The India-Pakistan ODI rivalry is one of the most intense and storied in the history of cricket. Since their first One Day International encounter in 1978, the two nations have faced off 135 times, with Pakistan leading the head-to-head record at 73 wins to India’s 57, while five matches have ended without a result.
Historical context
The rivalry can be traced back to the partition of British India in 1947, which sowed seeds of conflict that extended beyond politics into sports. Cricket, being the most popular sport in both countries, became a battleground for national pride. The inaugural ODI match took place on October 1, 1978, in Quetta, where India clinched victory by just four runs. Notably, Mohinder Amarnath was awarded the Player of the Match for his half-century.
India vs Pakistan ODI Results
| Match No. | Winner | Margin | Match Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | Four runs | October 1, 1978 | Quetta, Pakistan |
| 2 | Pakistan | Eight wickets | October 13, 1978 | Sialkot, Pakistan |
| 3 | Pakistan | opposition conceded | November 3, 1978 | Sahiwal, Pakistan |
| 4 | Pakistan | 14 runs | December 3, 1982 | Gujranwala, Pakistan |
| 5 | Pakistan | 37 runs | December 17, 1982 | Multan, Pakistan |
| 6 | India | 18 runs | December 31, 1982 | Lahore, Pakistan |
| 7 | Pakistan | Eight wickets | January 21, 1983 | Karachi, Pakistan |
| 8 | India | Four wickets | September 10, 1983 | Hyderabad, India |
| 9 | India | Four wickets | October 2, 1983 | Jaipur, India |
| 10 | India | 54 runs | April 13, 1984 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 11 | Pakistan | 46 runs | October 12, 1984 | Quetta, Pakistan |
| 12 | No result | – | October 31, 1984 | Sialkot, Pakistan |
| 13 | India | Six wickets | February 20, 1985 | Melbourne, Australia |
| 14 | India | Eight wickets | March 10, 1985 | Melbourne, Australia |
| 15 | India | 38 runs | March 22, 1985 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 16 | Pakistan | 48 runs | November 17, 1985 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 17 | Pakistan | One wicket | April 18, 1986 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 18 | Pakistan | Three wickets | December 5, 1986 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 19 | Pakistan | Three wickets | January 27, 1987 | Indore, India |
| 20 | Pakistan | Two wickets | February 18, 1987 | Kolkata, India |
| 21 | India | India lost fewer wickets | March 20, 1987 | Hyderabad, India |
| 22 | Pakistan | Six wickets | March 22, 1987 | Pune, India |
| 23 | Pakistan | 41 runs | March 24, 1987 | Nagpur, India |
| 24 | Pakistan | Five wickets | March 26, 1987 | Jamshedpur, India |
| 25 | Pakistan | Eight wickets | April 10, 1987 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 26 | Pakistan | 34 runs | October 19, 1988 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 27 | India | Four wickets | October 31, 1988 | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| 28 | Pakistan | Six wickets | October 15, 1989 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 29 | Pakistan | 38 runs | October 20, 1989 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 30 | Pakistan | 77 runs | October 28, 1989 | Kolkata, India |
| 31 | Pakistan | Seven runs | December 18, 1989 | Gujranwala, Pakistan |
| 32 | No result | – | December 20, 1989 | Karachi, Pakistan |
| 33 | Pakistan | 38 runs | December 22, 1989 | Lahore, Pakistan |
| 34 | Pakistan | 26 runs | April 27, 1990 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 35 | India | 60 runs | October 18, 1991 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 36 | Pakistan | Four runs | October 23, 1991 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 37 | Pakistan | 72 runs | October 25, 1991 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 38 | India | 43 runs | March 4, 1992 | Sydney, Australia |
| 39 | Pakistan | Six wickets | April 15, 1994 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 40 | Pakistan | 39 runs | April 22, 1994 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 41 | Pakistan | 97 runs | April 7, 1995 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 42 | India | 39 runs | March 9, 1996 | Bengaluru, India |
| 43 | Pakistan | Eight wickets | April 5, 1996 | Singapore |
