India vs Pakistan: No Longer a Rivalry?
- Rohan Jain
- Sep 28
- 2 min read
India and Pakistan are infamous neighbors and competitors in the cricketing scene as much as in the geopolitical world. In fact, in the T20 World Cup in 2022, tickets were sold out in five minutes.
Yet, for the first time in recent memory, the group stage match between the two sides in the Asia Cup 2025 left hundreds of tickets unsold. The two India vs Pakistan matches in the last two weeks have been largely uncompetitive, raising questions as to whether this matchup stands as a legitimate rivalry.
Perhaps the result was because of the boycott pleas made by Indian fans to not play a match with the country that participated in the Pahalgam attacks earlier this year. Yet, a better explanation may be because of cricketing reasons.
With Indian superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma having retired in the 2024 T20 World Cup, and the exclusion of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in Pakistan’s squad, there has been a lack of the typical anticipation that this matchup constitutes.
Additionally, the competitiveness between India and Pakistan that was on showcase in the renowned 2022 matchup has faded significantly. A slow burn it has been, with seven wins and one no result for India against their foes.
India has looked unbeatable at times in the shortest format, ranked as the best T20I side in the world right now.
On Sunday, it looked for the first ten overs of Pakistan’s innings that the matchup may have awoken the dormant rivalry. It was put back to rest soon after, with India’s formidable spin attack putting the clamps on Pakistan’s scoring.
Abhishek Sharma started with the same vicious intent that he had held since the start of the Asia Cup, or rather, his international career. The first ball of the innings went for six, and Shubman Gill raced with his childhood friend to a 100 partnership within 10 overs.
A couple of quick wickets were all Pakistan could salvage from an otherwise calm run chase for India.
The question there stands: with no wins for Pakistan against their ‘rivals’ since the 2022 Asia Cup, is there still a cricketing rivalry between the Asian neighbors, or is it history and politics that bring anticipation to this recently one-sided matchup?
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