“Nothing else that I’ve ever seen throughout various elements of the game that I’ve been a part of ever matches the rivalry between India and Pakistan,” said Matthew Hayden, Pakistan’s new batting consultant.
The mother of all battles is back again. India meet Pakistan on the cricket field after two years. The last time they met each other was in the 2019 World Cup where India outclassed Pakistan by 89 runs (D/L method) in Manchester. They will meet each other in T20Is for the first time in five years. The last match they played was in the 2016 World T20 where they overpowered Pakistan by 6 wickets in Kolkata.
The two teams will lock horns in their respective opening matches in Dubai. Both teams have done well in the format since that 2016 T20 World Cup. Pakistan have had the second-best win/loss ratio of 2.3 after Afghanistan (4.833) and they are followed by India at third with 2.045.
As they get ready to battle it out in Dubai, we take a look at the key numbers from India vs Pakistan over the years in T20Is and T20 World Cups.
Let’s get to the T20 World Cups first. India have in general dominated Pakistan in the ICC events and the T20 World Cup hasn’t been different.
The 5-0 domination: India have met Pakistan five times in the T20 World Cups and India have won all the matches. One was technically a tie, that group stage game in the 2007 T20 World Cup but India won the bowl out in that game to take full points. Below are the results:
Durban 2007 – Match tied, India won in bowl-out
Johannesburg (2007 World T20 final) – India won by 5 runs
Colombo 2012 – India won by 8 wickets
Dhaka 2014 – India won by 7 wickets
Kolkata 2016 – India won by 6 wickets
At the T20 World Cup:
India’s highest run-getter – Virat Kohli. Kohli has scored 169 runs from three innings. And in all those three innings he has remained not out. 78* off 61 balls (2012), 36* off 32 balls (2014) and 55* off 37 balls (2016).
Pakistan’s highest run-getter – Shoaib Malik. The Veteran all-rounder has been Pakistan’s highest run-getter against India at T20 World Cups. He’s scored 100 runs from five innings at an average of 20. In general, the Pakistan batters haven’t had a good time against India.
India’s highest wicket-taker: Irfan Pathan has taken six wickets from three innings. From the current squad, both R Ashwin and R Jadeja have taken two wickets each.
Pakistan’s highest wicket-taker: Mohammad Asif had been the highest wicket-taker with five wickets from two innings. No one from the current squad has picked up a wicket.
India’s highest score: 157/5 at Johannesburg in 2007. After electing to bat first India posted 157/5. Gautam Gambhir led the way at the top with a 54-ball 75. While Rohit Sharma provided a late surge with 16-ball 30.
Pakistan fell short by 5 runs and India lifted the title in the inaugural edition.
Pakistan’s highest score: Incidently, Pakistan’s highest score against India came in the same final in Johannesburg. They were bowled out for 152 with Misbah-ul-Haq top-scoring with 38-ball 43.
Batting first, Pakistan’s highest total was 130/7 in the 2014 WT20 in Dhaka. Ahmed Shehzad was the top run-getter with 22 off 17 balls.
India’s lowest score: India’s lowest total in T20 WCs vs Pakistan is 141/9 in that tied match in Durban in 2007. Robin Uthappa’s 50 off 39 balls and late order contributions from MS Dhoni, Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar lifted them to 141/9 after they were reeling at 36/4 inside 7 overs. The match ended in a tie and India won the bowl out.
Pakistan’s lowest total against India in ICC T20 WC came in the 2012 edition at Colombo when they were bowled out for 128. India gobbled the target with eight wickets and three overs to spare.
Toss – India have won three tosses compared to Pakistan’s two in the five matches.
India vs Pakistan in T20Is:
Head to head: India have dominated Pakistan overall as well. They have beaten Pakistan in 6 out of 8 matches and lost just one. With one getting tied in that 2007 T20 WC.
Their only loss came in Bengaluru on that 2012 Pakistan tour to India. Pakistan restricted India to 133/9 with Umar Gul picking up three wickets and Saeed Ajmal scalping a couple. In reply, Pakistan stuttered and were 12/3 inside 3 overs before experience came to the fore as Mohammad Hafeez (61 off 44) and Shoaib Malik (57 not out off 50) helped them past the finish line in the last over.
India’s highest run-getter vs Pakistan: Virat Kohli has been India’s highest run-getter against Pakistan in T20Is. Hes’ scored 254 runs from six innings at 84.66 with two fifty-plus scores and a strike rate of 118.6.
Pakistan’s highest run-getter vs India: Shoaib Malik has been the highest run-getter for Pakistan against India. He’s scored 164 runs from 8 innings at 27.33. He has one fifty-plus score and a SR of 103.79.
India’s highest wicket-taker vs Pakistan: Irfan Pathan with six wickets from 3 innings at 11. He’s given away runs at 6 per over and struck every 11 balls and holds the best figures of 3/16.
From the current crop, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the highest wicket-taker with 5 wickets from 3 innings at 15.20. He possesses an economy rate of 6.90 and SR of 13.2 with best figures of 3/9.
Pakistan’s highest wicket-taker vs India: Umar Gul has taken most wickets against India in T20Is, 11 from 6 innings at 16.18 and SR of 11.7. He’s conceded at 8.27 runs an over and has the best figures of 4/37.
India’s highest total against Pakistan in T20Is came in the 2012 Pakistan tour of India where Yuvraj Singh bludgeoned 36-ball 72 in Ahmedabad to propel India to 192/5. In reply, Pakistan fell short by 11 runs.
Pakistan’s highest total against India in T20Is came in that same Ahmedabad match as they scored 181/7 on the back of 26-ball 55 from Hafeez and 32-ball 41 from Nasir Jamshed.
Their highest score batting first remains 130/7 which they scored in the 2014 WT20 in Dhaka. Ahmed Shehzad was the top run-getter with 22 off 17 balls.
Pakistan’s lowest score against India in T20Is came in the 2016 Asia Cup group stage match in Dhaka. The Indian bowlers, led by Hardik Pandya (3/8) ripped through their batting line-up and bowled them out for 83.
Pakistan battled hard but it wasn’t always going to be an uphill task. India won by 5 wickets and 27 balls to spare.
India’s lowest score batting first against Pakistan in T20Is came in the 2012 Pakistan tour of India where they managed just 133/9 as they crumbled following a 77-run opening stand between Gambhir (43) and Ajinkya Rahane (42). India fought hard and had Pakistan under the pump at 12/3, but fifties from Hafeez (61) and Malik (57 not out) dragged them past the finish line with two balls to spare.