T20 World Cup: India vs Pakistan in World T20s at a glance

What better way is there for Team India to begin its T20 World Cup 2021 campaign than with a fixture against neighbours and arch-rivals Pakistan. The two countries are scheduled to collide on October 24 at the Dubai International Stadium. India and Pakistan are drawn in Group 2 of the Super 12 along with Afghanistan and New Zealand.

If you're a die-hard follower of cricket in India, you're probably aware of the historic World Cup ritual and everything that surrounds it when the two neighbouring countries take on each other. Few other fixtures, if any, can generate the level of sensation and hype as India vs Pakistan does. And the stage rarely gets any bigger than the World Cup. The fact that both countries do not play any bilateral cricket these days because of the tense diplomatic and political situations between them makes the World Cup clashes even more mouth-watering and anticipatory.

Team India hold a proud unbeaten record against Pakistan when it comes to World Cup fixtures. This also applies to T20 cricket. Ever since the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, India have faced Pakistan five times and have won every single time.

The first time the two countries took on each other was in 2007 where they had been drawn in the same group. In that first clash in 2007, both countries could barely be separated and the game went right down to the wire. Needing just a single off the final ball, Misbah ul Haq got run out and the match ended up requiring a bowl-out (the concept of Super Over didn't exist back then).

India nailed all of the first three bowl-outs while Pakistan missed hitting the stumps every single time. As a result, the side celebrated a historic victory against their arch-rivals but there was more in store.

Just 20 days later, the two sides went head-to-head again, but this time in the final of the World T20 2007 in a big to become the inaugural world champions of T20 cricket. The memory of Joginder Sharma steaming with the ball in hand and bowling it wide of leg stump while Misbah ul Haq tried to scoop him but could only find Sreesanth who took the catch safely is embedded in the minds of cricket fans all over the world, and especially in India. That began the golden era led by MS Dhoni and his fearless band of talented cricketers.

India and Pakistan did not meet in the 2009 and 2010 editions of the competition. The next time they met was in 2012 in Colombo and both this game and the one in Dhaka in 2014 were pretty one-sided affairs that resulted in straightforward victories for Team India.

Tensions were high and you could feel the electricity in the air when India and Pakistan collided again at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The packed stadium lent a vibrant atmosphere to the clash. Although Mohammad Amir terrorized the top order with his lethal bowling, it was Virat Kohli's masterclass and his eventual tribute to Sachin Tendulkar after securing a majestic victory that resonates among the most treasured moments in Indian cricket.