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No fixture on earth carries the weight of India vs Pakistan. When these two teams walk out for a T20, stadiums sell out in minutes and half the planet seems to stop for three hours. This India national cricket team vs Pakistan national cricket team timeline covers every T20I meeting between the sides, starting with that unforgettable bowl-out in Durban in 2007 and running right through to their February 2026 T20 World Cup clash in Colombo. You’ll find match-by-match results, the biggest records, and the numbers behind cricket’s fiercest rivalry, all updated through July 2026.
India National Cricket Team Vs Pakistan National Cricket Team Timeline (T20 Overview)
Here’s the full picture in one table before we dig into the details.
| Statistic | India | Pakistan |
|---|---|---|
| Total T20 Matches | 17 | 17 |
| Wins | 13 (14 counting the 2007 bowl-out) | 3 |
| Tied Matches | 1 (won by India in a bowl-out) | 1 |
| No Result | 0 | 0 |
| First Match | Sep 14, 2007 (Durban) | Sep 14, 2007 (Durban) |
| Latest Match | Feb 15, 2026 (Colombo) | Feb 15, 2026 (Colombo) |
India has never lost a bilateral T20I series to Pakistan and has only fallen three times across 17 meetings. That’s a dominant record by any measure, though every single one of those three Pakistan wins came at a moment that mattered: a bilateral opener, an Asia Cup Super Four, and a T20 World Cup Super 12 game.
India National Cricket Team Vs Pakistan National Cricket Team T20 Timeline (Year-wise)
2007 ICC T20 World Cup
Group Stage (Bowl-Out) – September 14, 2007, Durban
India posted 141/9, with Robin Uthappa top-scoring on 50 off 39 balls. Pakistan needed 1 off the last 2 balls, and S Sreesanth held his nerve with a dot ball. The match finished tied. Since Super Overs didn’t exist yet, the teams settled it with a bowl-out, cricket’s answer to a penalty shootout. India won it 3-0, with Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, and Uthappa all hitting the stumps while Pakistan missed every attempt.
Final at Johannesburg – September 24, 2007
India batted first and reached 157/5, built around Gautam Gambhir’s 75 off 54 balls. Pakistan chased hard, with Misbah-ul-Haq fighting to the end, but a scooped shot off the final over ended in a Sreesanth catch at short fine leg. India won by 5 runs to lift the inaugural T20 World Cup.
Key Performers: Gautam Gambhir (75), Irfan Pathan (3/16), RP Singh (3/26)
Match Result: India won by 5 runs. Player of the Match: Irfan Pathan.
2012 ICC T20 World Cup
Match Summary
Played on September 30, 2012, at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Pakistan batted first and could only manage 128/7. India chased it down comfortably with 8 wickets in hand.
Top Scorers
Virat Kohli anchored the chase with an unbeaten 78 off 61 balls, earning him the Player of the Match award.
Bowling Highlights
India’s bowlers kept things tight throughout, restricting Pakistan to a below-par total on a slow Colombo surface.
2014 ICC T20 World Cup
Kohli’s innings
Played at Mirpur on March 21, 2014. Virat Kohli smashed 36 off 25 balls to steady an early wobble, then finished the chase in style.
Pakistan batting collapse
Pakistan set 130/7 but never really got going against India’s disciplined bowling attack.
Result: India won by 7 wickets.
2016 ICC T20 World Cup
Eden Gardens thriller – March 19, 2016
Chasing 119, India stumbled to 41/2 before Virat Kohli took charge.
Rain interruption
A brief rain break added tension to an already nervy chase in Kolkata.
Virat Kohli masterclass
Kohli finished unbeaten on 55 off 37 balls, guiding India home by 6 wickets. It remains one of his most celebrated knocks against Pakistan. There was also a separate meeting that year, at the 2016 Asia Cup in Mirpur on February 27, where India won by 5 wickets.
2021 ICC T20 World Cup
Pakistan’s historic first World Cup win
Played in Dubai on October 24, 2021. For the first time in nine attempts across 14 years, Pakistan beat India at a T20 World Cup.
Babar Azam & Mohammad Rizwan partnership
Chasing 152, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan batted through the entire innings without losing a wicket, sealing a 10-wicket win.
