung the ball brilliantly. His dream-spell of 4-0-9-3 was not enough to stop Pakistan. The game saw some heated moments as Pakistan chased down the runs with two balls to spare. Hafeez and Malik did the job for their team.
Brief scores:
India 133-9 in 20 overs [Gautam Gambhir 43(41), Ajinkya Rahane 42(31); Umar Gul 3-0-21-3, Saeed Ajmal 4-0-25-2] lost to Pakistan 134-5 in 19.4 overs [Mohammad Hafeez 61(44), Shoaib Malik 57(50); Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-9-3] — by five wickets
5. Pakistan tour India, 2nd T20I, Ahmedabad – 2012-13
India came back strong in the next game and a Yuvraj Singh classic set up the win. Batting at No. 4, Yuvraj blasted 72 from 36 balls as India finished with 192 from their 20 overs. Pakistan were up for the chase but Ashoke Dinda picked crucial wickets in the middle overs to break the momentum. Hafeez did not give up and the visitors came close but they eventually fell short by 11 runs. The series ended 1-1. This has remained Pakistan’s only win over India in the shortest format.
Brief scores:
India 192-5 in 20 overs [Yuvraj Singh 72(36), MS Dhoni 33(23); Umar Gul 4-0-37-4] vs Pakistan 181-7 in 20 overs [Nasir Jamshed 41(32), Ahmed Shehzad 31(29), Mohammad Hafeez 55(26); Ashok Dinda 4-0-36-3] — by 11 runs
6. ICC World T20 2014, Group Match at Dhaka
Once again the archrivals squared off at the World T20 and this time at Dhaka, the same venue where this Saturday’s encounter will be played. Dhoni put Pakistan in and Indian bowlers put up a splendid show. The spinners in particular collaborated and restricted Pakistan to 130.
There was nothing dramatic as India cruised to another victory, this time by seven wickets and with nine balls to spare. India were favourites to win this but ended as runners-up as Sri Lanka, powered by Lasith Malinga and Kumar Sangakkara, lifted their first World T20 title.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 130-7 in 20 overs [Umar Akmal 33(30); Amit Mishra 4-1-22-2, Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-18-1] lost to India in 18.3 overs [Shikhar Dhawan 30(28), Virat Kohli 36(32)*, Suresh Raina 35(28)*; Saeed Ajmal 4-0-18-1] — by seven wickets
(Suvajit Mustafi consumes cricket for lunch, fiction for dinner and munches numerous other snacks throughout the day. Yes, a jack of several trades, all Suvajit dreamt of was being India’s World Cup winning skipper but ended up being a sports writer, author, screenwriter, director, copywriter, graphic designer, sportsmarketer , strategist, entrepreneur, philosopher and traveller. Donning so many hats, it’s cricket which gives him the ultimate high and where he finds solace. He can be followed at @RibsGully and rivu7)
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