India–Pakistan cricket rivalry


The India–Pakistan cricket rivalry is one of the most intense sports rivalries in the world. Matches between the teams are considered some of the biggest in the world and are among the most-viewed in all of sports.
The two teams have played a total of 211 times, with Pakistan winning 88 matches and India winning 80. In Tests and ODIs, Pakistan has been victorious in more games than India, while India has won more games in T20Is. In ICC World Cups, the two sides have met head to head in 16 matches, with India winning 15 of them. Both India and Pakistan have won the ICC Cricket World Cup, the ICC T20 World Cup, as well as other prestigious tournaments. In fact, India has won seven ICC trophies, while Pakistan has won three ICC trophies.
The tense relations between the two nations, resulting from bitter diplomatic relations and conflict that originated during the Partition of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947, the Indo-Pakistani Wars, and the Kashmir conflict, laid the foundations for the emergence of a fierce sporting rivalry between the two nations who had shared a common cricketing heritage.
The two sides first played in 1952, when Pakistan toured India. Since then numerous Test series and, later, One Day International series have been played, although a number of planned tours by both sides have been cancelled or aborted due to political factors. No cricket was played between the two countries from 1962 to 1977 due to two major wars in 1965 and 1971, and the 1999 Kargil War and the 2008 [Mumbai terrorist attacks] also interrupted cricketing ties between the two nations.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the growth of large expatriate populations from both countries across the world led to neutral venues to host bilateral and multilateral ODI series featuring the two teams. In addition, there has always been high demand for tickets for the matches between the two in global ICC competitions, with over 800,000 ticket applications made for their meeting in the 2019 [ICC Cricket World Cup]; the television transmission of the match was watched by 273 million viewers.
Players from both teams routinely face extreme pressure to win and are threatened by extreme reactions in defeat. Extreme fan reactions to defeats in key matches have been recorded, with a limited degree of hooliganism. At the same time, India–Pakistan matches have also offered opportunities for cricket diplomacy as a means to improve relations between the two countries, allowing heads of state and cricket followers from either country to travel to the other to watch the matches.
The last full bilateral tour between the teams was Pakistan's tour of India in 2007, where both Test and ODI series were played. However, following the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, orchestrated by Pakistan based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, India suspended the planned 2009 series and all future engagements with Pakistan. The attack eventually led to detrimental consequences for both nations, in diplomacy and cricket. Since then, as both teams only meet in ICC or ACC tournaments and with India emerging as the winner on most occasions, the rivalry in cricketing sense has faded to an extent, prompting Indian Captain Suryakumar Yadav to say it isn't a rivalry anymore.

