Asia Cup: India, Pakistan T20 cricket rivalry by the numbers

India and Pakistan will meet in the shortest format of international cricket on Sunday for the first time since the latter’s stunning 10-wicket win in the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE last year.

Pakistan’s win last October, at Dubai stadium, was the team’s first over India in a cricket World Cup of any sort.

When the teams take on each other in the searing Dubai heat for their Asia Cup 2022 opener, it will be the 10th meeting between Pakistan and India in the T20 format.

India hold the upper hand, winning seven of those.

India will be welcoming back former captain Virat Kohli, the run machine who has failed to reach a 100 in international cricket since 2019.

He has featured in just four of the last 24 T20 internationals for India.

However, Kohli remains the top run-scorer in India-Pakistan T20 internationals, with a tally of 311 from seven matches.

It is Pakistan’s now-retired fast bowler Umer Gul who tops the list of highest wicket-takers in the T20 matches between these two teams.

India have scored the highest total in head-to-head T20s, a 192 for five at home in 2012 that helped the side to a narrow 11-run win.

Pakistan have scored the two lowest scores, though: Bundled out for just 83 in Mirpur, Bangladesh, in 2016, which eclipsed the 128 all out in Colombo four years prior to that.

Pakistan’s win last year in Dubai was the biggest in terms of wickets, bettering India’s eight-wicket win in Colombo where their rivals were bowled out for 128.

Batting second seems to be a favourable option with six wins out of nine coming during a chase, most recently the T20 World Cup match in Dubai last year.

An individual century is yet to be scored. Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan came the closest, scoring an unbeaten 79 in the 10-wicket hammering last year.