The historical head-to-head record clearly shows India’s dominance over the past two decades. Since their first T20 International in 2007, India, the reigning T20 World Cup champions, have won 12 out of 15 encounters against Pakistan. Furthermore, they’ve secured victory in their last seven white-ball matches. Pakistan, however, might point to their stronger 8-4 record in white-ball tournament finals, hoping history repeats itself in their favor.
This recent superiority led to a bold declaration from Suryakumar Yadav after India’s convincing six-wicket victory in the Super Four stage: he believes this contest is no longer a rivalry. “In my opinion, a true rivalry exists when teams are closely matched, perhaps 7-7 or 8-7 head-to-head after 15-20 games. But with our record, whether it’s 13-0 or 10-1 – I’m not sure of the exact numbers – this isn’t a rivalry any longer,” Yadav stated confidently.
India’s bowling coach, Morne Morkel, even commented that his team is “yet to play the complete game,” suggesting there’s still more to come from the Indian side.
If Salman Agha’s Pakistan team intends to challenge this narrative, they’ll need to deliver an extraordinary performance and hope that India experiences an uncharacteristically off day.
Despite a competitive showing in their Super Four loss to India last weekend, Pakistan coach Mike Hesson acknowledged the challenge. India comfortably chased down a target of 172 with seven balls to spare, largely thanks to Abhishek Sharma’s stellar batting, who is expected to be a key player once more.
Hesson emphasized that for Pakistan to succeed, they must “put India under pressure for longer” during the match.
Expected Squads:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
Pakistan: Salman Agha (Captain), Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Faheem Ashraf, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem.