Another edition of Asia Cup is around the corner, and subsequently, another instalment of international cricket's most anticipated fixture – India vs Pakistan. With the teams set to meet again in the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, and not having crossed paths in ODI cricket since 2019, the meeting on 2 September will uniquely be both a curtain-raiser, and a feature event.
Ahead of the fixture, let’s have a look at what happened in the last 10 ODI meetings between the two neighbours.
6 January 2013, Bilateral Series – India Won by 10 Runs
With the series' fate already decided, India managed to win the last match. The hosts' batting unit crumbled again as they could only score 167 runs, but the bowlers did well to restrict Pakistan to only 157 runs, with Ishant Sharma being the major highlight.
15 June 2013, ICC Champions Trophy – India Won by 8 Wickets
The two sides met again in the same year, at the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. Pakistan managed to score 165 runs in a rain-affected game, whereas a further stoppage saw India's target being set at 102 runs from 22 overs. The team successfully chased it down, only 2 wickets in the process.
1 March 2014, Asia Cup – Pakistan Won by 1 Wicket
The 2013/14 Asia Cup was the next battleground for the arch-rivals, wherein Pakistan clinched a 1-wicket win. Led by Virat Kohli, with MS Dhoni being unavailable, the Indian side put 245 runs on the board, with the trio of Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja scoring half-centuries. However, Mohammad Hafeez's classy 75 and Shahid Afridi's power-packed knocks took the game away from India.
2 February 2015, ICC World Cup – India Won by 76 Runs
Extending their record not losing to Pakistan in an ICC World Cup match, India recorded a stunning 76-run win. Virat Kohli was the star of the match as he smashed a century, while Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina added 73 and 74 runs respectively. Chasing a target of 301 runs, Pakistan could only score 244.
4 June 2017, ICC Champions Trophy – India Won by 124 Runs
The teams then met in ODI cricket at the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, following a long break of more than two years. India put 319/3 runs on the board, in what happened to be Virat Kohli's first match against Pakistan as the captain of the Indian side in an ICC event. The green shirts' target was reduced to 289 runs from 41 overs owing to rain, but they could only score 164.
18 June 2017, ICC Champions Trophy – Pakistan Won by 180 Runs
Although India had won the previous tie, the trophy went Pakistan's way, courtesy of an exemplary performance in the final. Fakhar Zaman's century, along Azhar Ali and Mohammed Hafeez's half-centuries helped the side set target of 339 runs. In response, India’s batting order crumbled, as they were bowled out for 158 runs.
19 September 2018, Asia Cup – India Won by 8 Wickets
India returned to winning ways against Pakistan during the 2018 Asia Cup. Choosing to bat first, Pakistan scored merely 162 runs, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar causing them problems aplenty. India then chased the target successfully in just 29 overs, while losing only 2 wickets. Then an interim captain, Rohit Sharma struck a half-century.
23 September 2018, Asia Cup – India Won by 9 Wickets
The two teams met again in the same competition, but there was no alternation in the result. Deciding to bat first, Pakistan put 237/7 on the board, which the Indian team chased while losing only 1 wicket. Both Indian openers, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, struck centuries.
16 June 2019, ICC World Cup – India Won by 89 Runs
Though it was later broken in the T20 World Cup, India's then-flawless World Cup record against Pakistan remained protected in the last ODI meeting between the two sides.
Batting first, India scored 336 runs,, with Rohit Sharma scoring yet another century. Pakistan’s target was reduced to 302 runs in 40 overs owing to rain, but all they could muster up was 212 runs.
2 October & 10 October 2023, Asia Cup - Rained Out Game & an Indian Win
In the third match of the group stage of the 2023 Asia Cup, Rohit Sharma led an Indian team for the first time against Pakistan. After winning the toss, he elected to bat first and the team was in trouble at one stage, with Rohit, Virat, Shreyas and Shubman all out before the 15th over and India at 66/4 in 14.1 overs. Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya though stitched together a 138-run stand, both scoring in the 80s, as India got to 266 in 48.5 overs. Rain though entered the game at that point and after it refused to relent, the game had to be abandoned and the teams shared the points.
Shaheen Afridi picked 4/35, Naseem Shah got 3/36 and Haris Rauf picked 3/58.
India and Pakistan then met in the Super Four stage of the tournament 8 days later but even this time, a full 100 overs weren’t played, with the Indian team bowling Pakistan out in 32 overs - on 128.
India were put into bat first by Babar Azam and made the most of the conditions in Colombo with Rohit and Shubman making half centuries and Virat and KL Rahul making a century each. India posted 356/2.
Fakhar Zaman finished as Pakistan’s top-scorer, with 27, as the Indian bowling attack ran through their batting. Kuldeep Yadav picked 5/25 as Pakistan lost the game by 228 runs.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)