The cricket rivalry between India and Pakistan is one of the most exciting and enduring contests in the history of the sport and has produced some of its most dramatic encounters across all three formats (Test, ODIs, and T20Is) of the game. The status of cricketing ties between the two countries, which have fought a series of wars, has historically been shaped by their volatile and strained dynamics. Politicians from both countries have utilized “cricket diplomacy,” treating bilateral and even multilateral tournaments as political tools, in rapprochement processes or as a diplomatic threat. (Read: India-Pakistan conflict)
India and Pakistan have played 17 matches against each other in various World Cups, comprising 8 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 9 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is), with India winning all but one. Pakistan’s sole victory occurred during the Super 12 (second group stage) of the 2021 T20 World Cup. Despite the one-sided win-loss record, World Cup matches between the two countries have historically been emotionally charged, closely fought encounters. Since the most recent suspension of bilateral cricket between the two countries in 2013, the ICC has ensured that India and Pakistan have faced each other directly in almost every official multilateral cricket tournament. Recent India-Pakistan diplomatic tensions and Bangladesh’s exclusion from the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup risked derailing the India-Pakistan clash at the tournament scheduled for February 15. The Pakistan government on February 1 announced that its cricket team would boycott the match against India. On February 9, after a series of talks with the PCB on the issue, the International Cricket Council announced that the India-Pakistan match would be played as scheduled.