India and Pakistan is slated to clash in Asia Cup 2018 on September 19, 2018.
India and Pakistan clash in any kind of sport garners lots of attention and excitement. However, in cricket, the rivalry between the two nations transcends everything else.
Any India vs. Pakistan match on any stage is a crowd puller and tickets sell out well in advance. The two Asian giants have been very successful in the Asia Cup as well. The Indian team is the defending champion of the tournament and they are slated to play each other atleast twice in the tournament.
The matches have always been high octane with players from both sides giving all they have and fans getting their money’s worth. Careers have been made, legacies established and fame gathered when India and Pakistan clash on the cricket field.
Keeping that in mind and with Asia Cup underway with fans waiting with bated breath for the India and Pakistan clash on September 19, we take look at five of the best Asia Cup clashes between the Asian giants.
Here are 5 most memorable India vs. Pakistan clashes in the tournament
ASIA CUP 2008 – INDIA BEATS PAKISTAN BY 6 WICKETS, KARACHI
Malik himself led from the front with a brilliant 125 in 119 balls with 16 fours and 1 six before he retired hurt. Younis Khan hit 59 to help Malik put Pakistan on track to a big total, which they got in the end. Contributions from Salman Butt (35) and Misbah-ul-Haq (31) took Pakistan to 299/5 in 50 overs. RP Singh proved to be the most efficient bowler for India with figures of 1/44 in 10 overs.
India lost Gambhir early in the chase, but Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina wrested the initiative back from the Pakistani bowlers with a partnership of 198 runs. Sehwag hit a belligerent century- 119 in 95 balls with 12 fours and 5 sixes and Raina contributed 84 in 69 balls with 10 fours and 3 sixes.
India won the match by 6 wickets with Yuvraj Singh hitting 48 runs to finish the match for his team.
Here are the highlights:
ASIA CUP 2008 – PAKISTAN BEATS INDIA BY 8 WICKETS, KARACHI
Misbah-ul-Haq captained the team in absence of Shoaib Malik and MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat first and the openers Sehwag (49) and Gambhir (35) added 88 runs for the first wicket. Though Iftikhar Rao picked three wickets in the middle to rock the Indian batting lineup; 76 from MS Dhoni, 58 from Rohit Sharma and cameos from Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan took India to 308/7.
It was a steep total to chase and Pakistan knew this. Their openers went after the Indian bowlers and put up 65 in first 8 overs with Nasir Jamshed hitting 53. Then Younis Khan took over with a brilliant 123* and with the help of skipper Misbah-ul-Haq’s 70*, took Pakistan across the finishing line with ease.
Pakistan won the game by eight wickets scoring 309/2 in 45.3 overs and Younis Khan won the player of the match.
Here are the highlights:
ASIA CUP 2010 – INDIA BEATS PAKISTAN BY 3 WICKETS, DAMBULLA
Pakistan and India met in the group stages of the 2010 Asia Cup hosted by Sri Lanka. This match was played in Dambulla and Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi won the toss and chose to bat first to take advantage of the second innings’ turn the pitch gave.
Salman Butt (71) and Kamran Akmal (51) were the top scorers for the Pakistani team, who had lots of the starts from other batsmen like Shoaib Malik (39) and Shahid Afridi (32). Praveen Kumar picked up three wickets in the death overs to stop Pakistan from reaching close to 300 and Zaheer and Harbhajan Singh picked two each to rattle the Pak top order.
Pakistan ended up making 267 runs and India needed 268 runs to win the match.
Though Sehwag (10) and Kohli (18) got out early, Gambhir (83) anchored one end with Dhoni (56) supporting him. It all came down to Suresh Raina (34) and Harbhajan Singh (15*) to take India home, which Harbhajan did in style, which included hitting Shoaib Akhtar for a huge six over cow corner.
India reached the target with 1 ball to spare and 3 wickets in hand.
Here are the highlights:
ASIA CUP 2014 – PAKISTAN BEATS INDIA BY 1 WICKET, DHAKA
India batted first after Misbah won the toss and lost Dhawan (10) and Kohli (5) early. Rohit Sharma (56) and Ambati Rayudu (58) stabilized the innings while Jadeja (52*) took India to a respectable 245/8 in a crunch match. Saeed Ajmal (3/40) and two wickets each for Mohd Hafeez and Mohammad Talha wrecked the Indian batting lineup.
Though openers Shehzad (42) and Sharjeel (25) gave Pakistan a start of 71 in first 10 overs, Indian spinners Ashwin and Amit Mishra rocked the middle order with quick wickets. Ashwin removed Sharjeel and Hafeez, who made 75; while Mishra took care of Shehzad and Umar Akmal. Shoaib Maqsood (38) steadied the ship.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar jolted the lower order with two quick strikes and quick runs were needed by Pakistan and then in came Boom Boom Afridi. He smacked 34* off 18 balls with 3 sixes and 2 fours and ended India’s hopes of making it into the finals. Pakistan won the match by 1 wicket and went into the finals.
Here are the highlights:
ASIA CUP 2012- INDIA BEATS PAKISTAN BY 6 WICKETS, DHAKA
The 2012 edition of Asia Cup was a display of the start of Virat Kohli whom we know now. He showed the tenacity and fighting spirit in what was one of the best innings in a chase in ODI cricket.
Pak captain Misbah-ul-Haq chose to bat first on a belter of a wicket at Dhaka and their openers made full use of the pitch putting on 224 runs for the first wicket. Mohammed Hafeez made 105 in 113 balls with 9 fours and 1 six, while Nasir Jamshed hit 112 in 104 balls with 10 fours and 1 six.
Younis Khan hit 52 in 34 balls to power Pakistan to 329/6 in 50 overs. For India, Praveen Kumar and Ashoke Dinda picked two wickets each.
Looking for a hard chase at their hands, Mohammed Hafeez hit India hard with the wicket of Gambhir in the first over itself. Now the master Sachin Tendulkar was joined by the apprentice Virat Kohli and the duo started to turn the tide with a partnership of 133 runs. Tendulkar was dismissed for 52 by Ajmal and Rohit Sharma joined Kohli, who was taking the Pakistani bowlers on.
Rohit scored 68 in 83 balls, adding 172 runs for the third wicket. However, it was Kohli who smashed his highest ODI score to date- 183 in 148 balls with 22 fours and 1 six and was only dismissed with India needing 10 runs to win. Kohli hit the balls to all parts of the ground, ran hard and easily negotiated Ajmal and co on a turning wicket.
India reached the target with 6 wickets in hand and 13 balls to spare. Virat Kohli had arrived on the big stage and the chase master was born.
Here are the highlights: