3 Indians with most wickets against Pakistan in men's T20 World Cups ft. Hardik Pandya
The D-day is here, as India take on Pakistan in a high-voltage T20 World Cup 2024 clash on Sunday, June 9 at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York. It's an interesting match-up, as both teams are coming into this game with contrasting results in their last league match.
The Men in Blue romped to an eight-wicket victory over Ireland, courtesy of their all-round performances. With swing-friendly conditions on offer and the Indian bowlers hitting the deck in the right spots, the Irish side were bundled out for 96. In response, the Indian batting unit sealed the chase under 13 overs.
On the other hand, it was a disappointing performance from Pakistan on all fronts against the USA in their unsuccessful attempt to defend 159. Their experienced bowling unit failed to put the USA batters under check, as the home side secured a thrilling Super Over victory. It will be interesting to see if the Babar Azam-led side comes up with an improved bowling performance in this game.
Ahead of this game, let's check out the three Indian bowlers, who have secured the most wickets against Pakistan in T20 World Cup history.
#3 RP Singh - 4
With his only T20 World Cup appearance coming in 2007, RP Singh has been the key performer for the Indian side with four wickets against the Men in Green.
In the group stage game on September 14 in Durban, India batted first and posted a respectable 141 on the board, courtesy of impressive knocks from Robin Uthappa (50) and MS Dhoni (33).
Then, Pakistan openers, Salman Butt and Imran Nazir began the innings on a decent note, by accumulating 12 runs off two overs. However, Nazir, who tried to slog the ball towards the deep mid-wicket, missed RP's inswinging delivery, which took his leg stump. Afterwards, the Indian bowling unit did well to restrict the opponents to 141 and then win the bowl-out as well.
The finale clash at Johannesburg saw Gautam Gambhir (75) powering India to 157. Thereafter, RP made Mohammad Hafeez holed out at the gully region while breaching the defense of Kamran Akmal, who couldn't judge the bounce from the surface. In the end, the left-arm bowled Umar Gul and finished with figures of 3/26. His effort ultimately helped Team India to clinch the T20 World Cup by five runs.
#2 Hardik Pandya - 4
The flamboyant all-rounder, Hardik Pandya is the most successful bowler in India-Pakistan T20Is with 11 scalps in six appearances. Among his dismissals, four came in the T20 World Cups.
Pandya's first appearance in the tournament came in the 2016 edition on March 19 at Eden Gardens. After taking a terrific diving catch to dismiss Sharjeel Khan, Pandya secured an important breakthrough by dismissing Shaheed Afridi. He bowled two overs and returned with figures of 1/25, as Pakistan scored 118/5 in 18 overs. The India batting unit were initially under pressure but sealed the chase under 16 overs.
In the T20 World Cup 2022 clash at Melbourne, Hardik Pandya invited batters to hit his back-of-length deliveries to a bigger boundary side. As a result, Shadab Khan and Haider Ali both failed to clear the long-on boundary and were caught by Suryakumar Yadav. Pandya's similar delivery saw ruffling the gloves of Mohammad Nawaz and getting holed out to Dinesh Karthik.
The 30-year-old finished with figures of 3/30 off four overs and was the pick of the bowlers for India. He contributed a crucial 40 with the bat and stitched a 113-run stand with Virat Kohli (82*) as India went to secure a memorable four-wicket victory.
#1 Irfan Pathan - 6
The former left-arm pacer is the finest bowler in IND-PAK games in T20 World Cup history with six wickets in three games. Five of those came in the 2007 edition of the tournament.
In the group stage, Irfan Pathan came into the attack in the ninth over, in India's defense of 141. In the fifth ball, Younis Khan couldn't judge Pathan's bounce off the surface, as the ball hit his glove and crashed into the stumps. The 15th over witnessed Pathan bowling a slower delivery, and getting Shoaib Malik holed out at covers. He completed his spell with figures of 2/20, as India went on to win a thriller.
The all-important finale saw Pathan named as Player of the Match with figures of 3/16. He made Malik caught at mid-wicket, and Shahid Afridi at long-off and cleaned the stumps of Yasir Arafat to trigger a collapse. In the end, India went on to win by five runs.
The T20 World Cup 2012 game saw Pathan's last appearance in IND-PAK games, as he ended with figures of 1/30 off four overs, as he trapped Imran Nazir LBW. The Indian team sealed the chase of 129 in 17 overs.