Head-to-head (all formats)
| Format | Matches | Pak won | Ind won | Drawn/NR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 59 | 12 | 9 | 38 drawn |
| ODIs | 136 | 73 | 58 | 5 NR |
| T20Is | 18 | 3 | 15 | — |
The two streaks that define it
- World Cup dominance (India): Pakistan has never beaten India in an ODI World Cup — India lead 8–0.
- T20I 2021: Pakistan's 10-wicket demolition of India in Dubai — Babar and Rizwan's unbeaten chase — the rivalry's most one-sided T20I.
Famous matches
- 2007 T20 WC final: India won by 5 runs — Misbah's scoop, Sreesanth's catch.
- 2017 Champions Trophy final: Pakistan 338, India 158 — Fakhar's hundred, Amir's opening spell.
- 2022 Asia Cup: Two thrillers in a week, one win each.
I watch Pak-India games at home, alone, phone on silent. I've tried watching with friends — I can't. Too nervous to be good company.
The rivalry, era by era
1952–1977: Feeling each other out
The first decades were Tests only, played on slow pitches with little urgency — which is why 38 of the 59 Tests between the sides ended drawn. It was respectful, attritional cricket, and the rivalry hadn't yet found its edge.
1978–1989: The fire catches
India's 1978 tour of Pakistan ended a 17-year gap, and the 1980s turned the fixture into a street fight. The decade's defining image: Javed Miandad's last-ball six off Chetan Sharma in the 1986 Austral-Asia Cup final in Sharjah — one shot that still gets replayed before every meeting. In 1989, a 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar made his debut on tour in Pakistan, facing Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis with a teenager's fearlessness.
1990s: Pakistan's decade
Pakistan generally had the better of the nineties. The 1999 Chennai Test is the era's masterpiece — Pakistan won a thriller, Saeed Anwar made 188*, and the Chennai crowd gave the visitors a standing ovation, a gesture people still talk about. In the same series, Anil Kumble took all ten wickets in an innings in Delhi.
2000s: The golden age of bilateral cricket
The last era of regular tours, and the richest. India won the 2004 Test series in Pakistan 2–1 (Sehwag's 309 in Multan), Pakistan took the ODIs; Pakistan won the ODI series in India in 2005; India took the ODI series in Pakistan in 2006. Then came 2007 — the bowl-out game and the final in Johannesburg that launched T20 cricket.
2008–present: ICC events only
No bilateral series since Pakistan's short 2012–13 tour of India (which Pakistan won 2–1 in ODIs). Everything since has been World Cups, Champions Trophies and Asia Cups. India's World Cup stranglehold (8–0 in ODI World Cups) defines the modern story — but Pakistan's two great counter-punches, the 2017 Champions Trophy final and the 2021 T20 World Cup demolition, are among the most-watched cricket matches ever played.
Six matches that define the rivalry
Sharjah, 1986 — Miandad's six. Austral-Asia Cup final, four needed off the last ball, Miandad deposits Chetan Sharma into the stands. Pakistanis of a certain age can tell you exactly where they were.
Chennai, 1999 — 12 runs. A fourth-innings chase, a roaring Chepauk, and Pakistan holding on by 12 runs after Saeed Anwar's 188*. The standing ovation for the visitors said everything about the contest.
Centurion, 2003 — Tendulkar 98. Chasing under lights in a World Cup, Tendulkar took apart Wasim, Waqar and Shoaib in one of the great ODI innings. Pakistan lost, but the innings is remembered on both sides of the border.
Johannesburg, 2007 — 5 runs. The first T20 World Cup final. Misbah's scoop, Sreesanth's catch at fine leg, India champions. The margin — five runs — tells you how close Pakistan came to a different history.
The Oval, 2017 — 180 runs. The complete performance: Fakhar Zaman's hundred, Mohammad Amir removing India's top three in a blur, Pakistan champions. Pakistan's last ODI win over India, and the sweetest.
Dubai, 2021 — 10 wickets. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan chased down India's total without losing a wicket — Pakistan's first-ever World Cup win over India, and the most one-sided T20I the rivalry has produced.
My father still won't watch the last five overs of a close Pak-India game. He goes to the other room and asks my mother to give him ball-by-ball updates, like it's 1986 and there's no TV.
Who owned this fixture
| Player | Their rivalry story |
|---|---|
| Javed Miandad | The Sharjah six, plus a whole career of getting under India's skin |
| Wasim Akram | Unplayable on his day against every team — India included |
| Sachin Tendulkar | Centurion 2003, and a mountain of runs across two decades of meetings |
| Shahid Afridi | Two sixes off Ashwin to win the 2014 Asia Cup game by one wicket |
| Virat Kohli | 183 in the 2012 Asia Cup; the unbeaten 82 at the MCG in 2022 |
| Babar Azam | 68* in the 2021 ten-wicket win; the calm at the top of the chase |
| Fakhar Zaman | His hundred in the 2017 final broke the game open |
For the full statistical comparison of the two modern greats, see Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli — ODI stats compared.
Where the rivalry stands now
The 2020s have belonged to India in ICC events — the 2023 World Cup meeting in Ahmedabad, the low-scoring 2024 T20 World Cup game in New York, the 2025 Champions Trophy, and all three Asia Cup 2025 meetings including the final. Pakistan's task is clear: end a drought that stretches back to the 2017 Champions Trophy final in ODIs. With no bilateral series on the horizon, the next chapters get written at the 2027 Cricket World Cup and the Asia Cups in between. The full roll of honour: Cricket World Cup winners · T20 World Cup winners · Asia Cup winners.
