It is one of the biggest days on the annual sports calendar. It is the greatest cricketing rivalries of all-time. (Full Coverage | More Cricket News)
The passion goes wild, the temper runs high, the tension is palpable – it is India versus Pakistan at an ICC event – it is India vs Pakistan at the 2025 Champions Trophy in Dubai.
♈While India have dominated their neighbours in global tournaments, it is Pakistan who have a better head to head in the Champions Trophy
ꦺThey defeated India in the 2017 final at The Oval in London which was incidentally the last edition of the tournament.
🎉Pakistan did not get off to a great start and were hammered by New Zealand in their tournament opener. However, India registered a comprehensive six-wicket win against Bangladesh in their opening fixture.
ꦏIt will be a do or die encounter for the hosts and that will add the extra spice to what is already a very hot and spicy contest.
From head to head results to player form, from strategies to key battles, we look at 10 insights as a Preview to the blockbuster encounter.
17-4 : India have dominated Pakistan in ICC events
﷽India have the wood over Pakistan in ICC world events and have dominated their neighbours with a stunning 17-4 record.
🧜However, interestingly, it is Pakistan who have the edge over India in the Champions Trophy with a 3-2 head to head record.
🐬India have all but swept the matches at the World Cups (50-over and T20) and have a staggering 15-1 record.
🍬India have also dominated Pakistan in the last five ODIs between the two teams with a 5-0 record.
85.7% vs 36.36%: Win percentage for India & Pakistan in Dubai
Pakistan do not have a great record at the Dubai International Cricket 𒁃Stadium and have won just eight of their 22 matches at the venue.
🙈India, on the other hand, have won six of their seven matches at the venue. They played out a tie against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup in 2018 which means that India is yet to lose an ODI encounter in Dubai.
2639 – Gill is the leading run-scorer in ODIs since 2022
ꦡShubman Gill is the highest run-getter in ODI cricket since 2022. He has an aggregate of 2639 runs in 48 innings at an average of 66 and strike rate of 101.65 with eight hundreds.
34 – Haris Rauf’s tally of wickets in the death overs since 2021
♐No bowler from a major cricket-playing nation has picked more wickets than Haris Rauf’s 34 in the death overs in ODIs since 2021.
🐭Pakistan would hope for a better performance from their slog-over specialist than what he dished out against New Zealand in the opener – Rauf was hammered for 39 runs from 3 overs at the death in the encounter.
128.39 – Rohit Sharma’s strike rate in the powerplay since 2023
🌳Rohit Sharma’s strike rate of 123.98 is the second-best in the powerplay only after Travis Head in ODIs since 2023.
🗹The Indian skipper has re-defined the batting template for India at the top of the order in white-ball cricket with the mantra on maximizing runs rather than on preserving wickets.
🍬Rohit was instrumental in taking India to the final in the 2023 World Cup at home and then played a pivotal role in their triumph at the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.
6.47 – India’s run-rate in the powerplay in ODIs since 2023
🥃Led by the dynamic Rohit Sharma, India have revolutionized batting in the powerplay in white-ball cricket since the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE. India has the highest run-rate in the first six overs (6.47) in ODI cricket since 2023.
25.4 – Shami has the best bowling strike rate in ODI history
༒Mohammed Shami picked five wickets in the tournament opener against Bangladesh. His bowling strike rate of 25.4 is the best ever in ODI history (150 wickets).
⛄He became the fastest bowler to 200 ODI wickets in terms of balls delivered. The veteran Indian pacer reached the landmark in 5126 balls surpassing Mitchell Starc who took 5240 deliveries to reach the milestone.
115 – The average runs conceded by Pakistan in the last 10 overs in last 3 ODIs
ꦫPakistan have been guilty of leaking runs in the death overs in their last three ODI encounters – significantly all at home.
ꦓThey were tonked for 110 by South Africa at Karachi before getting plundered for 113 by New Zealand at the same venue. New Zealand then smashed them for 123 in the 2025 Champions Trophy opener in Lahore.
4/7 – Shaheen Afridi has dismissed Rohit four times in seven innings
✱Rohit Sharma has had his problems across formats against left-arm pacers who can swing and seam the new ball.
🐻Shaheen Afridi has dismissed him two times in four matches in ODIs. The left-armer has also had the wood over Rohit in T20Is having seen the back of him twice in three innings.
24 – Virat Kohli’s average vs left-arm orthodox in ODIs since 2022
꧒Virat Kohli has struggled against slow left-arm orthodox bowling in ODI cricket since 2022. He has been dismissed 10 times in 19 innings against their ilk at an average of just 24.
🐲His scoring rate is also below-par against this variety of spin at 73. Kohli’s battle against Khushdil Shah will be an interesting contest on Sunday.
