New Delhi: Time is valuable and it adds value too. Anything that happens after a considerable amount of time grabs more attention as against a regular affair. India and Pakistan contests have always been a houseful event but with its declining frequency, thanks to the political tensions between the two countries, it has become all the more precious.
A year after the arch-rivals were locked into a battle during the 50-over World Cup in Australia, India and Pakistan are once again all set to enthrall the world with the cut-throat competitiveness at the on-going Asia Cup T20 in Bangladesh on Saturday.
While India-Pakistan contests are interesting to the core, statistics help in putting it in numbers.
Here are some of the interesting statistics related to the India-Pakistan matches:
- India and Pakistan have so far played 6 Twenty20 internationals.
- Out of 6 matches, India have won 4 times while Pakistan managed victory in just 1 match. One match ended in a tie.
- India-Pakistan first met in a T20I during the 2007 World T20 at Durban. The match has become a part of folklore as it ended in a tie and India were declared the winner after a bowl-out contest.
- The only match India lost to Pakistan was played in Bangalore in 2012 during a bilateral series. However, India won the next match in Ahmedabad to level the series.
- The last time the two teams came face-to-face in a T20 match was during the 2014 World T20 held in Bangladesh. India had beaten Pakistan by 7 wickets with 9 balls to spare.
- Pakistan have only three surviving members from the XI that faced India last in T20Is – Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez.
- India have nine survivors – Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
- Coming into this match, India have won its previous three T20 matches while Pakistan have lost two out of three.
- Virat Kohli is the leading run-getter for India against Pakistan in T20Is.
- Among the current set of Indian bowlers, Ravichandran Ashwin has the best figures against Pakistan in T20.
- For Pakistan, Mohammad Hafeez has been best batsman so far with 147 runs from 5 matches.