5 Times India and Pakistan faced each other in the finals of ODI tournaments

One fact that is more baffling than any other record or stats is that, despite featuring in almost every edition of Asia Cup since its inception in 1984, India and Pakistan have never faced each other in the finals of the tournament.

In fact, either one of the two teams has made it to the finals in every edition, but never have the two made it together to the final in the 14 editions that have taken place so far.

With Bangladesh defeating Pakistan in the final super four match to book a meeting with India in the finals, the prospect of watching the two neighbours and arch-rival in the finals took a huge blow.

However, even though they have not faced each other in the finals of Asia Cup, the two are not strangers to facing each other in the summit clash. In fact, the two teams have had together made it to the finals of quite a few ODI tournaments.

In fact, the two teams have met each other in the finals of Multi-Team ODI tournaments on 5 occasions in the past. Here are the times both India and Pakistan made it to the finals of an ODI tournament:

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#5 Silver Jubilee Independence Cup (Bangladesh 1998)

Sachin and Dada helped India win the 1st and 3rd Final.

The one-off 1997-98 Silver Jubilee Independence Cup was not just an ordinary cricket tournament by any means. Organised on the occasion of host Bangladesh's 25th Independence Day Anniversary, the tournament featured three Asian Teams - the hosts, India and Pakistan - playing each other once before the best of three finals.

What made the tournament even more interesting was the fact that India and Pakistan faced each other in the finals.

The first final in Dhaka was a completely one-sided affair, with India easily chasing Pakistan's meagre target of 213 in just a little over 37 overs and with 8 wickets in hand. Sachin Tendulkar was the hero of this match, with his 3 wickets and a phenomenal inning of 95 laying the platform for India's win.

Levelling the series in the second final, Pakistan made a stunning return by first bowling India out for just 189 and then chasing the target in just 31.3 overs.

After two low scoring matches, the third final was one of the highest scoring affairs between the two teams. Thanks to the twin centuries by veterans Saeed Anwar and Ijaz Ahmad, Pakistan posted a mammoth total of 314/5 on the board in 48 overs.

Even that wasn't good enough for them as a blistering century by Sourav Ganguly and useful knocks by Sachin Tendulkar and Robin Singh took India past the target with one ball to spare, hence giving them the win in that monumental tournament.

#4 Wills Trophy (Sharjah 1991-92)

Aaqib Javed destroyed India's batting that day.

Cricket, India, Pakistan and Sharjah was the perfect grouping in the 1980s and 1990s. Before the infamous spot-fixing scandal hit the Indian Cricket at the turn of the century, India and Pakistan faced each other more often at Sharjah than they did in their own backyards.

However, the teams only faced each other in the finals twice there, with the first one coming in the 1991-92 Wills Trophy.

With India and Pakistan competing alongside West Indies in a double round robin format, the two teams faced each other three times in the group matches, with Pakistan winning two and India winning the first one.

However, after a surprise late resurgence by Pakistan in the tournament, the teams ended up facing each other in only their second final against each other.

On the back of stunning knocks of 98 and 87 by Zahid Faisal and Saleem Malik, Pakistan posted a respectable total of 262/6 in their 50 overs. While a target of 263 runs was not that tough to chase, India were once again decimated by a familiar foe in Aaqib Javed.

Famous for his performances against India, Javed just tore through the Indian batting order and registered career-best figures of 7/37 in 10 overs. India were bundled out for just 190 runs, giving Pakistan a 72 runs win and the Wills Trophy.

#3 Coca-Cola Cup (Sharjah 1998-99)

Wasim Akram won the Player of the match award for his bowling.

From one final in Sharjah to the second one 8 years later, and this was among the final times the two teams faced each other at the historic ground. After defeating Australia and Zimbabwe in the world renowned 1998 edition of the Coca-Cola Cup, India entered the 1999 edition as the favourites ahead of Pakistan and England.

In a tournament that had double round robin system, both teams registered decisive wins over each other and kept England out of contention from the very beginning by defeating them in all but one match.

With the arch-rivals reaching another final in a triangular tournament, everyone was expecting to witness a closely fought contest. However, what we got was one of the most one-sided matches between the two teams.

After being put to bat first, India had the worst possible start when they were reduced to 0 for 2 in just the first over of the match, courtesy some magical spell of bowling from Wasim Akram and never recovered from that.

A gritty knock of 50 runs by Sourav Ganguly pushed India beyond 100 as they were folded for just 125 runs. Pakistan never had any issues chasing that total and reached the target with 8 wickets in hand in just 28 overs to win the Coca-Cola Cup.

#2 ICC Champions Trophy (England 2017)

Pakistan won an ICC ODI Tournament after 25 years.

At the time of 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, India and Pakistan had not faced each other in an ODI match for over 2 years, with their last encounter coming in the form of that group stage match at 2015 World Cup.

Hence, the hype for their group stage clash in 2017 was at an all-time high. Who would have thought that the two teams would end up facing each other again later in the tournament?

After Pakistan was defeated convincingly in a group stage match by 124 runs in a highly one-sided affair by India, no one was expecting them to make it to the finals. However, some change of fortunes and an improvement in performance took them to the finals against their arch-rivals.

Just when no one was giving Pakistan any chance after their defeat to India earlier in the tournament, they shocked the whole world in the best way possible.

Batting first at Oval, the Pakistani batting, lead by the newcomer Fakhar Zamaan, had a tremendous outing as they posted a mammoth total of 338, which is the highest total in the history of Champions Trophy Finals.

While everyone was expecting India to give a proper fight to Pakistan, Mohammad Amir just steered past the Indian top order to rattle the rest of the batting order. India never recovered and was bowled out for just 158 runs.

These 180 runs win gave Pakistan their first ICC ODI Tournament win since the 1992 World Cup.

#1 Benson and Hedges World Championship of Cricket (Australia 1985)

One of the most memorable wins for India over Pakistan

The 1985 Benson and Hedges World Championship of Cricket was an interesting concept that brought together the top seven International cricket teams for the first time outside of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

Even though it was the only time that World Championship ever took place, the event still remains one of the most memorable one in the history of the game due to the immaculate final that took place at Melbourne.

Despite neither of them starting as the favourite to win the tournament, India and Pakistan played tremendous cricket in the group stage by finishing first and second after India defeated Pakistan in their group match by 6 wickets.

However, since destiny wanted the two teams to face each other again, each of them went past tough challengers in New Zealand and Pakistan to book their first ever Final encounter against each other.

Batting first in the all-important final, the Pakistani batting was rattled early on by some sensational bowling by Kapil Dev. However, some sensible batting by their two senior players in Imran Khan and Javed Miandad took them to an average total of 176/9 in 50 overs.

Chasing the target, Indians never showed any signs of trouble as both Ravi Shastri and Kris Srikkanth scored tremendous half-centuries to lay the foundation of India's win, which they achieved by 8 wickets in the 48th over register their biggest win over Pakistan.