A Look at Memorable India vs Pakistan Asia Cup encounters
India are the defending champions of the Asia Cup, having clinched victory in 2016 T20I edition where Pakistan failed to make the finals.
The Asia Cup has never been more centred around the India-Pakistan rivalry. The forthcoming edition of the regional tournament, played in the T20I format, is set up to leave open the possibility of as many as three Indo-Pak matches in a space of two weeks.
The two arch-rivals are part of the easier of the two groups in the first round alongside associates Hong Kong, which shall propel them to the Super 4 stage, where they will have another Sunday night clash. Finish in the top 2 and the two neighbours will face off again in the tournament finale on September 11.
Over the years, the India-Pakistan rivalry has grown into prominence among the fans despite the geopolitical issues between the two countries. With no bilateral series in sight, cricket followers keenly look forward to their rare encounters in ICC and ACC events, making it also an opportunity for broadcasters and sponsors to maximise their earnings.
There have been 15 Asia Cup games between the two nations, including a standalone T20I in 2016, with India winning eight of those matches. Today we recall five of these exciting encounters from the nearly 40-year-long history of the Asia Cup.
Dambulla, 2010
A breathtakingly close fixture played in the quiet and stale town of Dambulla during a cut-throat 2010 edition of the Asia Cup, this one went all down to the wire. Chasing a stiff target of 268 in conditions where the dry pitch suited the spinners and the white-ball Kookaburra reversed for Pakistan seamers, India reached home with only three wickets left.
Once in control of the game thanks to substantial knocks from Gautam Gambhir (83) and MS Dhoni (56), India suffered a mini-collapse and lost their footing to be left needing over 10 runs an over at the death.
But the courageous Suresh Raina came to their rescue under extreme pressure, hitting 34 off 27 to take the game close. In the end, India were propelled home by Harbhajan Singh with his critical 11-ball 15 cameo, including a six to finish off the proceedings.
Dhaka, 2012
Virat Kohli maybe struggling today but those were the days he was taking giant leap into absolute stardom in world cricket. At the 2012 edition of the Asia Cup, Kohli dominated the arch-rivals with his career-best 183 off 148 balls in a difficult run-chase in Dhaka.
Walking in at No.3 after the early wicket of Gambhir, Kohli stitched critical partnerships with half-centurions Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma and helped India sail through a very stiff chase of 330 runs.
Facing inarguably one of the finest limited-overs attacks of the time, featuring Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi, Kohli batted at a strike-rate of 123.64 and allowed his team to win with a couple of overs left in the Indian innings.
Dhaka, 2014
Fast-forward life by two years and the India-Pakistan rivalry renewed in Mirpur with a contrasting result for the Indians in a cliff-hanger where the extravagant Afridi made the difference with bat in hand. In a low-scoring close-fought encounter, it all came down to Afridi versus R Ashwin with 9 needed off the last 4 balls.
Despite the class off-spinner beating his opponent in the air, Afridi could muscle the ball for two successive maximums, both mis-hits, travelling to different parts of the ground in Dhaka and resulting in a memorable Pakistan win.
India made an excellent feast at defending their modest score of 245/8 but were denied victory by Afridi's six-hitting madness. Before this, a stand-out 75 from skipper Mohammad Hafeez kept Pakistan in the hunt even as Ashwin (3/44), Amit Mishra (2/28) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/56) piled on the pressure.
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Sharjah, 1984
India-Pakistan contests have come to be known as battles between the former's powerful batting and the latter's quality bowling unit. But the first-ever Asia Cup clash between the two nations saw Indians dominate with the ball and save the day where they managed to put on a score of only 188 on the board.
In a 46-overs per side encounter, India dismissed Pakistan for 134 in Sharjah, with Roger Binny and Ravi Shastri sharing six wickets between them and running through the opposition batting line-up. 35 from Mohsin Khan was the highest score from a Pakistani batter, which is where the Indians trounced them. Surinder Khanna top-scored with 56 and was backed up by Sandeep Patil's 43.
Dhaka, 2016
Back in Dhaka for the first-ever T20I Asia Cup in Bangladesh, India-Pakistan ended up playing an unlikely thriller. When Pakistan were bundled out for only 83 in the first half, nobody gave them a chance to India a scare. But an inspired opening burst by Mohammad Amir reduced the Indians to 8 for 3 and infused a sense of excitement and tension in the fixture.
It required India a measured but classy knock from Kohli to ease through the troubled waters and regain ascendancy of the proceedings. Kohli's 49 off 51 on a rare seam-friendly deck in Mirpur remains one of his best innings in white-ball cricket. Kohli drove with absolute command and authority against the Pakistan seamers and allowed India to reach home with five wickets intact.
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