India vs Pakistan is more than just a rivalry. It's an emotion. A match-up that goes far beyond the traditional cricketing sense.
It has been more than seven decades since the teams first met in 1952 during Pakistan's tour of India post-partition. Let's have a look at some of the classic moments of the rivalry.
1985 Low Scoring thriller
In Rothman Four-Nation Cup in 1985, Imran Khan took six wickets against the Indian team and restricted the men in blue to a mere 135. Only two Indian batters managed to get a two-digit score in the innings.
Led by Kapil Dev and other Indian bowlers like Roger Binny, Ravi Shastri, and Madan Lal, India bundled Pakistan out for just 87 runs and defeated Pakistan by 38 runs.
Miandad’s last ball six in the final,1986
India had to face a poignant defeat against Pakistan when Javed Miandad hit the last ball six in the 1986 Austral-Asia cup final. Even in the recent interview of Kapil Dev with Shoaib Akhtar recalling India's loss against Pakistan said, "When the last overcame, we went to Chetan. To this day, I still feel it wasn't his mistake. They needed 4 runs on the last ball and we decided that it would be a low-yorker. There was no other alternative. He tried his best, we all tried.”
“It turned out to be a low full-toss. Miandad kept his backfoot intact and connected it. Even when we remember that today, we can't sleep. That defeat crushed the whole side's confidence for the next four years. It was very difficult to make a comeback from there." he added.
1999 World Cup Match
It became almost impossible for fans to look beyond what was going on outside the cricket field. Wisden reported, "The rival fans, flag-waving, whistle-blowing, and drum-beating, created a passionate atmosphere unimaginable in English cricket.”
In the end, the men in the blue executed an easy win by 47 runs.
Rivalry shifts to the T20 World cup
The inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup was played in South Africa where India and Pakistan both teams qualified for the final. Earlier, the nail-biting group stage match ended with a tie and then went to bowl-out.
India excelled in the bowl-out and defeated Pakistan 3-0. The bowl-out was inspired by the penalty shoot-out in football and was a unique experiment in cricket. Later, Dhoni led India to another victory against Pakistan in the Final in a last-over thriller.
Asia Cup 2022 will add another chapter to the rivalry.
