India versus Pakistan cricket rivalry

The Indian and Pakistani cricket teams have been long-time arch rivals, and their rivalry is considered to be the most intense and pressurizing battle in not only cricket but also in all of sports. An India-Pakistan cricket match has been estimated to attract up to 100 million television viewers, and defeat is usually unacceptable to fans of both teams.

Background

The bloodshed and hatred created during the partition of India in 1947 had lengthy ramifications. A root cause was the dispute between the two nations about the region of Jammu & Kashmir which is located between them. This feud has affected both their diplomatic and political relations and their gaming rivalries.

From the beginning of the 21st century, prospects have remained bright for an enduring thaw in the relationship of the two countries, but it is a fact that for too long Indo-Pakistani cricket was equated with Indo-Pakistani war as two sides of the same coin. How horrific the scenario was can be gauged from the remarks of an Australian cricket commentator some time ago. He amused, indeed shocked, TV viewers when he began his commentary with a stark observation before the start of an India v Pakistan cricket match in the 2003 Cricket World Cup: "There is always great interest in India and Pakistan for they have fought three wars. There has been no war since 1999. So there is so much more excitement in this match". A critic may dismiss it as a diabolic sense of humour and pardon the imaginative commentator. But nevertheless it was not far from the truth - at least until recently.

India v Pakistan matches

For some years, the Indian and Pakistani cricket teams played each other in non-Test-playing nations such as Canada or the United Arab Emirates, where they would be unlikely to receive a large audience. On occasion, they threatened to boycott matches against each other arising from World Cup draws.

In this prevailing context, cricket assumes a much larger significance than it should. A loss at the hands of the other was (and probably still is) considered nothing less than national failure. Instances when the players' homes were pelted after a match was lost were not uncommon. Over-zealous supporters even burned effigies of a losing team's players or even of individual players that had simply performed less than well. A successful team and successful players could expect to be given hero status for months after the victory. Thus both the teams were under tremendous pressure to perform well and win. With both teams trying their level best, the matches often became very exciting.

It was after the 1999 Kargil Conflict that much of the hatred transformed into a peaceful rivalry between the teams. They played each other in Australia in the 1999-2000 Triangular Series. The two teams met in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, in the Super Six part of tournament where India won against Pakistan but lost against Australia and New Zealand. Pakistan went on to face Australia in the finals. In the 2003 Cricket World Cup, they again met each other in the Super Six section where India achieved a memorable victory and later went on to appear in the Finals. Then, in the 2003-04 season, India completed a tour of Pakistan in which there were rare scenes of Indian and Pakistani supporters in unison, followed in early 2005 by a reciprocal tour by Pakistan in India to complete 3 Tests and 6 ODIs. Indian and Pakistani fans joined together in what was described as "cricket diplomacy". [ [http://in.rediff.com/cricket/2005/apr/06cinter.htm 'Cricket diplomacy has worked' ] ] [zh icon [http://chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-04/19/content_435617.htm India, Pakistan cricket diplomacy no game it's real ] ]

An interesting fact is that even though India have lost roughly 60% of their matches against Pakistan, India have always defeated Pakistan in World Cup tournaments, though Pakistan managed to beat India in the 2004 Champions Trophy, which is also a world event. The record was best exemplified in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 where both teams played out two close encounters with India just about managing to get the better of Pakistan in both matches. The first encounter was a group match which ended in a tie and had to be decided via international cricket's second ever bowl-out. The other match was the final of the tournament which resulted in India taking home the cup after emerging champions.

Many now refer to an Indo-Pak series as the "Friendship Series". The series between the teams in Canada in the 1990s and early 2000s were officially known as the "Friendship Cup". [ [http://stats.cricinfo.com/guru?sdb=team;team=IND;class=oditeam;filter=advanced;opposition=PAK;notopposition=0;homeaway=0;continent=0;country=0;notcountry=0;groundid=0;season=0;startdefault=1974-07-13;start=1974-07-13;decade=0;enddefault=2007-01-27;end=2007-01-27;tourneyid=num2;finals=0;daynight=0;toss=0;scheduledovers=0;scheduleddays=0;innings=0;followon=0;result=0;seriesresult=0;captainid=0;recent=;viewtype=series;runslow=;runshigh=;wicketslow=;wicketshigh=;ballslow=;ballshigh=;overslow=;overslow=;overshigh=;overshigh=;bpo=0;batevent=0;conclow=;conchigh=;takenlow=;takenhigh=;ballsbowledlow=;ballsbowledhigh=;oversbowledlow=;oversbowledlow=;oversbowledhigh=;oversbowledhigh=;bpobowled=0;bowlevent=0;submit=1;.cgifields=viewtype Stats Guru] Summary of Bilateral series between India and Pakistan]

A match between these two nations was organized to be in Scotland during the summer of 2007 however it was cancelled due to rain.

Head-to-head records

"As of 30 July 2008."

(the points of the tied 20-20 match were awarded to INDIA following a win in the bowl-out)therefore India got the points but the match was recorded as a draw.

Highest Inning Score by India:

356, India beat Pakistan by 58 runs at ACA-VDCA Stadium, Visakhapatnam on Apr 5, 2005

Highest Inning Score by Pakistan:

344, India beat Pakistan by 5 runs at National Stadium, Karachi on Mar 13, 2004

Lowest Inning score by India:

79, Pakistan beat India by 8 Wickets at Jinnah Stadium (Park), Sialkot on Oct 13, 1978

Lowest Inning score by Pakistan:

87, India beat Pakistan by 38 Runs at Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah on Mar 22, 1985

Highest Total chased by India:

316, India beat Pakistan by 3 Wickets at Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka on Jan 18, 1998

Highest Total chased by Pakistan:

322, Pakistan beat India by 4 wickets at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali - Chandigarh on Nov 8, 2007

Most Prolific Batsman against the rival:

India - Sachin Tendulkar (2381 Runs)

Pakistan - Inzamam-ul-Haq (2403 Runs)

Highest Individual Score against the rival:

India - MS Dhoni (148 Runs)

Pakistan - Saeed Anwar (194 Runs)

Most Prolific Bowler against the rival:

India - Anil Kumble (54 Wickets)

Pakistan - Wasim Akram (60 Wickets)

Best Bowling figures against the rival:

India - 5/16 by Sourav Ganguly at Cricket Skating and Curling Club, Toronto on Sep 18, 1997

Pakistan - 7/37 by Aaqib Javed at Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah on Oct 25, 1991

Memorable Instances

1. Chetan Sharma, who had taken the record of being the only Indian (as well as the first cricketer) to take a hat-trick in a World-Cup(till then), bowled the last over in the final of the Austral-asia cup in Sharjah in 1986. With Pakistan needing four runs off the last ball to win, he bowled a low full-toss outside the leg-stump, which was hit for six by Javed Miandad. This made Sharma villain in the eyes of Indian Cricket fans, and conversely Miandad was hailed as a hero.

2. In the 1996 World Cup Quarter Final, Pakistan versus India, in Bangalore, Aamir Sohail smashed a delivery from Indian seamer Venkatesh Prasad through the covers for a four. After this, he pointed his bat towards the boundary where the ball had gone. In the very next delivery, Prasad bowled out Sohail and pointed his finger towards the pavilion.

References