The cricket rivalry between India and Pakistan is one of the most fascinating and intense in the world. India and Pakistan have met many times against each other, and the latter has the best head-to-head record overall. However, India holds a slight advantage over Pakistan in the Asia Cup cricket. Let's take a deeper look at the history of the Asia Cup between India and Pakistan ahead of the fifteenth edition of the event in the United Arab Emirates.

Pakistan and India's overall performances in the men's Asia Cup cricket competition

India has won the most events in the Asia Cup competition—seven in all. In contrast, Pakistan has only triumphed in two tournaments. Their most recent title came in 2012, when they defeated Bangladesh in the championship game by just two runs.

India

India first won an Asia Cup trophy in the inaugural edition of the competition in 1984. They are the reigning champions of the tournament. Overall, India has reached ten finals out of thirteen, which indicates how dominating they are in this particular tournament. They chose not to participate in the 1986 Asia Cup due to their tense cricketing relations with the tournament's host Sri Lanka. Additionally, the Indian team triumphed in the maiden Twenty20-format Asia Cup in 2016.

Read Asia Cup 2022: 12 Key Players to Watch in the Tournament

India's men's cricket team has won 31 of the 49 games it has played in the Asia Cup's ODI format, for a winning percentage of 65.62. In the tournament's Twenty20 format, India has won five of the five games.

India’s overall results in the Asia Cup

  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_Cup

Read Shakib Al Hasan: Expectations from Bangladesh’s T20 captain in Asia Cup 2022

Pakistan

Pakistan first won an Asia Cup trophy in the seventh edition in 2000 in Bangladesh. They beat Sri Lanka in the final by 39 runs to clinch their maiden Asia Cup men’s cricket trophy. Twelve years later, in Bangladesh, they won their second trophy at the Asian Cup of cricket. Surprisingly, Pakistan's national team has played only four finals and they haven’t reached a championship match since 2016. Due to tense political ties with the host India, Pakistan opted not to participate in the 1990–1991 edition of the competition.

With a winning percentage of 59.09, Pakistan's men's cricket team has won 26 of the 45 games it has played in the Asia Cup's ODI format. They have won two out of four games in the Twenty20 format of the tournament.

Pakistan’s overall results in the Asia Cup

   Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_Cup

Read Asia Cup 2022: SWOT Analysis of Bangladesh National Men’s T20 Cricket Squad

Asia Cup: Head-to-Head Record between India and Pakistan 

Every time Pakistan and India play in a cricket match, it is a euphoric and tense occasion for the supporters of the two sides. The Pakistan national men’s cricket team has the edge over India in the overall head-to-head battle across all formats with 87 wins. However, India’s national men’s cricket team has held the advantage in Asia Cup events.

Two teams have faced each other fourteen times in this particular competition over the years. India has led the head-to-head contest with eight wins. Oppositely, Pakistan has five wins and one game had no result. In addition, India and Pakistan have never faced off in an Asia Cup final despite being the two biggest cricketing nations in the subcontinent.

Asia Cup records between Pakistan and India

   Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_Cup

Read Asia Cup 2022: Who are favourites to lift the trophy?

How many times could India and Pakistan meet in the Asia Cup 2022?

The group phase of the Asia Cup 2022 will begin on August 27 (Saturday). The competition consists of two groups, each with three teams. In Group A, Pakistan and India will compete. The third team in Group A will be the qualifier winner. Each group's top two teams will proceed to the Super Four phase. India and Pakistan's prospects of moving on from their group are merely formalities since the qualifier winner will be decided by the ICC associate nations of the Asian region.

If Pakistan and India advance from Group A, they will play each other once again in the Super Four phase. The Super Four round's top two teams will be guaranteed a spot in the championship game. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka's Twenty20 teams are currently not in excellent form. None of these three teams are considered to have a strong chance of winning the competition. As a result, there is a good chance that India and Pakistan will face off three times during the main event.

Cricket fans would be enthralled by the prospect of watching the Asia Cup 2022 final between Pakistan and India. If that occurs, this will be the first time in the tournament's history that these two countries have faced off in a final.

Read T20s: Need to be like a baby learning to walk, says Shakib

The dates on which India and Pakistan could meet in the Asia Cup 2022

Date: 28 August, 2022 | Group A match

Date: 4 September, 2022 | Super Four match (if qualify)

Date: 11 September, 2022 | Final (if qualify).

 Which players would likely be seen in India and Pakistan’s playing XI?

India and Pakistan both have some of the top Twenty20 players in their respective squads. The recent T20 performances of both teams have also been very impressive. Pakistan hasn't participated in a lot of T20I series following the T20 World Cup in 2021. After the major event, they defeated Bangladesh and the West Indies in all six of their games. Pakistan played just one T20 match this year. In April, they fell short against Australia in that T20 match. In that sense, the Pakistan Twenty20 team may find it difficult early in the 2022 Asia Cup competition. India can take advantage of this as they will play Pakistan in their opening encounter.

India will enter the Asia Cup competition in excellent form, having won sixteen of their twenty-one games this year. They have won five bilateral series, while one with South Africa ended in a draw. The players who weren't picked are talented enough to be on the Indian team, so the selectors must have had a difficult time finalizing the squad. Here are the players from both sides who can make it into their respective playing XI.

Read Meet Sridharan Sriram: Bangladesh national cricket team’s new T20 technical consultant

India’s predicted playing XI

Top-Order: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, 

Middle-Order: Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin, 

Lower-Order: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal 

Pakistan’s predicted playing XI

Top-Order: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Fakhar Zaman, 

Middle-Order: Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Haider Ali, Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Mohammad Nawaz, 

Lower-Order: Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani 

Aftermath

India will be the overwhelming favourite to win the 2022 Asia Cup cricket due to their recent Twenty20 form and success over Pakistan in the tournament. India will enter the upcoming competition with a lot of confidence since Rohit Sharma is yet to lose a Twenty20 series after being named the team's permanent captain earlier this year. 

Read Pakistan’s Afridi to miss T20 Asia Cup and England series

Pakistan, on the other hand, has lost its last three Asia Cup matches against India and will be driven to turn things around. Pakistan, the ICC's third-ranked Twenty20 side right now, stands a decent chance of overcoming India and taking home the championship. So far we have discussed how did India prevail over Pakistan in the previous Asia Cup Cricket tournaments. Now its time to see how can Pakistan prevent India from capturing their eighth Asia Cup title?