Asia Cup: Nothing can match the thrill of watching an India-Pakistan game

India kick off their Asia Campaign on Saturday against arch rivals Pakistan in Pallekele, Kandy, and if you talk about rivalry this is one of the most intense that there is in sports, especially cricket.

It is also one of the most viewed matches around the world, be it in a packed stadium where people from around the world come to see their heroes, or get to watch it on a big screen to enjoy the excitement which lasts for long in the minds of fans.

I grew up watching my first India-Pakistan clash in the Australasia Cup in Australia on television and remember a young Mohammad Azharuddin steering India to victory in a tricky chase along with the Little Master Sunil Gavaskar.

As the fans would have wanted, India met Pakistan again in the final where once again India were the winners. India continued their dominance against Pakistan in Sharjah too by defending a small total of just 125 after Imran Khan had skittled out India with his pace and swing by picking six wickets.

But it all changed in 1986 when Javed Miandad hit a six off the last ball of the innings against Chetan Sharma as Pakistan came from an absolute hopeless position to win the match. Sharma became a villain and Miandad is still hailed as a super hero in Pakistan for that incredible six.

The scars of that defeat were so deep among the Indian fans and players that India could hardly win a game against Pakistan for many years.

But when it came to World Cups, India always held its nerve and never lost to Pakistan from 1992 to 2019, winning all seven times.

Sadly, due to political tension between the two countries the bilateral series stopped after 2007 and it was only the Asia Cup or ICC world Cup were both teams played each other, making the excitement much bigger as the 50 overs World Cup only happens once in four years and Asia Cup once every two years.

Pakistan did manage to break the jinx of losing to India in a T20 World Cup game in Dubai when Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan brought a sigh of relief among the fans. But it did not last long as India pulled off one of the greatest wins when they beat Pakistan in a T20 thriller in front of 90,000 fans at the MCG.