History

The Partition of British India in 1947 that led to the creation of independent Indian and Pakistani states was characterised by bloody conflict between ethnic groups that left one million people dead and led to the mass-migration of an estimated ten million people between either nation. The legacy of Partition and subsequent territorial disputes have helped create heated rivalries in field hockey, association football, and especially in cricket, which had been developed during British colonial rule and is the most popular sport in both nations.
File:Abdul_Hafeez_Kardar_and_Lala_Amarnath_with_President_of_India_Rajendra_Prasad.jpg|thumb|Captains Abdul Kardar of Pakistan and Lala Amarnath of India with Indian President Rajendra Prasad on the day of the first test, 16 October 1952
Pakistan became a member of the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1948, becoming a Full Member in July 1952. Their tour of India later the same year saw the team play their first Test matches. They lost the first Test in Delhi to India, but won the second Test in Lucknow, which led to an angry reaction from the home crowd against the Indian players. India clinched the Test series after winning the third Test in Bombay, but the intense pressure affected the players of both teams to the point that they pursued mainly defensive tactics that led to drawn matches and whole series without a victory. When India toured Pakistan in 1955, thousands of Indian fans were granted visas to go to the Pakistani city of Lahore to watch the Test match, but both the 1955 series and Pakistan's tour of India in 1961 ended in drawn series, with neither team being able to win a single Test match. Complaints about the fairness of umpires became routine.
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and subsequent War of 1971 put a hold on matches between the two sides that lasted till 1978, when India toured Pakistan and cricket between the two countries resumed for a brief period. In the post-1971 period, politics became a direct factor in the holding of cricketing events. India has suspended cricketing ties with Pakistan several times following terrorist attacks or other hostilities. The resumption of cricketing ties in 1978 came with the emergence of heads of government in both India and Pakistan who were not directly connected with the 1971 war and coincided with their formal initiatives to normalise bilateral relations.
In the late 1980s and for most of the 1990s, India and Pakistan played each other only at neutral venues such as Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and in the Canadian city of Toronto, where large audiences of expatriates regularly watched matches between the sides. The series between the teams in Canada in the 1990s and early 2000s were officially known as the "Friendship Cup". Sharjah, even though a neutral venue, was considered as the "back yard of Pakistan" given the close proximity and the massive support the team generated.
The rise of multinational competitions, such as the ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC T20 World Cup, ICC Champions Trophy, and the Asia Cup led to more regular, albeit briefer, contests between the two sides.
In 1999, immediately following Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's historic visit to Pakistan, the Pakistani team toured India for a series of Test matches and One Day Internationals. The Kargil War later in the year caused tensions between the countries and cricket was again suspended. Vajpayee's peace initiative of 2003 led to India touring Pakistan after a gap of almost 15 years. Subsequent exchange tours were held in January to February 2006 in Pakistan and November to December 2007 in India.
The November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai by Pakistan based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba caused a major blow to the diplomatic and cricketing ties between India and Pakistan. It led to the suspension of India's planned tour of Pakistan in 2009 and all future engagements in Pakistan. Since then, India has refused to play any form of series against Pakistan, only exception being Asia Cup and ICC events. Furthermore, Pakistani players were excluded from the Indian Premier League, following which their List of [2009 Indian Premier League personnel changes#Withdrawals|contracts were terminated], with the inaugural season being the only one where they participated.
The 2009 attack on the [Sri Lanka national cricket team] in Lahore led to the suspension of international tours of Pakistan, with no Test series played in the country for a decade and Pakistan was removed as a co-host for the 2011 Cricket World Cup which had been due to be played across the Indian subcontinent. India and Pakistan qualified for the first semi-final of the tournament and the Indian government invited the Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to watch the match along with his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh.
Bilateral ties finally resumed when the Board of Control for Cricket in India invited the Pakistan national team to tour India for three ODIs and two T20Is in December 2012. In June 2014, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced that an agreement to play six bilateral series across eight years between the two teams had reached. After lengthy negotiations involving offers and counter-offers on the venues and scheduling of the first of these series in December 2015, the boards were unable to reach an agreement. In May 2017, the BCCI accounted that it would need approval from the Indian government before a bilateral series could go ahead. There was no further progress, despite members of both boards meeting in Dubai to discuss the matter.
