An Analysis of the India Pakistan rivalry after the year 2000

An Analysis of the India Pakistan rivalry after the year 2000: India vs Pakistan is one of the most hyped and most intense sporting rivalries of all time. We can talk about the Ashes, the El Classico of football, the Fedal rivalry of tennis, the Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston in Boxing, but the Indo-Pak cricket rivalry is right up there amongst the top. The expectations are sky high in both the countries, the stadiums are jam-packed, the vuvuzela’s screaming, the crowd cheers the guts out,the captains walking out on the middle with massive pressure and huge hopes pinned on them. With nearly a one billion TV sets turned on, all eyes fixed motionless on the players walking out on the pitch in anticipation and nervousness of what is to unfold. These are all the factors that makes up the atmosphere for a high intense India-Pakistan match.

Pakistan has the edge over India in the overall H2H record in both the ODI’s and tests whereas India leads the pack in the t20’s. Now in this article, let us take a look at who has the upper hand in all formats after year 2000. Here is an analysis by Cricket Tracker:

After the year 2000 India and Pakistan have locked horns for 4 times in bilateral series and India has emerged victorious twice with Pakistan winning once and one drawn series. So that makes the H2H between India and Pakistan 4-3 in favour of India after year 2000.Lots of memorable clashes took place between the two cricketing giants including Irfan Pathan’s hat trick, Shahid Afridi’s 4 sixes to Harbhajan in a single over, Sehwag’s 300 that earned him the nick name Multan ka Sultan and many more. The 4-3 h2h speaks volumes of how evenly matched cricketing countries they have been even in the 21st century.

In ODI’s also, it is pretty even-stevens. India and Pakistan have faced each other for 27 times in ODI’s after the year 2000 and India have won 16 of them with Pakistan winning in 17. Lots of memorable encounters have taken place between these two wonderful sides. Let us take a look at some of the exciting contests that unfolded in the 21st century.The 2004 Karachi match was a classic example of a high intense Indo-Pak match. Batting first India posted a daunting 349 on board. When everyone thought that the match was out of Pakistan’s grasp, they battled back powered by Inzamam’s fiery ton but agonizingly fell short by 5 runs. It certainly is one of the greatest ODI games in my book. The 2014 Asia cup match in Bangladesh was another nail biting encounter. Pakistan appeared to be cruising chasing India’s below par 246 runs but three quick wickets shifted the momentum to India’s side and Pakistan required 9 off the last 4 balls. Shahid Afridi took guard and Ravi Ashwin bowled it. Boom boom smashed two huge sixes that shattered the hopes of Indian fans. The crowd erupted with Pakistani fans jumping in uncontrollable joy.

And finally the head to head analysis boils down to the grandest stage of cricket, the world cup. After 2000 the world cup the dual is 3-0 in favour of India. The most recent world cup encounter was in February 2015 when Virat Kohli’s ton helped the Men in Blue demolish a listless Pakistan. Passionate Paki fans took to the streets and broke their TV sets in frustration. In T20’s the head to head between India and Pakistan is 4-1 in favour of India including a world cup triumph against the neighbors in 2007. The world cup final is regarded as one of the best ever T20 matches to take place. Chasing India’s 157 Pakistan needed 4 runs off the last 2 balls with Misbah Ul Haq on strike. Indian medium pace bowler Joginder Sharma bowled it and Misbah scooped it straight into the hands of Sreesanth at fine-leg and Ravi Shastri in his typical style erupted on the mic and every Indian in hospitals, schools, offices, wherever they were erupted in jubilation. It truly was an epic match that gave goosebumps to millions.

At the end of the day, numbers don’t always necessarily tell you the story, but if you look at it from the numbers’ point of view then India leads in tests and T20I’s whereas Pakistan is walking ahead in ODI’s. Everything said and done, every India Pakistan match guarantees out of the world adrenaline rushes, inexplicable run of emotions, and incredible twists and turns. And all the fans from either sides are excited, nervous and pray for a victory for their team. It really is a sad thing that India haven’t toured Pakistan after 2008. As an ardent cricket fan, i sincerely hope and pray that all the issues be sorted out and hopefully we will get to see more and more exciting Indo Pak matches.