T20 World Cup 2022: Here's how India and Pakistan fared in their last meeting at MCG

India will begin their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23, 2022, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne. On January 21, 2022, ICC announced the schedule of the global event that will take place in Australia exactly after a year of the last tournament played in the year 2021.

The World Cup kicks off with Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand and Australia face-off on October 22 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It will also be a rematch of the finals of the 2021 World Cup where Kangaroos defeated the Kiwis to clinch their maiden T20 WC title.

On October 24 2021, Babar Azam and his men thrashed Virat Kohli and his team by ten wickets to register Pakistan’s first-ever World Cup victory over their arch rivals. Notably, exactly after 364 days, both teams will again begin their World Cup campaign by playing their first match of the tournament like was the case in the 2021 edition.

The Super 12 Group B clash between the age-old rivals India and Pakistan will be the first time that the Asian giants will meet each other in a T20 International at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. The blockbuster tie which falls on a Sunday again, promises to be a mouth-watering contest as it has always been in all the previous World Cup editions.

It will also be the first World Cup match between the two Asian ginats at the MCG. The last World Cup clash in Australia between the two rivals took place at the Adelaide Oval in the 50-overs World Cup in 2015.

Meanwhile, thistoric MCG has hosted India and Pakistan for two ODIs in Benson Hedges World Championship of Cricket way back in the year 1985 with India winning both the group game and final by six and eight wickets respectively. In the group clash, Roger Binny took four wickets to bowl Pakistan out for just 183 runs as Mohammad Azharuddin and Sunil Gavaskar struck the fifties to win the game for India.

In the final, Kapil Dev and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan both took three wickets each to restrict Pakistan for a paltry 176/9. Openers Ravi Shastri and Kris Srikkanth hit half-centuries to beat their rivals and win the tournament for India.

India 12, Pakistan 1 in World Cup clashes

Meanwhile, Team India has the wood over their neighbors completely in all the T20 and 50-overs World Cup matches as the men in blue have been a dominant force against Pakistan with 12 victories out of 13 encounters. Notably, the first-ever loss for India against the men in green came last time out when Babar Azam and his team created history by defeating Virat Kohli’s side by ten wickets in the opening match of the T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai.

In T20 World Cups, both have faced each other six times with India tasting success on five occasions including that famous 2007 World Cup Final in Johannesburg. Talking of the ODI campaigns, India has defeated Pakistan seven out of seven times starting from the 1992 edition to 2019.

The rivals have produced some high-octane clashes on the world stage over the years with the last T20 WC clash in 2021 becoming the most-watched T20I match in history. Cricketing fans all around the globe are in for some special treat when both the teams lock horns again with a thrilling and exciting blockbuster contest on the cards yet again.