With the Asia Cup 2025 nearing its business end, there could be a possibility of India once again playing Pakistan in the summit clash, scheduled for Sunday, September 28 in Dubai. However, the two teams have already locked horns twice, once in the group stage, followed by a Super Four game and on both occasions, the Men in Blue came out victorious.
While the match was marred with several controversies, skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s bold statement claiming it to not be a rivalry anymore, also got several eyeballs. While the numbers do speak of the rivalry, where India stands far more superior with 11 wins in 15 T20I matches, whereas Pakistan has come out victorious only thrice.
Pakistan are not at the same level as India. I feel bad: Ishant Sharma
Echoing with Suryakumar Yadav’s post-match thoughts on India versus Pakistan
rivalry, Indian pacer Ishant Sharma also highlighted on the same. Speaking on Raj Shamani’s podcast, Sharma remarked that Pakistan’s toughest fights came during the days of legendary players like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and others, but they are currently struggling. “They are not bad actually, they are very good. Very nice, very welcoming,” he began. When speaking of the on-field rivalry, he continued, "Pakistan already have so much pressure on them, how will they handle more from us? If you look at the matches, their fans in the crowd are always shouting behind them from the stands. Actually I feel bad for them.”
"The pressure will be high (during an India vs Pakistan match), but that was more during the time when they had great players like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq, Afridi... these were great players. The kind of talent, exposure and infrastructure we have, they are not even close," he added.