In October 2021, during the T20 World Cup, the teams played their 200th international match against each other. Pakistan won the fixture by ten wickets, their first in 13 attempts against India in World Cup tournaments of either format.
In October 2021, following a meeting with the ACC, Ramiz Raja confirmed that Pakistan would host the Asia Cup in 2023, with Sri Lanka hosting the 2022 edition. In October 2022, the Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary and ACC President Jay Shah announced that India would not travel to Pakistan, citing security concerns, and that the Asia Cup 2023 would take place in a neutral venue. In December 2022, the then PCB chairman Ramiz Raja said that Pakistan might consider pulling out of the tournament if their hosting rights were withdrawn because of India's unwillingness to travel to Pakistan. The PCB had threatened to boycott the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India after the Board of Control for Cricket in India refused to send a team to the Asia Cup. This issue was later resolved, and Pakistan eventually participated in the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India.
File:Virat Kohli during the India vs Aus 4th Test match at Narendra Modi Stadium on 09 March 2023.jpg|thumb|Virat Kohli is the only player to win Player of the Match vs Pakistan in all ICC formats events
In January 2023, ACC confirmed the teams and groups of the Asia Cup, with both India and Pakistan taking part.
In March 2023, it was proposed that Pakistan remain as hosts and that all India matches - including at least two India-Pakistan contests - would be played at a neutral venue yet to be confirmed. The hybrid model proposed by Pakistan was rejected by Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In response, PCB Chairman Najam Sethi proposed two options. The first option was that India play all their matches at a neutral venue with Pakistan hosting the rest of the teams. The second option was that four matches in the group stage take place in Pakistan whereas the second phase, in which matches played by the Indian team followed by the next stage matches including the final, be played at a neutral venue. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh agreed to the second option. On 15 June 2023, the Asian Cricket Council announced that the tournament would be organized in a hybrid model with four matches being held in Pakistan, and the remaining nine in Sri Lanka.
India and Pakistan met twice in the 2023 Asia Cup. Though the first match in the Group stage yielded a no result due to rain, India defeated Pakistan by an enormous margin in the Super Four clash between the 2 sides, scoring 356 for the loss of only 2 wickets. India in this match not only set their highest-ever score in ODI cricket against Pakistan, but also defeated them with the highest ever run margin of 228 runs, bundling Pakistan out for 128. India would eventually go on to win this Asia Cup, while Pakistan would be knocked out in the super-fours round. India won the match against Pakistan at the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup by 6 runs, which was also the first ICC tournament to be held in United States of America. Then in 2025, India again defeated Pakistan; this time in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy by 6 wickets with Virat Kohli scoring his 51st century in ODI cricket.
The 2025 Asia Cup was a heavily tense situation for both teams, mostly due to the Pahalgam terror attack by Pakistan based terror group The Resistance Front and the military conflict in the aftermath of the attack. Before the tournament, there were calls for boycott, but eventually the Government of India gave a go-ahead. During the group stage, the Indian team led by Suryakumar Yadav refused to shake hands after defeating Pakistan, with Yadav dedicating the victory to the victims of Pahalgam attack and Indian Army. In the super four stage, Pakistani cricketers Haris Rauf and Sahibzada Farhan made insensitive gestures in the match: while Rauf made a "jet crashing" gesture and a "6-0" finger sign, interpreted by media as a symbolic reference to Pakistan's unverified claim of shooting down six Indian aircraft during Operation Sindoor, Farhan celebrated his half-century by mimicking firing a rifle with his bat. Yadav and Rauf were fined 30% of their match fees, while Farhan received a warning. Following the final, in which India defeated Pakistan again, a major controversy erupted as the Indian team refused to accept the winning trophy from ACC president Mohsin Naqvi, who also serves as Pakistan's Interior Minister and Chairman of the PCB, and this led to a delay in handing out other awards. Yadav later said the side had been "denied" the opportunity to lift the trophy and criticized the handling of the ceremony. Naqvi handed the trophy to the UAE cricket authorities when the BCCI threatened to impeach him from the ACC presidentship for misconduct.
Following the men's Asia Cup victory, the BCCI asked the women's team to avoid shaking hands with the Pakistani women's team during the 2025 Women's Cricket World Cup.

