Even though India has a flawless World Cup record versus Pakistan, the overall records between the two teams tell a quite different narrative.
Without even considering the contest’s purely sports characteristics, the encounter between India and Pakistan at the 2023 World Cup is already expected to be of epic proportions. Despite the World Cup having officially begun a week ago without an opening ceremony, the match will be highlighted by light displays and performances by Bollywood stars at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
This is an intriguing match-up even when seen solely from the aforementioned sporting perspective. In the competition, both India and Pakistan have had successful openings. Following a catastrophic start in their chase against Australia, India recovered to win the match handily, and captain Rohit Sharma smacked Afghanistan out of the park to aid his team chase down a target of 272 with just 15 overs remaining. Even though they had to beat their own record for the highest successful chase in the latter game, Pakistan still easily defeated the Netherlands and Sri Lanka.
While everyone of India’s top players have contributed at some point or another, Pakistan’s skipper Babar Azam, pace ace Shaheen Afridi, and starting spinner Shadab Khan have yet to do anything noteworthy. They have compensated for this by using Mohammad Rizwan’s absurd form and the bowling exploits of Hasan Ali and Haris Rauf.
In the past two years, during ICC and Asia Cup tournaments, India and Pakistan have played each other numerous times in T20Is and ODIs. As we approach what will be the first India-Pakistan encounter in more than ten years to be hosted by one of the top cricketing nations, let’s look at the two sides’ previous head-to-head records.
The comparative statistics
India and Pakistan have played each other 204 times in international cricket since they first met in a Test match that began in Delhi on October 16, 1952. India has 73 victories to its credit, whereas Pak has won 88 games.
When it comes to head-to-head records in ODI cricket, the format in which the two countries will compete on Saturday, Pakistan has historically outperformed India, despite India’s dominance in the preceding ten years. India prevailed in 10 of the 14 games the two teams played between 2010 and 2020. India has won 56 of the 134 One-Day International matches between the two teams, with Pakistan winning 73. Before the year 2013, a total of 17 bilateral ODI series were contested, and Pakistan secured victory in 11 of them, while India managed to win only 5.
India is the undisputed leader in T20I matches. They have won nine of their last twelve games, including the game that India won in a bowl-out at the 2007 T20 World Cup. A staggering 38 of the 58 Test matches that two teams have played against one another have been drawn. India won nine games, while Pakistan won 11. Seven games were drawn, tying the head-to-head series between the two teams at 4-4.
India and Pakistan have historically never lost an ODI World Cup match in competitions featuring the two teams. So far in the prestigious event, they have won each of the seven games played between the two teams. The same used to be true of T20 World Cups until 2021, when Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets in the sixth meeting between the two sides in the competition’s history. India now leads the T20 World Cup head-to-head series 6-1, including the tied game from the 2007 T20 World Cup that was won by India in a bowl-out. India and Pak have played each other five times in the Champions Trophy. The head-to-head record favours Pakistan 3-2.
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Individual dossiers
With 2526 runs in 67 innings, Sachin Tendulkar leads both teams in ODI run scoring. Inzamam-ul-Haq, a former captain of Pakistan, leads the team in scoring with 2403 runs in 64 innings. Wasim Akram leads the contest in one-day international matches with 60 wickets, while Anil Kumble leads India with 54. Sunil Gavaskar (2089) scored the most runs for India, while Javed Miandad (2228 runs) had the highest overall total. Imran Khan (23) is Pakistan’s most effective bowler, whereas Kapil Dev (29) holds the record for most wickets taken.
Virat Kohli leads the field in T20I run scoring with 488 runs, while Mohammad Rizwan leads Pakistan with 197 runs. Between the two sides, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Umar Gul of India hold the record for most wickets in T20 games with 11.