February 23, 2025. Dubai International Cricket Stadium. ICC Champions Trophy. Pakistan vs India. The ground is 90% blue. Pakistan bat first and post 241 in 49.4 overs. A respectable total. A chaseable total.
India knock it off in 42.3 overs. Six wickets in hand. 45 balls to spare. It was India’s eighth win in their last nine ICC tournament matches against Pakistan.
And then, three months later, on February 15, 2026, the same pattern repeats in Colombo. India 175/7. Pakistan 114 all out. India win by 61 runs. Pakistan finishes the T20 World Cup 2026 Group A stage behind the USA on net run-rate.
But here’s the real problem with how this rivalry is usually discussed: most cricket analysts treat India vs Pakistan as one rivalry. It isn’t. It’s two completely different rivalries sharing the same name and the players in them have almost nothing to do with each other anymore.
Head-to-Head at a Glanc: India vs Pakistan Across All Formats
| Format | Matches | India Wins | Pakistan Wins | Draws/Ties/NR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 59 | 9 | 12 | 38 |
| ODIs | 136 | 58 | 73 | 5 |
| T20Is (all) | 22 | 15 | 7 | — |
| T20 WC specifically | 9 | 8 | 1 | — |
| ICC WC/CT (ODI format) | ~10 | 8 | 2 | — |
| Total | ~220 | ~90 | ~95 | ~35 |
Pakistan lead India 73-58 in all-time ODIs and 12-9 in all-time Tests. Yet India lead Pakistan 8-1 in T20 World Cup matches and 8-2 in all ICC ODI World Cup/CT matches combined.
The all-time record favours Pakistan. The ICC tournament record the only format where they still meet regularly heavily favours India. These are not contradictory. They are the product of two different eras of cricket.
The Three Eras of This Rivalry
Before any scorecard analysis, understand this structural fact: the India-Pakistan rivalry has three entirely separate phases with radically different dynamics.
| Era | Period | Format | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1: Bilateral | 1952–2008 | Tests + ODI series | Regular series; Pakistan often dominant |
| Phase 2: ICC transition | 2008–2021 | ICC tournaments only | Political freeze; no bilateral cricket |
| Phase 3: ICC dominance | 2022–2026 | ICC tournaments only | India win 8 of last 9 |
This three-era framework is the lens through which every India-Pakistan result must be read. Without it, the numbers mislead.
Phase 1: The Bilateral Era (1952–2008)
1952: First Test: The Rivalry Begins in Delhi
India hosted Pakistan for their first Test series in October 1952. just five years after Partition.
The political weight of that series cannot be overstated. Two nations that had been one country five years earlier, playing cricket against each other for the first time. Security was unprecedented. Crowds were enormous. The stakes were entirely different from any other Test series in cricket history.
India and Pakistan played their first Test in 1952. Before Australia played Pakistan, before England played Pakistan in Pakistan. The India-Pakistan rivalry is, in every sense, the original subcontinental rivalry. Every South Asian cricket rivalry since has been defined in relation to it.
1986: Miandad’s Last-Ball Six: The Most Replayed Image in This Rivalry
April 18, 1986. Sharjah. Austral-Asia Cup Final. India need 1 run to win off the last ball with Javed Miandad on strike. Chetan Sharma bowls. Full toss. Miandad hits it over the midwicket boundary for six. Pakistan win by 1 wicket.
Most cricket fans outside South Asia know this moment as a historical curiosity. Inside South Asia, particularly among Indian fans who were alive in 1986, this is not just a lost match it is a generational wound. The last-ball six by Miandad in a neutral-venue final created a rivalry mythology that shaped how every subsequent India-Pakistan match has been emotionally experienced.
Every India-Pakistan rivalry analyst must understand: this one moment made this rivalry personal in a way that no other cricket moment has done for any other rivalry.
Bilateral Test Record: Pakistan Lead 12-9 in 59 Tests (38 Drawn)
India and Pakistan played 59 Tests between 1952 and 2007. Pakistan won 12; India won 9; 38 were drawn.
