Pakistan-India Cricket rivalry

 There have been many rivalries between cricket playing nations. Of all the cricketing rivalries the rivalry in cricket between England and Australia also known as the Ashes and India-Pakistan rivalry are the most famous. I will consider India-Pakistan rivalry as more interesting rather than England-Australia Ashes rivalry. Unlike England-Australia rivalry the India-Pakistan rivalry is more intense because of the political tensions between the two countries. 

In the three formats of the game Pakistan's has a better overall record than India in tests and ODI 's. India only has a better record than Pakistan in Twenty20 internationals overall. In tests Pakistan has won 12 test and India has won 9 tests, in ODI's Pakistan has won 73 matches and India has won 55 matches. In Twenty20 Internationals India has won 6 matches and Pakistan has won one match. 

Pakistan has literally dominated India in ODI's especially after Javed Miandad s six off Chetan Sharma in Austral-Asia Cup in 1986. Pakistan kept on dominating India in the 1980s and 1990's until the retirement of Wasim Akram , Waqar Younis and Inzamam ul Haq. After the retirement of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Inzamam India has now started catching up with Pakistan and has narrowed the gap of wins and losses with Pakistan. 

India has now started playing Pakistan in only ICC and ACC tournaments and they no longer play Pakistan in a bilateral series. The government of India doesnt allow India to play Pakistan in a bilateral series because of political tensions between the two nations. Also because the Indian government is now led by Narendra Modi who is an Hindu extremist and Hindu Nationalist. 

Pakistan has always come into form whenever it plays India so Pakistan's loss is greater as compared to India if India doesnt play Pakistan. I wonder why India is so scared in playing Pakistan in a bilateral series although India at present has a formidable team. I truly wish India doesnt mix politics with sport and plays Pakistan in the near future.

Pakistan is a successful cricket playing nation

 Pakistan has always done well in cricket although hockey is Pakistan's national game. Pakistan has always had a positive winning ratio throughout their history as their international record suggests. In test Pakistan has 138 wins and 131 losses, in ODI's Pakistan has 486 wins and lost 413 times and in Twenty20 Internationals Pakistan has 93 wins and 56 losses. This shows that Pakistan has constantly been a successful cricket playing nation and they have shown consistency in their performance throughout their history.

In test cricket Pakistan was briefly ranked no. 1 in test cricket under Misbah ul Haq's captaincy. In ODI cricket Pakistan won the 1992 World Cup under Imran Khan's captaincy and were runner's up in 1999 World Cup under Wasim Akram's captaincy. In recent past Pakistan won the Champions trophy in 2017 under Sarfraz Ahmed captaincy. In twenty20 cricket Pakistan won the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup, and were runners up in 2007 twenty20 World cup and semi finalists in 2010 and 2012 twenty20 World Cup's.

Of all the three formats of the game Pakistan has been most consistently successful in Twenty 20 Internationals as compared to ODI's and test match cricket. This is because Pakistani batsmen have always focused on hitting the ball and going for big shots instead of batting cautiously and watching the ball closely. Also because Pakistani bowlers have always been hard to hit because of fast bowlers giving hard ball to batsmen and their spin bowlers turning the ball hugely. 

Nevertheless Pakistan has always been a tough opponent for their opposing teams in cricket in any format because of their huge talent and huge and tremendous talent base in all aspects of the game whether it being batting, bowling or fielding.