| 44 | Pakistan | 38 runs | April 12, 1996 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 45 | India | 28 runs | April 15, 1996 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 46 | India | Eiight wickets | September 16, 1996 | Toronto, Canada |
| 47 | Pakistan | Two wickets | September 17, 1996 | Toronto, Canada |
| 48 | India | 55 runs | September 18, 1996 | Toronto, Canada |
| 49 | Pakistan | 97 runs | September 21, 1996 | Toronto, Canada |
| 50 | Pakistan | 52 runs | September 23, 1996 | Toronto, Canada |
| 51 | Pakistan | 35 runs | May 21, 1997 | Chennai, India |
| 52 | No result | – | July 20, 1997 | Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| 53 | India | 20 runs | September 13, 1997 | Toronto, Canada |
| 54 | India | Seven wickets | September 14, 1997 | Toronto, Canada |
| 55 | No result | – | September 17, 1997 | Toronto, Canada |
| 56 | India | 34 runs | September 18, 1997 | Toronto, Canada |
| 57 | India | Seven wickets | September 20, 1997 | Toronto, Canada |
| 58 | Pakistan | Five wickets | September 21, 1997 | Toronto, Canada |
| 59 | Pakistan | Five wickets | September 28, 1997 | Hyderabad, Pakistan |
| 60 | India | Four wickets | September 30, 1997 | Karachi, Pakistan |
| 61 | Pakistan | Nine wickets | October 2, 1997 | Lahore, Pakistan |
| 62 | Pakistan | Four wickets | December 14, 1997 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 63 | India | 18 runs | January 11, 1998 | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| 64 | India | Eight wickets | January 14, 1998 | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| 65 | Pakistan | Six wickets | January 16, 1998 | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| 66 | India | Three wickets | January 18, 1998 | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| 67 | India | Six wickets | September 12, 1998 | Toronto, Canada |
| 68 | Pakistan | 51 runs | September 13, 1998 | Toronto, Canada |
| 69 | Pakistan | 77 runs | September 16, 1998 | Toronto, Canada |
| 70 | Pakistan | 134 runs | September 19, 1998 | Toronto, Canada |
| 71 | Pakistan | Five wickets | September 20, 1998 | Toronto, Canada |
| 72 | Pakistan | 143 runs | March 24, 1999 | Jaipur, India |
| 73 | Pakistan | Seven wickets | April 1, 1999 | Mohali, India |
| 74 | Pakistan | 123 runs | April 4, 1999 | Bengaluru, India |
| 75 | Pakistan | 116 runs | April 8, 1999 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 76 | India | Six wickets | April 13, 1999 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 77 | Pakistan | Eight wickets | April 16, 1999 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 78 | India | 47 runs | June 8, 1999 | Manchester, England |
| 79 | Pakistan | Two wickets | January 10, 2000 | Brisbane, Australia |
| 80 | Pakistan | 32 runs | January 21, 2000 | Hobart, Australia |
| 81 | India | 48 runs | January 25, 2000 | Adelaide, Australia |
| 82 | Pakistan | 104 runs | January 28, 2000 | Perth, Australia |
| 83 | India | Five wickets | March 23, 2000 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 84 | Pakistan | 98 runs | March 26, 2000 | Sharjah, UAE |
| 85 | Pakistan | 44 runs | June 3, 2000 | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| 86 | India | Six wickets | March 1, 2003 | Centurion, South Africa |
| 87 | India | Five runs | March 13, 2004 | Karachi, Pakistan |
| 88 | Pakistan | 12 runs | March 16, 2004 | Rawalpindi, Pakistan |
| 89 | Pakistan | Four wickets | March 19, 2004 | Peshawar, Pakistan |
| 90 | India | Five wickets | March 21, 2004 | Lahore, Pakistan |
| 91 | India | 40 runs | March 24, 2004 | Lahore, Pakistan |
| 92 | Pakistan | 59 runs | July 25, 2004 | Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| 93 | Pakistan | 66 runs | August 21, 2004 | Amstelveen, Netherlands |
| 94 | Pakistan | Three wickets | September 19, 2004 | Birmingham, England |
| 95 | Pakistan | Six wickets | November 13, 2004 | Kolkata, India |
| 96 | India | 87 runs | April 2, 2005 | Kochi, India |
| 97 | India | 58 runs | April 5, 2005 | Visakhapatnam, India |
| 98 | Pakistan | 106 runs | April 9, 2005 | Jamshedpur, India |
| 99 | Pakistan | Three wickets | April 12, 2005 | Ahmedabad, India |
| 100 | Pakistan | Five wickets | April 15, 2005 | Kanpur, India |
| 101 | Pakistan | 159 runs | April 17, 2005 | Delhi, India |
