Last Updated on March 29, 2024 by Avik Das
India and Pakistan are two colossal opponents in world Cricket, and their matches always bring in huge viewership and attention. Once a singular country, India, and Pakistan were divided back in 1947. While there have been political tensions between these two South Asian nations since the independence, the zeal of the rivalry has been equally the same on the Cricket field.
Although the two nations have stopped playing bilateral Cricket series in recent years, they regularly faced each other in the past. Being a stronger team in the 1990s, Pakistan had a superior record over India in Test Cricket as well as ODI. But the momentum started shifting once Sourav Ganguly came in as Indian Cricket team captain.
Despite a superior record in bilateral series, Pakistan always choked when it mattered the most, even in the 90s with a strong team. India and Pakistan faced each other a record 11 times in the mega event of the World Cup, including in the T20 World Cup and surprisingly, the Indian Cricket Team won all those eleven matches against the Men in Green.
Let’s get deep into every into every match between the arch-rivals in ICC Cricket World Cup and rank them according to the quality and intensity of the match.
11) (Cricket ICC World Cup 2019)
The most recent Cricket World Cup encounter between India and Pakistan was in 2019. The two rivals met in England and the match was held in Manchester. India batted first, and the star-studded Indian bathing line had some big run scorers. The openers, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, gave a flying start, as the former scored a half-century while the latter scored 140. Skipper Virat Kohli also played a knock of 77, with Indian team players posting a mammoth 336 runs on the scoreboard. In reply, Pakistan struggled, even though Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam played crucial knocks. India won the one-sided match by 89 runs due to the DLS method after Pakistan scored 212 with a loss of 6 wickets in 40 overs.
10) ( ICC World T20, 2012)
The group stage World T20 match between them was another one-sided battle in favour of Men in Blue. The match was held in Colombo, and Pakistan was asked to bat first. Due to outstanding bowling performance from India, Pakistan put only 128 runs on the board, failing to complete the quota of 20 overs. Led by Virat Kohli, who remained unbeaten at 78, India chased down the target in 17 overs and won the match by 8 wickets.
9) ( Cricket ICC World Cup, 2015)
Again Virat Kohli was the star performer in the 2015 World Cup match between India and Pakistan, which was held in Adelaide. Like the recent few Cricket battles between these two nations, it was also a comfortable victory for Indian Cricket Team. Batting first, India posted a total of 300 in a challenging Adelaide pitch. Virat Kohli amassed 107, while Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina made major contributions of 73 and 74 respectively. Pakistan was never in the game while chasing, and India bundled them up for 224.
8) ( World T20 World Cup 2014)
The two titans clashed in World T20 World Cup back in 2014. The match was held in Dhaka, but it was another disappointing and low-scoring match, owing to subpar batting from Pakistan. After batting first, Pakistan could only score 130 runs in 20 overs. With 30+ scores from Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, and Suresh Raina, Team India won it by 7 wickets, with nine balls to spare.
7) ( World T20 World Cup, 2016)
Held at the iconic Eden Gardens, Kolkata, the Cricket match all the hype behind it, but, unfortunately, it failed to live up to the expectations. Pakistan batted first, but they could only score 118 runs from 18 overs in that rain-hit T20 match. Virat Kohli led India to the chase again after a shaky start from India. The Indian run-machine stayed not out at 55, and India won the match by 6 wickets.
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6) ( Cricket ICC World Cup, 1992)
The very first World Cup match between these two Cricketing Asian giants took place in the 1992 World Cup at Sydney. Even though Pakistan won the World Cup that year, they failed to beat India. With a young Sachin Tendulkar scoring an impressive half-century, India posted a total of 216. But India bundled up Pakistan for only 173 runs, thus winning the match comprehensively by 43 runs.
5) ( Cricket ICC World Cup, 1999)
Manchester held another match between Pakistan and India in World Cup back in 1999. Winning the toss, India batted first and posted a total of 227 in 50 overs. Rahul Dravid and skipper Mohammad Azharuddin scored 61 and 59 respectively, while Sachin Tendulkar scored 45 as an opener. Pakistan’s chase was disrupted by brilliant bowing from Indian bowlers, and they were never in the match. Venkatesh Prasad was the pick of the bowler after scalping 5 wickets, and Javagal Srinath took 3 wickets. Pakistan was all out for 180 runs, as India won by 47 runs.
4) ( Group Stage, World T20 World Cup, 2007)
Well, India versus Pakistan happened not once but twice in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 and needless to say, both matches were highly entertaining. They met for the first time in the Group stage. Riding on Robin Uthappa’s 50, India scored 141 runs. On the other hand, Pakistan also scored 141 runs, making the match tie. As a result, it went to a tie-breaker bowl-out when India ended up being victorious.
3) ( Cricket ICC World Cup, 1996)
The arch-rivals met each other in a World Cup the second time in 1996. It was a Quarter Final match, which was held in Bangalore. Winning the toss, the Indian Cricket Team batted first and put a challenging score of 287. Opener Navjot Sidhu scored a brilliant 93, while Ajay Jadeja’s quickfire 45 off 25 balls enabled India to reach a good total. Pakistan’s chase began with an impressive opening partnership between Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar, but their batting eventually collapsed like a house of cards, managing to score only 248 runs at the end. The most memorable moment from the match was the famous confrontation between Aamer Sohail and Venkatesh Prasad, which the latter won after removing the stumps of the former.
2) ( Cricket ICC World Cup, 2003)
Both India and Pakistan had some legendary names in their squads when they clashed in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. Nevertheless, the outcome wasn’t different from any other World Cup encounters. Pakistan was asked to bat first after India won the toss. With Saeed Anwar’s ton, Pakistan posted a competitive total of 273. But Team India got off to flying start, and Sachin Tendulkar played a memorable inning of 98 runs off 75 balls. Mohammad Kaif, Rahul Dravid, and Yuvraj Singh played handy knocks allowing India to go past the target in 45.4 overs.
1) ( Final, World T20 World Cup)
Arguably the biggest and most unforgettable match between them was the final of the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. Batting first, India scored 157 runs, owing to a remarkable 75 from Gautam Gambhir. Pakistan steadily headed towards the target but ended up choking. When Pakistan needed 5 runs off 4 balls, Misbah Ul Haq got caught by Sreesanth in the fine leg, giving India the victory and the T20 World Cup.
Avik Das is the founder of Sportsheed. He is a sports lover with broad knowledge of Professional Wrestling, MMA, Football, and Cricket. He has an English major and has previously written articles for various sports and entertainment websites
