The India-Pakistan Cricket match to be held later today in the 2022 edition of the Asia Cup promises to be yet another high-octane affair. The match will be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates. India and Pakistan have played each other 200 times in international cricket, the most recent one being their T20 World Cup encounter in 2021 at the same stadium.
Over the span of 14 editions since 1984, the Asia Cup has seen some of the most thrilling matches between the two arch-rivals, and fans are expecting more of the same later tonight. The 15th edition of the Asia Cup began yesterday, with Afghanistan comfortably beating Sri Lanka.
India and Pakistan first played in the Asia Cup in 1984, during the inaugural competition in Sharjah. India won that match by 54 runs and took home the trophy. Pakistan’s first victory over India in the tournament didn’t come till the 1995 edition when it won by 97 runs in Sharjah.
India has won eight out of the thirteen Asia Cup encounters versus Pakistan. Pakistan has defeated India five times in the ODI format of the tournament but hasn’t managed to do so in the T20 format. The Asia Cup now switches between T20 and ODI formats alternatively. India’s recent record against Pakistan is really good in the competition, having won five of their past six Asia Cup encounters since 2010.
The highest team total for India against Pakistan is 330/4 which was made while chasing 329 in Asia Cup 2012 with Virat Kohli leading the chase scoring an epic 183*. The lowest total India made against Pakistan was in 1995 when the Indian team was all out for a score of 169 handing Pakistan the victory.
Asia Cup has largely been dominated by India and Sri Lanka, winning the tournament 7 times and 5 times respectively, and Pakistan has traditionally underperformed on this stage. However, with a weak Sri Lanka side, and backed by Babar Azam and Rizwan, Pakistan will be hoping to turn the tables this time on their neighbours. The loss of Shaheen Shah Afridi has dealt a major blow to them even before the tournament began, but with India also missing Jasprit Bumrah, it evens up the odds a little bit.
With the bilateral series suspended between the two countries after Pakistan sponsored 26/11 attack on Mumbai, the two teams last played in the T20 World Cup in October of last year. On that day, Pakistan won by ten wickets thanks to Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. During the match today, all eyes will be on those two from Pakistan point of view while India will hope Captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli step up to the plate.