Asia Cup 2025: Ranking India's 5 best wins vs Pakistan in the tournament

Team India’s Asia Cup 2025 will meet its first stern test when it faces Pakistan in a group stage clash on Sunday, September 14 at the Dubai International Stadium. Although off-field events have stolen the limelight in recent times, the two arch-rivals will have a shot at bragging rights on the field to make a massive statement.

The Men in Blue have a dominant record against Pakistan as far as the Asia Cup is concerned. The two sides have never faced each other in the finals of the competition, but have had 19 meetings between them over the course of three decades.

Team India have recorded 10 wins to establish a healthy lead, while Pakistan have only won six encounters. Three contests, including their group stage encounter during the last Asia Cup in 2023, have been abandoned due to poor weather.

The two teams are on a similar path in terms of going through a major transition, but their journey could not have been more different so far. Team India’s T20I side are thriving under the regime of Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir, while Pakistan are trying to build a new foundation under their captain-coach combination of Salman Ali Agha and Mike Hesson.

On that note, let us revisit and rank Team India’s top five iconic triumphs against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.

#5 1984 Asia Cup (Sharjah International Cricket Stadium)

The first-ever meeting between the two sides came was the last contest of the inaugural edition, which was held in a round-robin format, without any knockouts. India skipper Sunil Gavaskar won the toss and opted to bat first, and it was a gritty fifty by opening batter Surinder Khanna that kept India in the contest as the other baters struggled. Sandeep Patil chipped in with a lively 43 to steer the team total to 188-4.

Pakistan’s opening partnership was broken courtesy of a run-out, and Ravi Shastri followed it up with two wickets to reduce the score to 70-3. The Men in Green were relatively well placed at 92-3, before Salim Malik’s run-out triggered a collapse. Two more run outs followed while Roger Binny ran through the middle order to bowl out the opposition for 134.

#4 2016 Asia Cup (Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Mirpur)

The 2016 Asia Cup was a crucial stepping stone ahead of the home T20 World Cup. After a dominant win over Bangladesh in the tournament opener, India continued their dominant run by bowling out Pakistan for just 83 on a bizarre surface. The bowlers dominated the show, led by Hardik Pandya’s three-fer, while Pakistan made their lives difficult at times with a couple of trademark mix-ups.

However, the run chase was far from routine for India as Pakistan’s stellar pace attack, headlined by the likes of Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Sami caused a massive scare. The pacers got the new ball doing all sorts of things to reduce India to 8-3 in the third over. Virat Kohli survived a close LBW call early on his innings, and went on to capitalise, and score one of his most challenging knocks.

Yuvraj Singh held the other end as India scraped through to chase down the score in 15.3 overs.

#3 2012 Asia Cup (Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Mirpur)

India and Pakistan were involved in a historic high-scoring encounter during the 2012 Asia Cup in Bangladesh.

Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq opted to bat first, and the side were off to a flying start courtesy of centuries by opening batters, Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez. The Men in Blue were light years behind in the contest following a 224-run opening stand by the opposition, while a quick-fire fifty from Younis Khan propelled the score to 329-6.

Team India did not begin the steep run chase on an optimistic note as Gautam Gambhir was dismissed for a duck in the first over. Sachin Tendulkar, featuring in his last ODI, put on a crucial partnership with Virat Kohli for the second wicket.

After a 133-run stand, the match was well-placed, and it was at this stage that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma joined forces to blow Pakistan away. The future stars of Indian cricket scored crucial knocks, with Kohli notching his career-high score of 183. The 172-run partnership took India on the brink, from where MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina took it over the line to record a historic win for the ages.

#2 2022 Asia Cup (Dubai International Stadium)

Meeting once again in the T20 format in the Asia Cup after their instant classic from the 2016 edition, the arch-rivals put on yet another show in the form of a last-over thriller.

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma opted to bowl first, and the pacers dominated the proceedings to bowl out Pakistan for 147. All 10 wickets were shared by the four-pronged pace attack, led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s four-fer.

Pakistan’s fiery seam attack dished out a response of their own by troubling India’s top order yet again. Naseem Shah castled KL Rahul for a duck, while Rohit Sharma struggled in his 18 ball stay at the crease.

Stranded at 89-4 in the 10th over, the onus was on the all-rounder pair of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja to rescue India out of the muddle. Jadeja remained the anchor after being promoted up the order while Pandya took things deep. The explosive batter kept his calm, despite the pressure piling on in the last over, and eventually dispatched Mohammad Nawaz for a six to get India home with just a couple of deliveries to spare.

#1 2010 Asia Cup (Rangiri International Cricket Stadium, Dambulla)

Emotions ran high when India faced Pakistan in the 2010 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. The Men in Green were under pressure ahead of the contest as they had begun their campaign with a loss to the hosts while India started the tournament strong with a comfortable win over Bangladesh.

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi opted to bat first, and opening batter Salman Butt set the tempo with a well-compiled fifty. The Men in Green kept the scoreboard ticking with decent partnerships along the way, before a final flourish by the skipper and Kamran Akmal took the score to 267.

In reply, Gautam Gambhir led the charge for India at the top, as Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli were dismissed early. The opening batter put on a vital partnership with skipper MS Dhoni, which took the score to 180-3 in the 36th over. The topsy-turvy nature of the match continued as Pakistan made a strong comeback with a flurry of wickets, reducing India to 210-6.

Suresh Raina was left stranded with the lower-order, but Harbhajan Singh proved to be an able ally, keeping India alive and in the contest. In the end, it was the off-spinner, after his skirmish with Shoaib Akhtar, that thumped Mohammed Amir for a six off the penultimate ball to seal the deal for his side.

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