Shaheen Afridi’s opening spell
Shaheen Shah Afridi ripped through India’s top order early on, dismissing Rohit Sharma and setting the tone for a one-sided contest.
2022 ICC T20 World Cup
Virat Kohli’s iconic unbeaten 82*
Melbourne, October 23, 2022. Pakistan set 160/6, and India’s chase looked dead at 31/4. Kohli then produced arguably the greatest T20I innings ever played, finishing unbeaten on 82 off 53 balls.
Last-over drama
The match went to the final over with 6 needed off 1 ball. Ashwin scrambled a leg-bye to level the scores, then Kohli smashed a six two balls later.
Match Turning Points
Kohli and Hardik Pandya’s stand, plus Dinesh Karthik’s late hitting, turned a certain loss into a 4-wicket win.
2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
Low-scoring thriller
New York, June 9, 2024. On a tricky Nassau County pitch, India managed just 119/9.
Jasprit Bumrah’s spell
Bumrah bowled with pinpoint control at the death, and Arshdeep Singh backed him up, restricting Pakistan to 113/7.
Player of the Match: Bumrah’s spell was central to the win, alongside disciplined death bowling from Arshdeep.
Match Result: India won by 6 runs.
2025 Asia Cup
Between the 2024 and 2026 World Cups, India and Pakistan also met three times at the 2025 Asia Cup in Dubai. India won all three: by 7 wickets in the group game (September 14), by 6 wickets in the Super Four (September 21), and by 5 wickets in the final (September 28), where Tilak Varma’s unbeaten 69 anchored a tense chase of 147.
2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
Match Result
R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, February 15, 2026. India posted 175/7 after Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl. Ishan Kishan blazed 77 off 40 balls, with support from Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Shivam Dube.
Player of the Match
Pakistan’s chase never got going. Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, and Varun Chakravarthy all picked up 2 wickets apiece, and Pakistan folded for 114 in 18 overs. Ishan Kishan won Player of the Match for his 77.
This 61-run margin stands as India’s biggest ever win over Pakistan in a T20 World Cup, and India went on to win the whole tournament, beating New Zealand in the final at Ahmedabad on March 8, 2026, for their third T20 World Cup title.
Complete India vs Pakistan T20 Match Results
| Date | Tournament | Venue | Winner | Margin | Player of the Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 2007 | 2007 T20 World Cup, Group D | Durban | India (bowl-out) | Tied, India won bowl-out 3-0 | N/A |
| Sep 24, 2007 | 2007 T20 World Cup Final | Johannesburg | India | 5 runs | Irfan Pathan |
| Sep 30, 2012 | 2012 T20 World Cup | Colombo (RPS) | India | 8 wickets | Virat Kohli |
| Dec 25, 2012 | Bilateral series | Bengaluru | Pakistan | 5 wickets | Mohammad Hafeez |
| Dec 28, 2012 | Bilateral series | Ahmedabad | India | 11 runs | Yuvraj Singh |
| Mar 21, 2014 | 2014 T20 World Cup | Mirpur | India | 7 wickets | Virat Kohli |
| Feb 27, 2016 | 2016 Asia Cup | Mirpur | India | 5 wickets | Virat Kohli |
| Mar 19, 2016 | 2016 T20 World Cup | Eden Gardens | India | 6 wickets | Virat Kohli |
| Oct 24, 2021 | 2021 T20 World Cup | Dubai | Pakistan | 10 wickets | Mohammad Rizwan |
| Aug 28, 2022 | 2022 Asia Cup, Group | Dubai | India | 5 wickets | Bhuvneshwar Kumar |
| Sep 4, 2022 | 2022 Asia Cup, Super Four | Dubai | Pakistan | 5 wickets | Mohammad Nawaz |
| Oct 23, 2022 | 2022 T20 World Cup | Melbourne | India | 4 wickets | Virat Kohli |
| Jun 9, 2024 | 2024 T20 World Cup | New York | India | 6 runs | Hardik Pandya |
| Sep 14, 2025 | 2025 Asia Cup, Group | Dubai | India | 7 wickets | – |
| Sep 21, 2025 | 2025 Asia Cup, Super Four | Dubai | India | 6 wickets | – |
| Sep 28, 2025 | 2025 Asia Cup Final | Dubai | India | 5 wickets | Tilak Varma |
| Feb 15, 2026 | 2026 T20 World Cup | Colombo (RPS) | India | 61 runs | Ishan Kishan |
India vs Pakistan T20 Head-to-Head Record
- Matches Played: 17
- India Wins: 13 (14 if you count the bowl-out victory as a win)
- Pakistan Wins: 3
- Tie: 1 (decided by bowl-out, India won)
- No Result: 0
- Win Percentage: India roughly 76-82%, Pakistan roughly 18%, depending on how the tied bowl-out game gets classified
In ICC T20 World Cups specifically, India leads 8-1, with Pakistan’s only win coming in Dubai in 2021.
