The history of all 14 India-Pakistan matches in Asia Cup

As we await on final confirmation about the venue and dates of Asia Cup 2020 it gives us time to look back at the big-ticket India-Pakistan matches in the tournament. India have been the most successful team in the history of Asia Cup, having won the continental tournament as many as seven times (six in ODI format, one in T20I format), since the inception of tournament in 1984. Over the years, India’s supremacy has been challenged by Pakistan more than any other team in the competition.

So far, India have played against Pakistan on 14 occasions in Asia Cup since 1984, winning eight and losing five, while one match was washed out. Hindustan Times takes a look at how the two teams fared when they clashed against each other in their bid for Asian supremacy –

1984 (UAE) : India won by 54 runs

India won the first edition of the tournament by defeating Pakistan in a low-scoring final at Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium. Batting first, India posted a sub-par total of 188/4 in 46 overs. Wicket-keeper Surinder Khanna top-scored with 56 while Sandeep Patil (43) and skipper Sunil Gavaskar (36) chipped in with handy contributions.

Chasing the target, Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals and they couldn’t get a big partnership going right through the course of their innings. Ravi Shastri and Roger Binny were the stars of the show for India as they scalped three wickets each to bundle out Pakistan for 134. What’s noteworthy is that there were four run outs in the Pakistan chase that gave India a helping hand in dismissing their arch-rivals.

1988 (Bangladesh): India won by 4 wickets

India won their second consecutive Asia Cup encounter against Pakistan by registering a four-wicket win (26 balls to spare) over their rivals. Batting first, Pakistan were restricted to just 142, with India’s offbreak bowler Arshad Ayub wrecking their batting line-up by scalping five wickets. Kapil Dev and Maninder Singh picked two wickets each.

During the chase, Navjot Singh Sidhu departed early for India but Mohinder Amarnath held the innings from one end to steady the ship. Apart from Amarnath and opener Kris Srikanth, no other Indian could score in double digits but in the end, it wasn’t needed as Jimmy got them home with his magnificent innings of 74*.

1995 (UAE): Pakistan won by 97 runs

Pakistan recorded their first-ever win over India in Asia Cup at this edition of the tournament, when they outclassed their rivals by 97 runs in Sharjah. Pakistan posted a formidable total of 266/9 in their 50 overs, courtesy of fifties from Imzamam-ul-Haq and Wasim Akram. Imzamam slammed 88 runs off 100 deliveries , which included seven boundaries. As for Akram, he need just 46 deliveries to reach the 50-run mark and his innings included four boundaries and two huge maximums.

Chasing the target, India lost openers Sachin Tedulkar and Manoj Prabhakar for just 11 runs on the board and it all started going downhill from there. Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sanjay Manjrekar provided some resistance after India were reduced to 37/4, by hitting respective fifties. But once these two fell, the Pakistani bowlers ran through the Indian lower-order as India were dismissed for 169. Aaquib Javed was the chief architect of India’s downfall as he scalped five wickets while Aamer Sohail scalped two.

1997 (Sri Lanka): No Result

In nine overs, India had reduced Pakistan to 30/5 with Venkatesh Prasad scalping 4/17 in five overs. However, rain came down hard at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo and the match had to called off.

2000 (Bangladesh): Pakistan won by 44 runs

Mohammed Yusuf’s century was enough for Pakistan to beat India at the 2000 edition of the tournament. Batting first, Pakistan posted a huge total of 295/7 in 50 overs, with Yusuf top-scoring with a well-made 112-ball 100. Opener Saeed Anwar and Moin Khan chipped in with handy contributions as Pakistan batsmen put Indian bowlers to the sword. Anil Kumble picked up three wickets for India while Ajit Agarkar and Amit Bhandari scalped two wickets each.