Results

The two sides have played a total of 211 matches, with Pakistan winning 88 matches and India winning 80. In Tests and ODIs, Pakistan has been victorious in more games than India. Meanwhile, India has won 13 of the 16 T20Is between the two sides.
FormatMatches playedIndia wonPakistan wonDraw/No Result
Test5991238
ODI13658735
T20I161330
Total211808843

  • Bold indicates most wins.

Major official titles comparison

Senior Titles
ICC Cricket World Cup21
ICC T20 World Cup21
ICC Champions Trophy31
ICC World Test Championship00
Asia Cup92
Asian Games10
Asian Test Championship01
Total Senior Titles176

Youth Titles
Under-19 ICC Cricket World Cup52
Under-19 Men's Asia Cup82
Total Youth Titles134

ICC matches

ICC match results

In ICC ODI Cricket World Cups, India and Pakistan have played each other in eight matches, with India maintaining an unbeaten 8-0 record. In the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, India and Pakistan met in the semi-finals, the only time in the tournament history, and it was India who won the knockout game by 29 runs. Their last meeting was during the 2023 Cricket World Cup group stage match in Ahmedabad, where India defeated Pakistan by 7 wickets to continue their unbeaten run.
In ICC T20 World Cups, the two teams have played eight times, with the head to head record standing at 7-1 in India's favour. In 2007, India and Pakistan met each other in the inaugural 2007 ICC T20 World Cup Final, in which India defeated Pakistan by 5 runs. This was the first time the two teams met in a global ICC final. In 2021 ICC T20 World Cup, Pakistan finally registered its first ever win against India in T20 World Cups.
In ICC Champions Trophy, Pakistan and India have a 3-3 record in head to head meetings, with Pakistan winning a famous match, the Champions Trophy Final">ICC Champions Trophy">Champions Trophy Final, in which Pakistan defeated India by 180 runs. The margin of victory was the largest in any ICC ODI tournament final in terms of runs.
The two sides currently do not play test matches against each other and therefore have not met in the World Test Championship yet.
TournamentMatches playedIndia wonPakistan wonNo result
ODI Cricket World Cup8800
T20 World Cup8710
Champions Trophy6330
World Test Championship0000
Total221840

ACC matches

The two teams have met on 21 occasions in the Asia Cup across both ODI and T20I formats. India has won 13 of these Asia Cup meetings, compared to Pakistan's six wins, with two matches finishing as no result due to rain. There was also an Asian Test Championship match between the two sides which Pakistan won. Most notably, in the 2025 Asia Cup both teams met three times, including in an Asia Cup final for the first time. However, it was India who was victorious over Pakistan on all three occasions of the 2025 Asia Cup, including the 2025 Asia Cup final, in which India defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets.
TournamentMatches playedIndia wonPakistan wonNo result
ODI Asia Cup15852
T20I Asia Cup6510
Asian Test Championship1010
Total221372

ICC tournaments won

The two countries have played in ODI and T20 World Cups, in Champions Trophy, and in World Test Championship, all of which are organised by the governing body of world cricket, the International Cricket Council.
In terms of ICC titles, India has won the ICC Cricket World Cup twice, while Pakistan has done so once. India has won the ICC Men's T20 World Cup twice, with the first edition of the tournament in 2007 featuring a final between the two sides, which India won. India has also won the ICC Champions Trophy thrice, while Pakistan won the 2017 edition, defeating India in the final. Neither team has won the World Test Championship, although India finished as runners-up in the first two editions.
Tournament
ICC Cricket World Cup2 1
ICC T20 World Cup2 1
ICC Champions Trophy3 1
ICC World Test Championship00
Total ICC Titles73

ICC Cricket World Cups (Head to Head Results)

YearStageVenueResultPlayer of the matchScorecard
1992Group StageSydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia won by 43 runs Sachin Tendulkar
1996Quarter-finalsM Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, India won by 39 runs Navjot Sidhu
1999Super SixOld Trafford, Manchester, England won by 47 runs Venkatesh Prasad
2003Group StageCenturion Park, Centurion, South Africa won by 6 wickets Sachin Tendulkar
20112011 [Cricket World Cup knockout stage#India vs Pakistan|Semi-Final]Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, India won by 29 runs Sachin Tendulkar
2015Group StageAdelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia won by 76 runs Virat Kohli
2019Group StageOld Trafford, Manchester, England won by 89 runs Rohit Sharma
2023Group StageNarendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, India won by 7 wickets Jasprit Bumrah

An overview of the teams' performances in every World Cup is given below. For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament are shown.