Memorable Moments in India vs Pakistan T20 Timeline
- 2007 Bowl-Out: Cricket’s only ever bowl-out, and India nailed it 3-0.
- Misbah’s scoop shot: The dismissal that decided the 2007 final and became one of the format’s defining images.
- Kohli’s Melbourne miracle: 82* off 53 balls, chasing an impossible equation with the tournament on the line.
- Shaheen Afridi’s fiery opening spell: The 2021 burst that gave Pakistan its first-ever World Cup win over India.
- Bumrah’s match-winning spell: The 2024 death-overs masterclass in New York that sealed a 6-run win.
- Ishan Kishan’s 77: The 2026 innings that produced India’s biggest-ever World Cup win margin over Pakistan.
Highest Team Totals in India vs Pakistan T20 Matches
| Team | Score | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | 192/5 | Ahmedabad | 2012 |
| India | 175/7 | Colombo | 2026 |
| Pakistan | 182/5 | Dubai | 2022 |
| India | 157/5 | Johannesburg | 2007 |
| Pakistan | 181/7 | Ahmedabad | 2012 |
Lowest Team Totals
| Team | Score | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pakistan | 83 all out | Dhaka | 2016 (Asia Cup) |
| Pakistan | 114 | Colombo | 2026 |
| Pakistan | 113/7 | New York | 2024 |
| India | 119/9 | New York | 2024 |
| Pakistan | 128/7 | Colombo | 2012 |
Highest Run Scorers in India vs Pakistan T20s
| Player | Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli | 11 | 492 | 70.28 | 123.92 |
| Mohammad Rizwan | 5 | 228 | 57.00 | 111.76 |
| Shoaib Malik | 9 | 164 | 27.33 | 103.79 |
| Mohammad Hafeez | 8 | 156 | 26.00 | 118.18 |
| Yuvraj Singh | 8 | 155 | 25.83 | 109.92 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 5 | 139 | 27.80 | 125.22 |
| Rohit Sharma | 12 | 127 | 14.11 | 117.59 |
| Babar Azam | 5 | 105 | 26.25 | 128.04 |
| Umar Akmal | 6 | 103 | 17.16 | 115.73 |
| Tilak Varma | 3 | 130 | – | – |
Kohli isn’t just top of this list. He’s nearly double the next-best Indian scorer, and his average against Pakistan sits well above his career T20I average against every other team.
Most Wickets in India vs Pakistan T20s
| Player | Wickets | Economy | Best Figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardik Pandya | 15 | 7.96 | – |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 11 | 7.26 | 4/- |
| Umar Gul | 11 | 8.27 | 4/- |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 11 (after Feb 2026) | – | – |
| Mohammad Asif | 5 | – | 4/18 |
Mohammad Asif’s 4/18 in the 2007 group game remains the best individual bowling figures recorded in an India-Pakistan T20I, even after two decades of matches.
Best Individual Batting Performances
- Virat Kohli (82*): The unbeaten Melbourne innings that chased down 160 almost single-handedly, still the highest individual score in this fixture.
- Mohammad Rizwan: His unbroken 10-wicket stand with Babar Azam in 2021 remains Pakistan’s most complete batting performance against India in this format.
- Gautam Gambhir: 75 off 54 balls in the 2007 final, the innings that gave India something to defend.
- Yuvraj Singh: 72 off 36 balls in Ahmedabad in 2012, a knock that also earned him Player of the Match.
