Hyderabad: There is nothing more enthralling and electrifying than an India-Pakistan contest. As the Sunday game between the two rivals beckons at T20 World Cup, Bumrah-less India would be keen on taking revenge after their last loss to them in the Asia Cup. ETV Bharat takes a look at most thrilling contests played between the two teams.
1. India vs Pakistan, 2007 (Group Stage), India prevailed in the bowl-out
One of the great encounters to remember for. Even the stipulated 20 overs between the two rivals wasn't enough to finish off the match, which had to be decided by a bowl-out over. To this date, this match remains the only second drawn match in T20 World Cup history.
The two teams met a Durban and India made 141-9, thanks to Robin Uthappa's half-century from 39 balls. Indians had Pakistan early taking four wickets under 50 runs but Misbah trudged on until the last ball where he was run out by the Indian fielders. And this resulted in bowl-out where Indians were bang on target achieved through part time bowlers like Virender Sehwag and Robin Uthappa among others while Pakistan faltered.
2. India vs Pakistan, 2007 (Final), India win by 5 runs
If the excitement in the Group Stage wasn't enough, the two arch-rivals met again in the finals that went down to the wire. India succumbed to Umar Gul's fierce form but staged a comeback with Gautam Gambhir (75 from 54 balls) scoring at the other end coupled by a useful 30 from youngster Rohit Sharma. India gave Pakistan a target of 158 runs.
Indian bowling, meanwhile, held the ground and Irfan Pathan took three wickets, giving away just 16 runs in his four overs. But Misbah held Pakistan together from the other end but succumbed in the last ball where he tried to score the winning runs by an unorthodox scoop shot. The ball went high in the air but the distance wasn't enough and Sreesanth did enough to take the catch and win India its first T20I World Cup.
Read: Rohit Sharma prepares for Shaheen challenge ahead of marquee clash against Pakistan
3. India vs Pakistan, 2012 (Group Stage), India won by 8 wickets
The game proved to be a lopsided one for India and the impetus was Virat Kohli. Pakistan fell to a lowly 128 runs all out with the highest score being made by the experienced campaigner Shoiab Malik -- 28 runs from 22 balls with the wrecker-in-chief being Lakshmipathy Balaji, who struck thrice in 3.4 overs to bring down the opponent. It was then the one-man show by Virat Kohli, who scored a magnificent 78 not out to take India over the line. He was ably supported by Virender Sehwag (29 runs from 24 balls) and Yuvraj Singh (19 off 16). No nail-biting finish this time around for the lovers of the game.
4. India vs Pakistan, 2014 (Super 10 Game), India thrash Pak by 7 wickets
Another low for Pakistan where they could just score 130 runs. Umar Akmal was the highest scorer with just 33 runs on board. Pakistan never really got into the game with the batters scoring at a dismal strike rate. All of the batters fell cheaply with the second highest run scorer being Ahmed Shehzad (22 from 17 balls).
It was a no-brainer for the Indian batters as they just had to bat sensibly to overcome the target. Virat Kohli rose again with 36 runs while Suresh Rain and Shikhar Dhawan were other major contributors with respective scores of 35 and 30 runs. India had an easy 7-wicket win, chasing the target.
5. India vs Pakistan, 2016 ( India won by 6 wickets with 13 balls left)
Rain affected game being reduced to 18 overs, Pakistan never really got going. Shoaib Malik was the highest scorer with 26 runs while the rest of the batters never really took on the game with only Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad contributing over 20 runs. With no real acceleration to the run-rate, the Pakistani team found itself at below par 118 runs at the loss of 5 wickets.
India lost the openers cheaply as Rohit Sharma (10 from 11) and Shikhar Dhawan (6 off 15) were cleaned up by Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Sami respectively. But Virat Kohli's blazing 55 runs from 37 made sure India safely crossed the line.
6. India vs Pakistan, 2021 (Group match), Pakistan won by 10 wickets in Dubai)
The moment when Pakistan finally won a World Cup game against India and it came at a crucial juncture. Shaheen Shah Afridi virtually finished the game in first three overs as he struck Rohit Sharma (0) on pads, and then shattered in-form KL Rahul's stumps (3 from 8 balls). Virat Kohli scored a half-century along with Rishabh Pant's 39 that India was able to reach a respectable total of 151-7.
However, Pakistan had other ideas as they lost no wickets with Babar Azam (68 from 52) and Mohammad Rizwan's match-winning 79 runs took them to a historic World Cup win against India.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: Total matches played at T20 World Cup: 6
India won: 4
Pakistan won: 1
One match was tied in Durban that went in favour of India after winning the bowl-out.