During the chase, the Indian top-order suffered a collapse and they were reduced to 75/4 in 14 overs. Abdul Razzaq wreaked havoc as he accounted for the wickets of Rahul Dravid, Mohammed Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar. Ajay Jadeja issued a stunning fight back for India and took the attack to Pakistan bowlers. His 93-run innings included eight fours and four huge sixes. But Jadeja failed to find support on the other end and India succumbed to a heavy defeat. Razzaq ended the match with stunning figures of 4/29 in 8 overs.

2004 (Sri Lanka): Pakistan won by 59 runs

After losing matches to India in the first two editions of the Asia Cup, Pakistan recorded wins against them in four editions of the tournament on the trot. In 2004, for the first time in their history, Pakistan touched the 300-run mark against India in Asia Cup and it was made possible by Shoaib Malik, who smashed 143 runs off just 127 deliveries at the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Apart from Malik, no other Pakistani batsman came close to the 50-run mark in their innings. Malik’s breathtaking innings included 18 boundaries and one six.

Chasing the target, India lost Virender Sehwag early but skipper Sourav Ganguly joined forces with other opener Sachin Tendulkar and they started to take the attack to Pakistan. Mohammad Sami castled Ganguly for 39 and from there on, India kept losing wickets at regular intervals. But Tendulkar continued to drive the innings from one end and crossed th 50-run mark as well. However, once he was dismissed by Malik for 78, India’s chase all but ended and they eventually fell short of the target by some distance.

2008 (Pakistan)

Group stage: India won by 6 wickets

After scoring a century in 2004, Shoaib Malik once again tore Indian bowlers apart, but this time in front of home support in Karachi. Skipper Malik opened the innings for Pakistan and he went back into the pavilion only after scoring a ton and getting retired hurt. The right-hander smashed 125 off 119 deliveries inclusive of 16 fours and one six. Younis Khan also contributed with a well-made half-century as Pakistan posted 299/4 in 50 overs.

Chasing the stiff target, India got off to the worse possible start as opener Gautam Gambhir departed for just 12 runs on the board. But from their on, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina sent the fielders on a leather hunt, stitching together a 198-run partnership. Sehwag smashed 119 off 95 deliveries while Raina scored 84 off 69, before they were dismissed in quick succession. Yuvraj Singh (48) and MS Dhoni (26*) provided finishing touches to the chase as India reached home with six wickets to spare.

Super fours: Pakistan won by 8 wickets

After losing in the group stage, Pakistan got their revenge by winning the match against India in the super fours. This is the only edition where India and Pakistan have collided twice in one tournament so far. Batting first, India posted a total of 308/7 in 50 overs — with many Indian batters getting starts but none of them going on to convert it into big hundred. Skipper MS Dhoni top-scored with 76, while Rohit Sharma also slammed a half-century for the ‘Men in Blue’ .

The hosts got off to a good start in the chase as Salman Butt and Nasir Jamshed helped them cross the 50-run mark in quick time. Butt departed soon but Jamshed and Younis Khan kept the momentum going with some calculated hitting. Jamshed was retired hurt after completing his fifty but Younis kept on going and notched up a well-deserved ton (123 off 117). Misbah-ul-Haq too joined the party and smashed 70 off 62 deliveries as Pakistan crossed the finish line with eight wickets and 27 balls to spare.

2010 (Sri Lanka): India won by 3 wickets

This match between the two sides wasn’t a high scoring encounter, like previous few editions, however, it was a nail-biter, which went right down to the wire. Batting first, Pakistan posted a fighting total of 267, courtesy of fifties from Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal. Praveen Kumar was the pick of the bowlers for India as he ended with figures of 3/53 while Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh scalped two wickets each.

Chasing the target, opener Gautam Gambhir held the innings from one end as his partners kept on changing on the other. Finally, he was joined at the crease by skipper Dhoni and the duo took the attack to the Pakistan bowlers. Both notched up their respective fifties, before getting dismissed in quick succession. What transpired next is something that one thinks about when these two teams are playing against each other - a face off. Harbhajan Singh and Shoaib Akhtar exchanged few verbal volleys, which was ended by the Indian star hitting a huge six off Mohammed Amir to take India home with just one ball to spare.

