Pakistan and India played the 1^st ODI on October 1, 1978 at Quetta, met last time on March 18, 2012, at Mirpur and the Green Caps lead the Blue Shirts 69-48.

Both countries have faced each other on 121 occasions and four of them ended up as tied or no result. India has played 27 games in Pakistan, won 11, lost 14 and 2 ended without any result. The Green Shirts took part in 27 games while visiting India and beat the Blue Shirts 17 times while losing 10. They have encountered each other 67 times at neutral venues and Pakistan has an edge over India at 38-27 whereas 2 games finished as tied or no result.

Pakistan is currently visiting India and will take on the hosts in the first ODI on December 30, 2012, at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai. Misbah-Ul-Haq will be leading the troops of Pakistan whereas MS Dhoni will be the skipper of India. We will highlight the performance of the two arch rivals in the last five matches they played.

Match No. 117, played at National Stadium, Karachi, on July 2, 2008.

Scores

India     –  7-308 in 50 overs, MS Dhoni 76 (96b 4×4), Rohit Sharma              58 (71b 4×4) , Virender Sehwag 49 (33b 6×4 2×6), Iftikhar Anjum 3-51, Adbur Rauf 2-66.

Pakistan –  2-309 in 45.3 overs, Younis Khan 123* (117b 11×4, 1×6), Misbah-Ul-Haq 70* (62b 7×4 1×6), Nasir Jamshed 53 (43b 9×4), Piyush Chawla 1-53.

Player of the match – Younis Khan (Pakistan)

Result – Pakistan won by eight wickets.

Match No.118, Played at Supersport Park, Centurion (neutral venue), on September 26, 2009.

Scores

Pakistan – 9-302 in 50 overs, Shoaib Malik 128 (126b, 16×4), Mohammad Yousuf 87 (88b 7×4), Ashish Nehra 4-55, Ishant Sharma 2-39.

India       – 248 all out in 44.5 overs, Rahul Dravid 76 (103b 4×4), Gautam Gambhir 57 (46b, 7×4 2×6), Suresh Raina 46 (41b 5×4 2×6), Saeed Ajmal 2-31, Shahid Afridi 2-39.

Player of the match – Shoaib Malik (Pakistan)

Result – Pakistan won by 54 runs.

Match No. 119, Played on June 19, 2010, at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium (neutral venue).

Scores

Pakistan  – 267 all out in 49.3 overs, Salman Butt 74 (85b 9×4), Kamran Akmal 51 (41b 2×4 3×6), Praveen Kumar 3-53, Zaheer Khan 2-41.

India       – 7-271 in 49.5 overs, Gautam Gambhir 83 (97b 6×4 1×6), MS Dhoni 56 (71b 2×4 1×6), Suresh Raina 34 (27b 2×4 2×6).

Player of the match – Gautam Gambhir (India)

Result – India won by three wickets.

Match No.120, second semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup, played on March 30, 2011, at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.

Scores

India    – 9-260 in 50 overs, Sachin Tendulkar 85 (115b 11×4), Virender Sehwag 38 (25b 9×4), Suresh Raina 36* (39b 3×4), Wahab Riaz 5-46, Saeed Ajmal 2-44)

Pakistan  – 231 all out in 49.5 overs, Misbah-Ul-Haq 56 (76b 5×4 1×6), Mohammad Hafeez 43 (59b 7×4), Asad Shafiq 30 (39b 2×4), Ashish Nehra 2-33, Munaf Patel 2-40.

Player of the match – Sachin Tendulkar (India)

Result – India won by 29 runs.

Match No.121, 5^th encounter of the Asia Cup 2011, played at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur (neutral venue).

Scores

Pakistan – 6-329 in 50 overs, Nasir Jamshed 112 (104b 10×4 1×6), Mohammad Hafeez 105 (113b 9×4 1×6), Ashok Dinda 2-47, Praveen Kumar 2-77)

India      –  4-330 in 47.5 overs, Virat Kohli 183 (148b 22×4 1×6), Rohit Sharma 68 (83b 5×4 1×6), Sachin Tendulkar 52 (48b 5×4 1×6), Umar Gul 2-65.

Player of the match – Virat Kohli (India)

Result – India won by six wickets.

India has won the last three One Day Internationals against Pakistan and will be anticipating winning the three match series at their home grounds and in front of their home crowd. The visitors are also in great nick and after levelling the two Twenty20 at 1-1, they will try hard to win the series so it will be a great battle between the two cricket giants.