India and Pakistan share one of the greatest rivalries on the cricket field. The encounters between the two cricketing giants live up to the billing every time with billions of fans around the world cheering for their favourite sides.
Over the years, India and Pakistan have produced some of the most thrilling contests on the 22 yards. The intense rivalry started in 1952 when the Pakistan cricket team first toured India for a Test series and the two sides have since then been a part of numerous ODI, Test and T20I series. While India have had the upper edge over Pakistan in the World Cups, Pakistan have managed to outclass India on many occasions.
Overall, India and Pakistan have played 132 ODIs in which the Men in Green have won 73 while the Men in Blue registering win 54 times. However, in World Cups, Pakistan have never managed to get the better of India, who have won on all eleven occasions so far (7 times in ODI World Cups and four times in T20 World Cups). In Tests, India and Pakistan have met 59 times with Pakistan winning 12 games while India managing victory on just nine occasions.
Recalling his playing days recently, former captain and current Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, made a controversial statement. Khan said he used to feel sorry for Indian team during his playing days as Pakistan beat them quite often. He also said Pakistan regarded West Indies and not India as their rivals when he was the captain of the side.
“I used to feel sorry for the Indian team because we beat them so often. They were under a lot of pressure. When I used to go to toss with their captain, I’d look at his face & he would be looking scared. Our rivals in those days weren’t India, West Indies were our rivals as they were a fantastic side and I don’t think I have seen a better team than that,” said Imran Khan on a local TV channel.
PM Imran Khan "I used to feel sorry for the Indian team because we beat them so often. They were under a lot of pressure. When I used to go to toss with their captain, I'd look at his face & he would be looking scared. Our rivals in those days weren't India" #Cricket pic.twitter.com/wI2nYb3QFM
— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) April 23, 2020
Meanwhile, the last match played between India and Pakistan was in 2019 World Cup where the former ousted the latter. Rohit Sharma was the star of the game as he smashed 140 runs off just 113 deliveries. After amassing 336 runs on the board, India restricted Pakistan to 212/6 and won the match by 89 runs (DLS method).
The two-arch rivals are slated to meet in the Asia Cup later this year. However, considering the current situation across the world due to coronavirus pandemic, the possibility of the tournament to commence looks slim. Fans will have to wait a little longer perhaps to witness another exciting clash between the two neighbouring countries.