2012 (Bangladesh): India won by 6 wickets

Pakistan once again crossed the 300-run mark against India in Asia Cup at this edition of the tournament in Dhaka. Openers Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed tore apart the Indian bowling line-up as both slammed respective centuries and put on a partnership of 224 for the opening wicket. Younis Khan hit a 34-ball 52 to propel Pakistan’s score to 329/6 in 50 overs.

Chasing the stiff target, India lost opener Gambhir for a duck, but then, the master and the apprentice—Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli —joined forces to bail them out of trouble. Sachin finally departed after completing his fifty, however, Kohli kept on going and took every Pakistan bowler to the cleaners. After Sachin, Kohli found good support from Rohit Sharma, before he notched up his century. When Kohli finally departed, his score read 183 off 148 balls (22 fours and one six ), but more importantly, India were within winning distance of the match. Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni got the team over the line but it was the brilliance of Kohli that India managed to chased down such a big score with 13 balls to spare.

2014 (Bangladesh): Pakistan won by 1 wicket

Even after three batsmen scored fifties, India could muster only 245/8 in their 50 overs against Pakistan at Dhaka in the 2014. Rohit Sharma (56), Ambati Rayudu (58) and Ravindra Jadeja (52) produced the goods for India but it was the bowling effort from Pakistan that was noteworthy. Saeed Ajmal finished with outstanding figures of 3/40 in 10 overs while Mohammad Hafeez and Mohammad Talha scalped two wickets each, with stunning economy rates of 4.22 and 3.14 respectively.

Hafeez completed a remarkable all-round show for Pakistan during the chase, as he perfectly anchored the innings by hitting 75 off 117 deliveries. Wickets kept falling and his partners kept changing but he persevered and kept stitching small partnerships with the likes of Ahmed Shehzad (42) and Sohaib Maqsood (38). In the end, Shahid Afridi slammed 34 off 18 deliveries —including two consecutive sixes off R Ashwin in the final over — to take Pakistan home with just two balls to spare.

2016 (Bangladesh): India won by 5 wickets

This particular edition of the cup was converted into T20 format owing to the WT20, that was scheduled right after the completion of Asia Cup. On the swinging conditions of Dhaka, Indian bowlers wreaked havoc and dismissed Pakistan for just 83. Hardik Pandya was the pick of the bowlers for India as he scalped thee wickets for just eight runs in 3.3 overs. Ravindra Jadeja scalped 2/11 in three overs while Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah and Yuvraj Singh scalped one wicket each.

What seemed like a small total was made to look enormous by Mohammed Amir as he single-handedly reduced India to 3/8 —accounting for the wickets of Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Suresh Raina. But Virat Kohli once again showed his class and paid due respect to the deliveries of Amir, while at the same time, taking the attack to other Pakistan bowlers. Mohammed Sami finally got the better of Kohli (49 off 51 deliveries) but he had done his job by then as MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh took India comfortably home from there with 27 balls to spare.

2018 (Dubai): India won by 8 wickets

In the last edition of Asia Cup, there was a possibility of India and Pakistan facing each other three times if both qualified for the finals. But as it turned out India reached the finals but Pakistan could not. In the first group-stage match, however, India steamrolled Pakistan. It was a superlative effort from the bowling unit that saw them shot out Pakistan for a paltry 162 in 43.1 overs before Rohit Sharma (52 off 39 balls) and Shikhat Dhawan (46 off 54 balls) added 86 for the opening wicket to ensure a smooth chase for the ‘Men In Blue’ in only 29 overs.

2018 (Dubai): India won by 9 wickets

There was no change in the outcome of the match when these two met again a few days later in another group match. India once again registered a dominating victory over Pakistan.

Bumrah, Chahal and Kuldeep picked two wickets apiece as India restricted Pakistan to below-par 237 for 7. In reply, both the Indian openers - Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan slammed hundreds as India chased down the total in 39.3 overs with 9 wickets in their bank.