10 mysterious similarities between India and Pakistan's two ODI matches

Afridi had won the match for Pakistan by hitting a six in the last over just like Miandad

India and Pakistan have been arch-rivals ever since they have begun to play against each other. Both the teams’ players have given some memorable performances in their matches against each other, which we can easily recall.

The Indo-Pak series has been always bigger than any other, probably even bigger than the Ashes, because of the many nail-biting encounters it has produced. A match between the two rivals has been estimated to attract up to one billion viewers, according to TV rating firms and various other reports.

The 2011 World Cup semi-final between the two teams attracted around 988 million television viewers.

The two nations have been competing against each other very frequently in ODIs since their first meeting on 1 October 1978. They have played each other on 127 occasions (excluding five matches which were abandoned without a ball bowled). Pakistan have the better record of the two teams, having won 72 matches; India have won 51 and four finished as a no result.

Do you call yourself a cricket superfan? Well then, do you know about these amazing similarities between two separate matches played by India and Pakistan? There are very few things that the cricket fans in the world do not know about both these two teams, and the list of similarities between two matches – one at the Austral-Asia Cup in 1986 and the other at the 2014 Asia Cup – is one of them.

There are 10 mysterious similarities between the Indo-Pak matches at the Austral-Asia Cup of 1986 and the Asia Cup of 2014:

1. Both matches were played on a neutral venue. In 1986 the venue was Sharjah and in 2014 the venue was Mirpur, and in both matches Pakistan chose to field first.

2. While batting first in both the matches, India managed to score 245 runs in 50 overs.

3. In both the matches, India’s openers managed to hit two sixes. In 1986, K Srikkanth was the opener and in 2014 Rohit Sharma was the opener.

4. In both the matches, three Indian batsmen scored half-centuries. In the 1986 match K Srikkanth, Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar scored fifties and in 2014 Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja scored fifties.

5. In both matches, two Pakistani batsmen were run out. In the 1986 match Saleem Malik and Wasim Akram were run out while in 2014 Misbah-Ul-Haq and Shoaib Maqsood were run out.

6. In both the matches, Pakistan’s No.10 was out for zero runs and off the first ball. In 1986, Zulqarnain was bowled by Chetan Sharma for a duck and in 2014 Saeed Ajmal was bowled for zero runs on his first ball, bowled by R Ashwin.

7. In both the matches, the No. 11 player took a crucial single in the last over to give the strike to the set player at the other end. In the 1986 match, Tauseef took a run to give the strike to Miandad, while in 2014 Junaid Khan took a single to give the strike to Afridi.

8. In both the matches the last over was bowled by an Indian bowler who had taken 3 wickets in the match. In the 1986 match Chetan Sharma bowled the last over and in 2014h R Ashwin bowled the last over, both after taking 3 wickets.

9. In both the matches, a Pakistani player hit a six to win the match. In 1986 Javed Miandad hit a six in the last over and in 2014 Afridi hit the six to win the match in the last over.

10. In both the matches, Pakistan won by 1 wicket.

Now the fans are waiting to see the exciting battle between these two teams in the upcoming World T20 next year which will be played in India. Many records will be created in Indo-Pak matches in the future, which will have a special place in the fans’ hearts, but perhaps nothing will ever beat this list of coincidences.