24 August,2022 11:42 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Pic courtesy/AFP
As the intense India vs Pakistan cricket rivarly returns, cricket fans from all around the world just cannot wait for August 28 when the two cricketing giants clash in United Arab Emirates in the Asia Cup 2022. These two hardly meet on the international stage due to the off-field discrepancies, but when they do, sparks are surely to fly! As far as the Asia Cup record goes, Team India holds a slight edge over their arch-rivals, winning 8 whereas Pakistan has only won 5. The 1997 tie between the two had finished with no result.
This will be the 15th edition of Asia Cup which will be played between August 27 to September 11. Sri Lanka was the original host nation for the Asia Cup but due to the political tensions, the ACC board decided to move the tourney to the UAE. A total of 6 teams will battle it out for the coveted trophy. The 5 confirmed teams are - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Qualifiers are ongoing wherein one team from Hong Kong, Kuwait, Singapore, and UAE will join the tournament. As fans from both nations gear up for this high-octane clash, we list down the top 5 memorable games that made every fan go crazy -
1996 World Cup: Who could forget this quarter-final tie between India and Pakistan at Bangalore. That Aamer Sohail and Venaktesh Prasad face-off really made things spicy for cricket fans as India triumphed yet again over Pakistan in the World Cup. Batting first, the hosts put up a stiff target of 287 on board with Navjot Sidhu and Ajay Jadeja conjuring up fifties. In reply, Pakistan started strongly as openers Sohail and Saeed Anwar blasted the Indian bowlers all over the park. However, wickets tumbled and Pakistan evetually ended up losing the game by 39 runs as they exited the tournament. This remains one of the iconic moment is India vs Pakistan cricket history:
1999 World Cup: Another face-off between these two giants as India and Pakistan clashed in the 1999 World Cup match at Manchester. Winning the toss, India elected to bat first as they put up a reasonable target of 228 as the bowling conditions in Manchester favoured the bowlers. In reply, Pakistan batsmen were unable to cope from the pace of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad with the latter picking up 5 wickets in the process. India triumphed yet again over Pakistan but the latter had the last laugh as they went on to make the finals of the tournament.
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2011 World Cup: Post the 2008 terror attacks, Pakistan and India face for the very first time at Mohali in a World Cup semi-final. The 'mother of all battles' saw the Prime Ministers of both countries in attendance and raked in a lot of eyeballs around the world. India batted first that included a Sachin Tendulkar special. In reply, Pakistan batsmen did put up a fight but it was all in vain as they ended up losing by 29 runs and India went on to life the World Cup.
2018 Asia Cup: With India 'resting' Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma took up the mantle of leading Team India in a very hot and humid Asia Cup 2018. This Group clash saw arch-rivals go head-to-head as Indian bowlers ran riot against Pakistani batsmen with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kedar Jadhav picking three wickets each. In reply, skipper Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan ensured there were no jitters at the top as they safely guided Team India to a comfortable win.
2021 T20 World Cup: Team India's record in a World Cup versus Pakistan was 5 wins and 0 defeats (across both white ball formats) and all eyes were on Pakistan as they looked up to their inspirational skipper Babar Azam to get them towards parity. Well, it was going to be their day as Pakistan pacers bamboozled Indian batters as they were eventually bowled out for a paltry 152. Pakistan batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan made the Indian bowlers toil and ended up winning the game by 10 wickets.