1975

1979

1983

1987

1992

1996

1999

2003

2007

2011

2015

2019

2023
GPGPWSF7thSF6thRUGPWSFSFRU13
GPSFSFSFWQFRUGPGPSFQF5th5th13

Legend
  • – Winner
  • – Runner up
  • – Semi-finals
  • – Quarter-finals
  • GP – Group stage / First round
  • — Hosts

ICC Men's T20 World Cups (Head to Head Results)

YearStageVenueResultPlayer of the matchScorecard
2007Group StageKingsmead Cricket Ground, Durban, South Africa won by bowl-out Mohammad Asif
2007FinalWanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa won by 5 runs Irfan Pathan
2012Super 8sR. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets Virat Kohli
2014Super 10Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh won by 7 wickets Amit Mishra
2016Super 10Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India won by 6 wickets Virat Kohli
2021Super 12Dubai International Stadium, Dubai, UAE won by 10 wickets Shaheen Afridi
2022Super 12Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia won by 4 wickets Virat Kohli
2024Group StageNassau County Stadium, East Meadow, USA won by 6 runs Jasprit Bumrah

ICC Champions Trophy (Head to Head Results)

YearStageVenueResultPlayer of the matchScorecard
2004Group StageRose Bowl, Southampton, England won by 3 wickets Mohammad Yousuf
2009Group StageSuperSport Park, Centurion, South Africa won by 54 runs Shoaib Malik
2013Group StageEdgbaston, Birmingham, England won by 8 wickets Bhuvneshwar Kumar
2017Group StageEdgbaston, Birmingham, England won by 124 runs Yuvraj Singh
FinalThe Oval, London, England won by 180 runs Fakhar Zaman-
2025Group StageDubai International Stadium, Dubai, UAE won by 6 wickets Virat Kohli

ACC tournaments won

governs the Asian cricket tournaments, particularly the Asia Cup. There have been 17 editions of the continental tournament so far. India has been the most successful side winning 9 Asia Cups, while Pakistan has won 2 Asia Cups, along with an Asian Test Championship. In the 2025 Asia Cup, India and Pakistan met in an Asia Cup final for the first time in the tournament history. However, it was India who completed a thrilling victory over Pakistan in the final to win their 9th Asia Cup title.
Tournament
ACC Asia Cup (ODI)72
ACC Asia Cup (T20I)20
Asian Test Championship01
Total ACC Titles93

List of Test series

Overall Test match results

Fifteen Test series have been played between the two sides, as well as a one-off Test in Asian Test Championship. Eight of the series have been hosted by India, while seven have been hosted by Pakistan.
In terms of Test series won, both India and Pakistan have won four series each. This includes both teams winning one away series, with Pakistan famously winning 1-0 in India in 1987 and India famously winning 2-1 in Pakistan in 2004. Overall, Pakistan has won more Test matches than India head to head.
SeasonHostDate first Test startedTestsIndia wonPakistan wonDrawnWinner
1952–53India16 October 19525212India
1954–55Pakistan1 January 19555005Drawn
1960–61India2 December 19605005Drawn
1978–79Pakistan16 October 19783021Pakistan
1979–80India21 November 19796204India
1982–83Pakistan10 December 19826033Pakistan
1983–84India14 September 19833003Drawn
1984–85Pakistan17 October 19842002Drawn
1986–87India3 February 19875014Pakistan
1989–90Pakistan15 November 19894004Drawn
1998–99India28 January 19992110Drawn
2003–04Pakistan28 March 20043210India
2004–05India8 March 20053111Drawn
2005–06Pakistan13 January 20063012Pakistan
2007–08India22 November 20073102India
Total155891138

