It’s September 14th, 2007. India and Pakistan are playing each other for the first time in the T20 World Cup in its inaugural edition. A Player of the Match effort from Mohammed Asif keeps India at 141/9 in 20 overs, but some tight bowling from the Men in Blue restrict Pakistan to 141/7, forcing a tie.

It’s an India-Pakistan bowl out to decide the winner. A smiling Virender Sehwag takes the ball first, and it is bull’s eye right away! Yasir Arafat comes in next, and misses.

Harbhajan Singh bowls a quick one and hits immediately, erupting in a delighted celebration! Umar Gul comes in for Pakistan, and fails to hit the mark. Massive pressure on Pakistan.

Robin Uthappa runs in now, bowls seam, and knocks the stumps over! He takes off his cap and bows to the crowd in style too. Shahid Afridi comes in, but fires the delivery down the leg side instead. India have won, and in a 3-0 bowl-out!

Till date, that throwback has been very sweet for the Indian fans. As the T20 World Cup approaches, and that date for the India-Pakistan clash draws closer, one cannot help but reminisce these moments.

The two neighbouring countries will kick-start their respective T20 World Cup campaigns and proceedings for Group 2 games of the tournament with a Sunday night clash. Ahead of the big game, below are some points to set context for it.

Both teams will look to start on a winning note

Both teams will be playing their first game in the tournament. A good start can give the teams confidence to carry with them through the tournament. Moreover, it can give the team a handy two points to open their account in this T20 World Cup.

India come in with two practice match wins

India is coming into the tournament with two confident, clean wins in the practice matches. The first was a 7-wicket win against England and the second was a 9-wicket win against Australia. In both games, the bowlers did well in restricting the opposition to a gettable target, and the openers were in superb form to chase it down well.

The team will look to continue that good form in the tournament going ahead too.

Pakistan come in with a win and a loss

Pakistan played T20 World Cup defending champions and the only two-time champions West Indies in their first warm-up match and won by seven wickets. However, in the practice game that followed, Pakistan lost to South Africa by six wickets, despite a fine batting effort from their side.

The team will look to face a higher ranked India with the positives from the game against South Africa and the confidence from defeating West Indies.

Trump cards for the teams

Possible openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have given good starts in the IPL and have also done well in the warm up games. Rohit has 2864 runs in 111 matches, and looks in fine touch, and KL Rahul, has zoomed to 1557 runs in 49 T20Is, and almost got the Orange Cap in the IPL.

Virat Kohli sits at 3159 runs in 90 T20Is, and can turn a game around on his day. In the bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah has 42 wickets in UAE in the last two IPL editions alone, showing his domination in these grounds.

As for Pakistan, Babar Azam has been their most in-form batter. He has 2204 runs in just 61 games and doesn’t look like he’ll stop anytime soon. Mohammad Hafeez is a bankable senior in the game, with 2429 runs in 113 T20Is, whose useful offbreak has given him 60 wickets in the format too.

Pitch and weather on the big day

According to reports, Dubai’s batter friendly surface is expected to urge the side batting first to put up a big score. The pitch gets spinner-friendly in the middle, and towards the end, the pacers could get something out of it.

The weather is not expected to play spoilsport on the day of the match, with over 30 degrees temperature predicted.

Head-to-head in T20 World Cup

The teams have faced each other five times in the T20 World Cup, out of which India have registered four clean wins. India pocketed the fifth game too, but with an iconic bowl-out that we now reminisce about.

Thus, India has a 5-0 lead over Pakistan in this tournament’s history. While the Men in Blue will look to continue the good streak, Pakistan will be keen on shedding that image against India in the World Cup.

Previous encounter between India and Pakistan

The two teams last met in the 2019 World Cup which, once again, resulted in an Indian win. Rohit Sharma’s 140 (113) helped India register an 89-run victory by the DL method. India posted 336/5 in 50 overs, while Pakistan had to chase down 302 in 40 overs. In response, they could only post 212/6, and India won their seventh encounter against Pakistan in the 50-over World Cup.

The big match is scheduled for Sunday, 24th October, 2021 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, where both teams have already played their practice games.

Cricket fans could not have asked for a better clash to finish off their weekend with. Here’s hoping it’s a cracker of a contest, and we are all treated to some great cricket in the end!