The high draw rate (64%) reflects the nature of subcontinental Test cricket in that era both teams were dominant spinners playing on subcontinental surfaces that produced slow, high-scoring draws. Decisive results required either a genuine mismatch in conditions or one side having significantly superior batting depth.
Pakistan’s 12-9 Test lead over India is built almost entirely on Test cricket played on Pakistani soil, where Pakistan’s pace bowling (Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and later Shoaib Akhtar) dominated on pitches that offered bounce. India won more Tests in India. Neither team could regularly win away from home in Tests.
2006: The Last Bilateral Test Series: Pakistan Win 1-0
January–February 2006. India tour Pakistan for a 3-Test series. Pakistan win the third Test at Karachi by 341 runs. Series result: Pakistan 1-0.
It was the last bilateral Test series between India and Pakistan.
Nineteen years ago. India has not played a bilateral Test against Pakistan since. Pakistan has not hosted India for a Test series in over 25 years.
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Phase 2: The ICC-Only Era Begins (2008–Present)
Why 2008 Was the Turning Point: The Mumbai Attacks and the Cricket Freeze
On November 26, 2008, ten Pakistani gunmen carried out coordinated terrorist attacks across Mumbai. 175 people were killed.
The BCCI suspended all planned bilateral cricket with Pakistan. The PCB waited. The series never resumed.
This is where things go wrong for the rivalry: Every India-Pakistan bilateral series since 2008 has been scheduled, planned, and then cancelled due to political relations between the two governments. The result: a 1.5-billion-combined-fanbase rivalry has been played exclusively in ICC tournaments roughly once a year, in neutral venues, under the commercial pressure of being the world’s most-watched cricket match every single time.
The bilateral freeze didn’t kill the rivalry. It concentrated it. Every ICC match between these two nations now carries the weight of 15 bilateral series that haven’t happened.
2017 Champions Trophy Final: Pakistan Win by 180 Runs
June 18, 2017. The Oval, London. ICC Champions Trophy Final.
Pakistan bat first and post 338/4 Azhar Ali (59), Babar Azam (46), Fakhar Zaman (114) battering India’s bowling in English conditions.
India chase 338 and are dismissed for 158. Pakistan win by 180 runs.
Fakhar Zaman’s 114 off 106 balls his first major ICC innings set a platform India never came close to matching. India’s bowling failed first: they conceded 338 in English conditions to a Pakistan team that had been inconsistent throughout the tournament. Then their batting failed second. A complete failure on both sides.
The 2017 Champions Trophy Final is the last major ICC final-stage win Pakistan have over India. In the seven ICC tournament games since 2021 T20 WC (Pakistan win), 2022 T20 WC (India win), 2023 ODI WC (India win), 2024 T20 WC (India win), 2025 Champions Trophy (India win), 2026 T20 WC (India win) India have won five of six. Pakistan’s ICC record against India peaked in 2017 and has been declining since.
2021 T20 WC, Dubai: Pakistan Win by 10 Wickets: Their Greatest T20 Win Over India
October 24, 2021. Dubai International Stadium. India vs Pakistan, T20 World Cup.
India: 151/7 in 20 overs (Kohli 57, Rishabh Pant 39; Shaheen Afridi 3/31)
Pakistan: 152/0 in 17.5 overs (Babar Azam 68*, Mohammad Rizwan 79*)
Pakistan’s first-ever 10-wicket win against India. Babar and Rizwan put on 152* an unbroken partnership to chase a T20 target without losing a wicket.
The 2021 10-wicket win was Pakistan’s first T20 WC win over India in the format’s history. It broke an 0-5 losing streak. Yet it also proved to be a data anomaly India won the very next T20 WC meeting (2022), and the one after, and the one after that. Pakistan has won once in T20 WC history against India. India has won eight times.
Phase 3: India’s ICC Tournament Dominance Takes Over (2022–2026)
2022 T20 WC, MCG: India Win by 4 Wickets in Final-Over Thriller
October 23, 2022. Melbourne Cricket Ground. 90,000 fans.
Pakistan: 159/8 in 20 overs.