List of ODI series

Overall ODI match results

The two sides have played a total of 16 ODI series. Five of these have been played in India, while Pakistan has hosted seven series. Four series have been played in neutral venues, including three in Canada from 1996 to 1998 and one in the United Arab Emirates. Pakistan has won nine of the series, while India has won five. Meanwhile, the 1984-85 ODI series was abandoned during the 2nd match. On the other hand, the 2005-06 series held in the UAE was the only series to be drawn.
SeasonHostDate of first matchMatchesIndia wonPakistan wonNo ResultWinner
1978–79Pakistan1 October 19783120Pakistan
1982–83Pakistan3 December 19824130Pakistan
1983–84India10 September 19832 200India
1984–85Pakistan12 October 19842011Abandoned
1986–87India27 January 19876150Pakistan
1989–90Pakistan16 December 19893021Pakistan
1996Canada16 September 19965230Pakistan
1997Canada13 September 19975410India
1997–98Pakistan28 September 199731 20Pakistan
1998Canada12 September 19985140Pakistan
2003–04Pakistan13 March 20045 320India
2004–05India2 April 200562 40Pakistan
2005–06Pakistan6 February 20065410India
2005–06UAE18 April 20062110Drawn
2007–08India5 November 20075 320India
2012–13India30 December 201231 20Pakistan
Total6427352

List of T20I series

Overall T20I match results

The teams have only played one T20I series, a two match series played in 2012 as part of Pakistan's tour of India. Each team won one match, leaving the series drawn.
YearHostDate of first matchMatchesIndia wonPakistan wonNo ResultWinner
2012–13India25 December 20122110Drawn
Total2110

Test Records

Individual

scored 2,228 runs in 28 matches at an average of 67.51, making him the highest run-scorer in India vs. Pakistan Tests. Sunil Gavaskar follows with 2,089 runs in 24 matches at an average of 52.22. Kapil Dev leads the wicket charts with 99 wickets in 29 matches at an average of 28.50, while Imran Khan is close behind with 94 wickets in 23 matches at an average of 24.12. Both Miandad and Gavaskar scored five centuries each, while Imran Khan recorded seven five-wicket hauls compared to Kapil Dev’s four.

ODI records

Individual

, with 2,526 runs in 69 matches, is the highest run-scorer in India vs. Pakistan ODIs. This includes five centuries and 16 fifties, with a highest score of 141. Inzamam-ul-Haq follows closely with 2,403 runs in 67 matches, averaging 43.69, with four centuries and 12 fifties, and a highest score of 123. Wasim Akram leads the wicket charts with 60 wickets in 48 matches at an average of 25.15 and an economy rate of 3.73, with his best bowling figures being 4/35. Saqlain Mushtaq is just behind him with 57 wickets in 36 matches, averaging 24.38, with an economy rate of 4.52, and his best bowling performance being 5/45.

T20I records

The two sides have played each other sixteen times in Twenty20 Internationals. Eight of these matches have taken place in T20 World Cups, including their meeting in the final of the 2007 T20 World Cup, and six matches in Asia Cups, including the final of the 2025 Asia Cup. Also, there was a two-match T20I series played in India in 2012.
The highest team score in a T20I between the two teams is India's 192/5 made in Ahmedabad in 2012. Pakistan's highest score against India in T20Is is 182/5 made during the 2022 Asia Cup. The lowest score between the two sides is Pakistan's 83 all out made in Dhaka during the 2016 Asia Cup.
The highest individual score in a T20I between the two sides is Virat Kohli's 82 not out made in October 2022 during the 2022 T20 World Cup. India's Virat Kohli holds the record for the most runs scored overall in matches between the two sides with 492 runs in 11 innings.
The best bowling performance in matches between the sides is the 4/18 taken by Mohammad Asif during the group stage meeting at the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa. India's best bowling performance is the 4/30 taken by Kuldeep Yadav during the 2025 Asia Cup final. Moreover, India's Hardik Pandya has taken the most wickets in matches between the sides, with 15 wickets in 8 innings.