Best Bowling Performances
- Shaheen Shah Afridi: His new-ball spell in Dubai in 2021 dismantled India’s top order inside the powerplay.
- Jasprit Bumrah: Death-overs control that’s defined recent India-Pakistan meetings, most visibly in 2024 and 2026.
- Mohammad Asif: 4/18 in the 2007 group match, still the best figures in the fixture’s history.
- Irfan Pathan: 3/16 in the 2007 final, the spell that won India the World Cup.
India vs Pakistan T20 Records
- Highest Partnership: Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan’s unbroken 152-run stand, Dubai, 2021
- Fastest Fifty: Kohli’s fifty against Pakistan in Melbourne came off just 33 balls under extreme pressure
- Most Sixes: Virat Kohli leads all players in this fixture with 11 sixes
- Most Fours: Kohli again tops the list with 49 boundaries
- Best Bowling Figures: Mohammad Asif, 4/18 (2007)
- Most Catches: Multiple fielders share the lead with 5 catches across the fixture’s history
- Most Player of the Match Awards: Virat Kohli, with 4 across these 17 meetings
Timeline of Every ICC T20 World Cup Clash
| Year | Venue | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 (Group) | Durban | India (bowl-out) | Tied, bowl-out 3-0 |
| 2007 (Final) | Johannesburg | India | 5 runs |
| 2012 | Colombo | India | 8 wickets |
| 2014 | Mirpur | India | 7 wickets |
| 2016 | Kolkata | India | 6 wickets |
| 2021 | Dubai | Pakistan | 10 wickets |
| 2022 | Melbourne | India | 4 wickets |
| 2024 | New York | India | 6 runs |
| 2026 | Colombo | India | 61 runs |
Why India vs Pakistan T20 Matches Are Special
Global viewership
Very few sporting fixtures anywhere in the world draw the numbers this one does. Broadcasters and streaming platforms regularly report record-breaking viewership whenever these two teams meet.
Historic rivalry
Cricket between India and Pakistan carries decades of shared history, and every match plays out against that backdrop.
ICC tournaments
Since 2013, bilateral series have essentially stopped. That makes ICC events and the Asia Cup the only stage left for this fixture, which raises the stakes on every single meeting.
Fan engagement
Social media traffic, ticket demand, and TV ratings all spike well beyond what any other cricket fixture produces.
High-pressure encounters
Players on both sides have openly spoken about the extra weight these games carry compared to matches against any other opponent.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was the first India vs Pakistan T20 match?
September 14, 2007, at Kingsmead in Durban, during the group stage of the inaugural T20 World Cup. The match tied, and India won the resulting bowl-out 3-0.
Who has won more T20 matches between India and Pakistan?
India, by a wide margin. India has won 13 of 17 meetings outright (14 counting the bowl-out), while Pakistan has won 3.
Which was the most famous India vs Pakistan T20 match?
Most fans point to either the 2007 World Cup final in Johannesburg or Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 82* in Melbourne in 2022. Both are considered among the greatest T20Is ever played, regardless of teams involved.
Who has scored the most runs in India vs Pakistan T20Is?
Virat Kohli, with 492 runs in 11 matches at an average above 70.
Who has taken the most wickets in India vs Pakistan T20Is?
Hardik Pandya leads with 15 wickets in nine matches, ahead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umar Gul on 11 each.
Has Pakistan defeated India in the T20 World Cup?
Yes, once. Pakistan beat India by 10 wickets in Dubai during the 2021 T20 World Cup, their only win over India in nine World Cup meetings.
What is India’s biggest win over Pakistan in T20 cricket?
A 61-run victory in Colombo on February 15, 2026, India’s largest margin of victory over Pakistan in any T20 World Cup match.
Which player has won the most Player of the Match awards?
Virat Kohli, with four Player of the Match awards across his appearances in this fixture.
Whatever happens next in this rivalry, the India national cricket team vs Pakistan national cricket team timeline will keep growing, one high-stakes ICC clash at a time. With bilateral cricket between the two still on hold, expect the next chapter to come at the 2027 Asia Cup or the next major ICC tournament, whenever the fixture list brings these two back together.