India: 160/6 in 20 overs Virat Kohli 82* off 53 balls, 28 needed off 3 overs, 16 off the final over. India win by 4 wickets with 1 ball to spare.
Kohli’s innings is regarded by many as the finest individual T20 innings in Indian cricket history a chase completed when nobody else could hold it together.
2023 ODI World Cup, Ahmedabad: India Win by 7 Wickets
October 14, 2023. Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. 130,000 fans. The largest cricket crowd in history.
Pakistan 191 all out. India 192/3 in 30.3 overs. India win by 7 wickets.
Mohammed Siraj: 2/30. Kuldeep Yadav: 2/34. India’s bowling was clinical, their batting was composed. The result was never in serious doubt.
2025 Champions Trophy, Dubai: India Win by 6 Wickets
February 23, 2025. Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Pakistan 241 all out (49.4 overs; Rizwan 46, Saud Shakeel 46, Salman Agha 38; Kuldeep Yadav 3 wickets, Hardik Pandya 2 wickets).
India 244/4 in 42.3 overs (Virat Kohli 100*, KL Rahul 34; India win by 6 wickets with 45 balls remaining).
India win by 6 wickets. Kohli’s century his 51st ODI hundred was composed and unhurried. India chased 242 as if it were 180.
Kuldeep Yadav has become India’s most reliable ICC-match wicket-taker against Pakistan in the modern era. His 3 wickets in Dubai disrupted Pakistan’s attempt to post 280+ on a flat pitch. Since 2022, when Kuldeep is bowling fit and in rhythm against Pakistan, India’s bowling threat multiplies materially.
2026 T20 WC, Colombo: India Win by 61 Runs (Ishan Kishan 77)
February 15, 2026. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. T20 World Cup 2026, Group A.
India: 175/7 in 20 overs Ishan Kishan 77 off 40 balls after Abhishek Sharma’s first-ball duck. Saim Ayub 3/25.
Pakistan: 114 all out in 18 overs Hardik Pandya takes the final wicket; India’s bowling rotated efficiently through Bumrah, Arshdeep, Axar, and Hardik.
India win by 61 runs.
Pakistan finish Group A behind USA on net run-rate.
Ishan Kishan’s 77 off 40 balls is the match’s defining innings after India lost Abhishek Sharma first ball. What looked like a stuttering start became a platform of 77 from one batsman that gave India a total (175) that Pakistan’s top-order, without any settled partnership, could not threaten. Pakistan lost 7 wickets before the halfway point of their chase.
This is India’s eighth T20 World Cup win in nine matches against Pakistan. The only loss came in 2021 and even that now looks like an outlier given what followed. India’s T20 WC record against Pakistan is the most dominant nation-on-nation head-to-head record in the entire T20 World Cup’s history across all rivalries.
Full India vs Pakistan ICC Tournament Record: All Results
| Year | Tournament | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 ODI WC | ICC WC (ODI) | Pakistan won |
| 1978 | First bilateral ODI | Pakistan 2-1 series |
| 1992 ODI WC | ICC WC (ODI) | India won by 43 runs |
| 1996 ODI WC | ICC WC (ODI) | India won by 39 runs |
| 1999 ODI WC | ICC WC (ODI) | India won by 47 runs |
| 2003 ODI WC | ICC WC (ODI) | India won by 6 wickets |
| 2007 T20 WC | T20 WC | India won (bowl-out) |
| 2007 T20 WC final | T20 WC | India won by 5 runs |
| 2011 ODI WC | ICC WC (ODI) | India won by 29 runs |
| 2012 T20 WC | T20 WC | India won by 8 wickets |
| 2014 T20 WC | T20 WC | India won by 7 wickets |
| 2015 ODI WC | ICC WC (ODI) | India won by 76 runs |
| 2016 T20 WC | T20 WC | India won by 6 wickets |
| 2017 Champions Trophy | ICC CT | Pakistan won by 180 runs |
| 2019 ODI WC | ICC WC (ODI) | India won by 89 runs |
| 2021 T20 WC | T20 WC | Pakistan won by 10 wickets |
| 2022 T20 WC | T20 WC | India won by 4 wickets |
| 2023 ODI WC | ICC WC (ODI) | India won by 7 wickets |
| 2024 T20 WC | T20 WC | India won by 6 runs |
| 2025 Champions Trophy | ICC CT | India won by 6 wickets |
| 2026 T20 WC | T20 WC | India won by 61 runs |
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India’s ICC ODI WC record vs Pakistan: Won 8, Lost 0.
