India will face Pakistan on October 15 in the ODI World Cup later this year.
Arch-rivals India and Pakistan will meet after almost a year in men’s cricket as the two sides take part in the ODI World Cup in India. The iconic clash is scheduled to take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, currently the record-holder for highest seating capacity among cricket stadiums. The marquee tournament will mark Pakistan’s first visit to India since 2016 when the side had toured the country for the T20 World Cup.
The meetings between both sides are confined to ICC tournaments due to political tensions between the nations. While India remain undefeated in the ODI World Cup, Pakistan registered their first win over their arch-rivals in the T20 edition in 2021, beating them by 10 wickets. Last year, the T20 World Cup clash between both sides saw a thrilling end with India registering a four-wicket win.
This year, India and Pakistan teams will also meet in the Asia Cup and as both teams return to action in their respective tours of West Indies and Sri Lanka, former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq has made a rather interesting remark. While making an argument for why India and Pakistan should resume bilateral cricketing ties, Razzaq claimed India didn’t play Pakistan much in 1997-98 because the former would largely be at the receiving end of losses.
“We share mutual respect and friendship. There’s only Indian team that doesn’t play against Pakistan. From 1997-98, they didn’t play much against us because we were too good, India always used to lose. Now, situation has changed, we are in 2023, but we have to change our thinking. No team is big or small, the performance on the day matters,” Razzaq told EHCricket.
“Both teams are good. You can’t say Pakistan team is weak. You see the Ashes series, can you point out which team is better? The team which performs wins, as simple as that. We have to get out of this and play matches, series against each other,” Razzaq further said.
After their bilateral series in Canada that featured five ODIs, no bilateral games took place between the two teams until 2004 due to escalating tensions on political front. A Sourav Ganguly-led Team India eventually toured Pakistan that year, registering 3-2 win in ODIs before beating the hosts 2-1 in Tests.
The game between India and Pakistan takes place on October 15 in the ODI World Cup. If both sides meet in the semi-final, the clash will take place in Kolkata.
Source : Hindustan Times