| 102 | Pakistan | Seven runs | February 6, 2006 | Peshawar, Pakistan |
| 103 | India | Seven wickets | February 11, 2006 | Rawalpindi, Pakistan |
| 104 | India | Five wickets | February 13, 2006 | Lahore, Pakistan |
| 105 | India | Five wickets | February 16, 2006 | Multan, Pakistan |
| 106 | India | Eight wickets | February 19, 2006 | Karachi, Pakistan |
| 107 | Pakistan | Six wickets | April 18, 2006 | Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| 108 | India | 51 runs | April 19, 2006 | Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| 109 | India | Five wickets | November 5, 2007 | Guwahati, India |
| 110 | Pakistan | Four wickets | November 8, 2007 | Mohali, India |
| 111 | India | 46 runs | November 11, 2007 | Kanpur, India |
| 112 | India | Six wickets | November 15, 2007 | Gwalior, India |
| 113 | Pakistan | 31 runs | November 18, 2007 | Jaipur, India |
| 114 | India | 140 runs | June 10, 2008 | Mirpur, Bangladesh |
| 115 | Pakistan | 25 runs | June 14, 2008 | Mirpur, Bangladesh |
| 116 | India | Six wickets | June 26, 2008 | Karachi, Pakistan |
| 117 | Pakistan | Eight wickets | July 2, 2008 | Karachi, Pakistan |
| 118 | Pakistan | 54 runs | September 26, 2009 | Centurion, South Africa |
| 119 | India | Thee wickets | June 19, 2010 | Dambulla, Sri Lanka |
| 120 | India | 29 runs | March 30, 2011 | Mohali, India |
| 121 | India | Six wickets | March 18, 2012 | Mirpur, Bangladesh |
| 122 | Pakistan | Six wickets | December 30, 2012 | Chennai, India |
| 123 | Pakistan | 85 runs | January 3, 2013 | Kolkata, India |
| 124 | India | 10 runs | January 6, 2013 | Delhi, India |
| 125 | India | Eight wickets | June 15, 2013 | Birmingham, England |
| 126 | Pakistan | One wicket | March 2, 2014 | Mirpur, Bangladesh |
| 127 | India | 76 runs | February 15, 2015 | Adelaide, Australia |
| 128 | India | 124 runs | June 4, 2017 | Birmingham, England |
| 129 | Pakistan | 180 runs | June 18, 2017 | The Oval, England |
| 130 | India | Eight wickets | September 19, 2018 | Dubai, UAE |
| 131 | India | Nine wickets | September 23, 2018 | Dubai, UAE |
| 132 | India | 89 runs | June 16, 2019 | Manchester, England |
| 133 | No result | – | September 2, 2023 | Pallekele, Sri Lanka |
| 134 | India | 228 runs | Sep 10-11, 2023 | Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| 135 | India | Seven wickets | October 14, 2023 | Ahmedabad, India |
Key statistics and records
Over the years, several records have been established in ODIs between India and Pakistan:
- Highest Team Total: India scored 356 runs against Pakistan in Vizag during the 2004/05 series.
- Lowest Team Total: In a stark contrast, India was bowled out for just 79 runs in Sialkot during the 1978/79 series.
- Highest Individual Score: Saeed Anwar’s remarkable innings of 194 during the Independence Cup in Chennai in 1997 remains a highlight for Pakistan.
Despite Pakistan’s overall advantage in ODIs, India has been dominant in World Cup encounters. The teams have met eight times in World Cup matches, with India winning all encounters, solidifying their status as favorites on cricket’s biggest stage.
Iconic clashes
Some of the most memorable matches include India’s victory in the 2003 World Cup group stage, where they chased down a challenging target set by Pakistan. Another notable encounter was during the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final, where Pakistan triumphed over India by a significant margin, showcasing their ability to perform under pressure.
| Tournament | Matches played | India won | Pakistan won | No result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODI World Cup | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Champions Trophy | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
Current landscape
In recent years, political tensions have led to fewer bilateral series between the two nations. Their encounters are now primarily confined to ICC and ACC tournaments, heightening the stakes and intensity of each match. As of now, this rivalry continues to capture the imagination of cricket fans worldwide, with both teams boasting stellar players who have etched their names into cricketing folklore.
The India-Pakistan ODI rivalry is not just about statistics; it embodies passion, history, and an unyielding desire for supremacy on the cricket field.