India’s T20 WC record vs Pakistan: Won 8, Lost 1 (2021).
Format-by-Format Head-to-Head (2026 Updated)
| Format | Matches | India | Pakistan | Draw/NR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 59 | 9 | 12 | 38 |
| ODIs (all bilateral + ICC) | 136 | 58 | 73 | 5 |
| T20Is (all) | 22 | 15 | 7 | — |
| ODI WC (1992–2023) | 8 | 8 | 0 | — |
| T20 WC (2007–2026) | 9 | 8 | 1 | — |
| ICC CT (2017–2025) | 2 | 1 | 1 | — |
Three Original Observations
- Pakistan’s 73-58 ODI lead over India is essentially a historical artefact of bilateral cricket that no longer exists. Pakistan’s bilateral ODI dominance was built between 1978 and 2008. 30 years of regular series where Pakistan’s home conditions, pace attack, and subcontinental experience gave them structural advantages. Since bilateral cricket ended, India have won 8 of 9 ICC ODI/CT matches against Pakistan. The current rivalry, in the only format it still exists, heavily favours India.
- The 2021 10-wicket T20 WC win by Pakistan is the most statistically anomalous result in this rivalry’s modern era. It came in conditions (Dubai, low bounce, slow surface) that neutralised India’s spin attack and suited Shaheen Afridi’s left-arm angle perfectly. It was not evidence of Pakistan’s T20 superiority — it was a one-match conditions alignment that Pakistan have been unable to replicate. In the five ICC T20 meetings since, India have won all five.
- The India-Pakistan rivalry is now structurally the most commercially significant but competitively least frequent major rivalry in world sport. These teams have not played a bilateral cricket series of any format since 2013. They meet roughly once per ICC event once a year. Every match between them generates more global television viewership than any other cricket match on the planet. Yet the competitive record in those annual ICC matches is 8-1 in T20 WC, 8-0 in ODI WC for India. The world’s biggest sporting rivalry is, in the only format it still operates, the world’s most one-sided cricket matchup.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: What is Pakistan vs India head-to-head in all-time Tests?
Ans. Pakistan lead 12-9 in 59 Tests, with 38 drawn. The last bilateral Test series was in 2006, which Pakistan won 1-0. India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral Test since.
Q2: What is India’s ODI World Cup record against Pakistan?
Ans. India have never lost an ODI World Cup match against Pakistan — 8 wins from 8 matches (1992-2023).
Q3: What is India’s T20 World Cup record against Pakistan?
Ans. India lead Pakistan 8-1 in T20 World Cup matches. Pakistan’s only win came in the 2021 T20 WC in Dubai (by 10 wickets). India won all other T20 WC meetings including the 2026 Group A match in Colombo (by 61 runs).
Q4: What was the India vs Pakistan 2026 T20 World Cup match result?
Ans. India beat Pakistan by 61 runs at Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on February 15, 2026. India scored 175/7 (Ishan Kishan 77 off 40 balls). Pakistan were bowled out for 114 in 18 overs. Pakistan finished third in Group A on net run-rate, behind USA.
Q5: What was the India vs Pakistan 2025 Champions Trophy result?
Ans. India beat Pakistan by 6 wickets at Dubai on February 23, 2025. Pakistan scored 241 all out (49.4 overs; Kuldeep Yadav 3 wickets). India chased 242 in 42.3 overs — Virat Kohli scored 100* (his 51st ODI century).
Q6: When did India and Pakistan last play bilateral cricket?
Ans. The last bilateral ODI series between India and Pakistan was in 2012-13 (India hosted Pakistan). The last bilateral Test series was in 2006, when Pakistan toured India and won 1-0. No bilateral cricket has been played between the two nations since 2013.