India vs Pakistan: A look at the recent head-to-head records between the Asian giants
India versus Pakistan has been a great rivalry in the world of cricket. Whenever a match is scheduled between these two sides the whole world takes notice and tickets of these contests are booked months in advance. It doesn't matter whether the match has any significance in the context of the tournament, India-Pakistan clash always has significance for its fans.
During recent times, these two teams have rarely travelled to each other's country, and as a result, the last test match between these two nations took place way back in 2007. Lately, one bilateral series took place between two sides in 2012-13, when Pakistan travelled to India for 3 ODIs and 2 T20Is.
During the Asia Cup, which is around the corner, there are a few India- Pakistan ODI's in the offering.
Let's see what stats tell us about the chances of these two sides against each other by looking at the one -day international records between these two sides during the last decade:
Win-loss record
During the last ten years, these two sides have played each other on 12 occasions. The Indians have had the upper hand over Pakistan during recent times as they have won 7 times out of these 12 occasions.
Batting Records
No prizes for guessing that Indian captain Virat Kohli is the highest run-getter amongst the two sides during the last decade. Pakistan must be jumping with joy after knowing that their arch nemesis is not going to play in the upcoming Asia Cup.
Kohli has scored 459 runs from 12 Matches at an average of 45.90 with 2 centuries. Dhoni and Raina are next on the list with 313 and 294 runs to their name from 11 and 9 matches respectively.
On the Pakistani side, Mohammed Hafeez, who has been dropped from the Asia Cup squad, is the highest run-getter during this period. He has scored 437 runs from 9 Matches at an average of 54.62 with 1 century.
Nasir Jamshed and Shoaib Malik are next on the list with 355 and 274 runs to their name from 5 and 8 matches respectively. India will also not complain about the ouster of Hafeez from the Pakistani side.
Bowling Records
On the bowling front, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar has given a tough time to Pakistani batsmen with his swing and accuracy. Luckily for India, Bhuvaneshwar is fit for the Asia Cup after missing the Test series against England.
Bhuvaneshwar has taken 11 wickets from 7 one day internationals with a miserly economy rate of 4.27. Ishant Sharma and Ashwin are next on the list with 11 and 10 wickets to their name from 5 and 8 matches respectively. Ravindra Jadeja has also chipped in with 10 wickets from 8 matches during this period.
For Pakistan, Saeed Ajmal, who has retired from international cricket after staying out for some time due to his suspect action, is the highest wicket-taker during this period. He has taken a mammoth 20 wickets from 9 Matches with a superb economy rate of 4.06.
Junaid Khan (who had an outstanding 2012-13 series against India) and Mohammed Hafeez, are next on the list with 9 and 7 wickets to their name from 6 and 9 matches respectively.
Whatever the stats say, one thing is for sure that another mouth-watering India-Pakistan contest is in the offering during Asia Cup.