Individual

Virat Kohli is the highest run-scorer in India vs. Pakistan T20Is, with 492 runs in 11 innings at an impressive average of 70.28, including five half-centuries and a highest score of 82*. Mohammad Rizwan follows with 228 runs in 5 innings at an average of 57.00, with two half-centuries and a highest score of 79*. Hardik Pandya is the leading wicket-taker, claiming 15 wickets in 8 innings at a remarkable average of 14.60, with best bowling figures of 3/8.

Players who have played for both teams

Prior to the Partition of India in 1947 India had played cricket, having first played as an international side in 1932. Following Partition, Pakistan was created and began playing as an independent nation, making their Test match debut in 1952 during a tour of India.
Three players played for Pakistan after appearing for India. They are:
  • Amir Elahi – One Test for India against Australia at Sydney in 1947; five Tests for Pakistan against India in 1952
  • Gul Mohammad – Eight Tests for India between 1946 and 1955; one Test for Pakistan in 1956
  • Abdul Hafeez Kardar – Three Tests for India in 1946; 23 Tests for Pakistan between 1948 and 1958
After Partition, Gul Mohammad continued to play for India until 1955 and played against Pakistan in their first tour of India in 1951–52. Both Amir Elahi and Abdul Hafeez Kardar played for Pakistan on the tour. Abdul Hafeez Kardar went on to play for Pakistan against India during India's first tour of Pakistan in 1954–55.

Public and government reaction to the rivalry

Cricket is a significant sport within both countries and matches involving them can provoke what has been described as "a strong response".
In the Indian cricket team in Pakistan in the 1989–90 series, the 3rd ODI at Karachi was abandoned due to crowd disturbance. When Pakistan lost 3 wickets at the score of 28, stone pelting started against Indian fielders. Indian fielders gathered near the pitch. Local cricketer Javed Miandad was unable to calm the crowd and the match was abandoned. Chandu Borde said that in the same match, Mohammad Azharuddin was hit with a metal hook. Sanjay Manjrekar wrote in his book, in the first ODI, that Indian captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth's shirt was torn by a Pakistani spectator.
There have been examples where fans of the opposing side have experienced legal action: in 2016, a 22-year-old Pakistani fan of Indian captain Virat Kohli, was arrested and later sentenced to 10-years imprisonment for hoisting India's flag in Pakistan after a match between India and Australia.
In the city of Leicester in the United Kingdom, tensions between the Indian Hindu and Pakistan Muslim community broke out into violence and a series of protests following the 2022 Asia Cup match between Pakistan and India on 28 August.

Cricket diplomacy between India and Pakistan

Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and Soviet pressure on India to deflect the tension they faced, in February 1987 Pakistan's president at the time, General Zia ul-Haq, attended a test match between India and Pakistan in Jaipur – a visit that apparently helped cool a flare-up in tensions since it led to a meeting with the Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi. Furthermore, in 2004 after a break of fifteen years, India toured Pakistan in the wake of diplomatic initiatives to bury half a century of mutual hostility. Both sides relaxed their tough visa regulations for each other, allowing thousands of fans to travel across the border.
In an attempt to replicate the cricket diplomacy of the past General Pervez Musharraf came to India in 2005 ostensibly for a cricket match. The trip, however, quickly took on the air of a summit as the sides were urged "to seize a historic chance to end their dispute over Kashmir." Often this rivalry has been tinged with a religious-political bent to it. In 1991, the workers of the Indian political party Shiv Sena dug up the cricket pitch at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on the eve of an India-Pakistan Test match which was to be held there, forcing the entire series between the two nations to be cancelled. The Shiv Sena once again used this unique means of protest at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi in 2000 to protest against the Pakistan cricket team's proposed visit. Following the Kargil conflict, and at various other times, there have also been calls to suspend cricketing ties between the two countries.
During the 2011 Cricket World Cup, the semi-final is believed to have eased the relationship between India and Pakistan after the polarising 2008 Mumbai attacks. Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh used this opportunity and greeted his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani to watch the match with him at Mohali. Gilani subsequently accepted the offer and agreed to watch the match with Singh.