What happened the last time India played against Pakistan in a T20 World Cup match?

India and Pakistan have both played one game each in the T20 World Cup 2024. While the Men in Blue recorded a comfortable victory against Ireland, Pakistan went down to co-hosts USA in the Super Over in Dallas.

Both teams will now shift focus to their next game as they are set to lock horns with each other. The high-octane clash is scheduled to be played at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Sunday, June 9.

India have dominated their arch-rivals whenever they have squared off in T20 World Cups. Out of seven meetings, the Men in Blue have won five times, while Pakistan came out on top on one occasion. One game yielded no result.

The last time the two teams met at T20 World Cup was in 2022 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. A Virat Kohli masterclass helped the Men in Blue cross the line in the final ball of the over.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and asked Pakistan to bat first. India were off to a scintillating start with Arshdeep Singh dismissing Mohammed Rizwan and Babar Azam inside the first four overs. Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed then stitched together a crucial partnership to bail the team out of danger.

Pakistan were 32/2 in the powerplay and reached the 50-run mark in the ninth over. At the halfway stage, they were 60/2 with Masood batting on 29 and Iftikhar on 21. The latter shifted gears to reach his half-century off just 32 balls with the aid of two boundaries and four sixes.

Just when it looked like the Men in Green would take the game away, Mohammed Shami dismissed the dangerous-looking Iftikhar to bring India back into the contest. Hardik Pandya then joined the action and picked up three quick wickets to reduce Pakistan to 115/6 inside 16 overs.

Masood, who held the fort from the other end, reached his fifty off 40 deliveries. He remained unbeaten on 52, while a late splurge from Shaheen Afridi (16 off 8) propelled the team to 159/8 in their 20 overs.

Hardik and Arshdeep returned with three wickets apiece, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shami picked up one scalp each.

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Virat Kohli's unbeaten 82 guided India home against a well-rounded Pakistan attack

Pakistan's new-ball bowlers returned the favor to the Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, who were back in the hut with only 10 runs on the board. The Men in Blue were staring down the barrel when Virat Kohli took the onus on himself.

The former skipper ran hard between the wickets to keep the scoreboard ticking but Haris Rauf's raw pace got the better of Suryakumar Yadav to halt India's run chase. Reeling at 26/3, the team management sent Axar Patel ahead of Hardik Pandya to use the left-hand-right-hand combination in the middle. But the ploy didn't work well, as the former was runout. Axar set off for a single, which was never there and was sent back by Kohli. Wicketkeeper Mohammed Rizwan made a mess of the easy opportunity but later gathered well to inflict a runout.

The Men in Blue were staring at their second consecutive defeat against Pakistan in T20 World Cups when Hardik Pandya joined Kohli and the duo stitched together a defining 113-run partnership for the fifth wicket. India were 45/4 at the halfway mark, still needing 115 off 60 deliveries.

The Men in Blue slowly shifted gears, scoring 55 runs in the next 30 balls to keep themselves afloat in the run chase. Kohli and Hardik kept the momentum going to bring the equation to 31 off the last two overs.

Rauf bowled three balls exceptionally well before Virat Kohli produced the most extravagant shot ever seen in T20 cricket. It was a length delivery that finished around the waist height and the Indian batter punched it over the bowler's head almost with a straight bat to leave the Melbourne crowd awestruck. He followed it with another six over the fine-leg fielder to bring the equation to 16 off the last six balls.

Left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz removed Hardik Pandya in the first ball of the over and conceded only three runs off the next two deliveries to shift the tide in their favor.

Kohli dispatched a full toss for six over the deep square field, which was later called a no-ball by the umpire. Suddenly the equation came down to six off three balls, with India on top. Kohli ran three off the next delivery before Dinesh Karthik was stumped while trying to steal a single.

With Ravichandran Ashwin on strike, the Men in Blue needed two runs off the final ball. Nawaz bowled a wide before Ashwin scooped one over the mid-on fielder to seal an emphatic victory for India.