New Delhi: Far from the hostility of Kargil’s icy heights, Manchester’s Old Trafford was a sea of blue and green on a sunny June day.
Played amid surcharged emotions, the match ended with the Mohammad Azharuddin-led Indian cricket team comfortably defeating Pakistan by 47 runs. That Super Six match in the 1999 ODI World Cup happened despite the two countries being at war.
For context, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in his address to the nation the previous day, had condemned the Pakistani aggression in Kargil.
As Indian cricketers, led by their skipper Suryakumar Yadav, face criticism for playing against Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup, ThePrint looks at how cricketing ties between the two countries have shaped up over the years.
Also Read: Asia Cup match referee Pycroft has history with Pakistan. He has called out their chuckers
India-Pakistan cricket: Start-stop bilaterals
From sending the Sourav Ganguly-led team to Pakistan in 2004 to not sending the M.S. Dhoni-led side in 2009, the Indian government has always had a say in how and where India played Pakistan.
In between this period, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf watched an ODI match in New Delhi in 2005.
Years later, the 2011 ODI World Cup semi-final match saw Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani together in Mohali. Way back in 1987, Pakistan President General Zia ul-Haq had witnessed a Test match between India and Pakistan in Jaipur.
Cricketing ties between the two countries can be traced back to 1952, when an Abdul Kardar-led Pakistan side came to India on tour. India returned the favour by visiting in 1954-55, followed by another tour by Pakistan in 1960-61.
Then there was no bilateral cricket for nearly 17 years, as the diplomatic relationship between both countries nosedived following the two wars, in 1965 and 1971.
It resumed when the Bishen Singh Bedi-led team toured Pakistan for a three-match Test series in 1978-79. The series was quickly followed by a return trip by Pakistan and another tour to Pakistan in 1982-83.
Then came the tour of 1989-90 that saw the debut of a young Sachin Tendulkar. This was the tour when the 16-year-old batting prodigy smashed four sixes off crafty leg-spinner Abdul Qadir in a single over.
In the 1990s, the two sides played mostly at neutral venues such as Sharjah. That was the decade when Pakistan cancelled multiple tours to India—reasons cited by Islamabad ranged from tensions over the 1992 Babri demolition, the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts, the threats by the Shiv Sena and the issue of Kashmir.
In January 1999, Shiv Sena workers ransacked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters in Mumbai and dug up the pitch at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla stadium (now Arun Jaitley Stadium). These developments, however, did not disrupt the tour of Pakistan, which played two Test matches. The series is best remembered for leg-spinner Anil Kumble scalping all 10 wickets in a Test innings in Delhi.
#OnThisDay in 1999, Venkatesh Prasad picked up 5/27 against Pakistan in the men's @cricketworldcup!
His 🌟 spell helped 🇮🇳 bowl out 🇵🇰 for 180, sealing a 47-run win!
WATCH 📽️ pic.twitter.com/EDnnKxwyKU
— ICC (@ICC) June 8, 2020
Barely a few months later, bilateral ties nose-dived again in light of infiltration by Pakistani troops in Kargil in May 1999.
“Khel hi nahi dil bhi jeetkar aao’ (win both matches and hearts),” the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had told the Sourav Ganguly-led team before it departed for Pakistan. India went on to win the Test series 2–1 and ODI series 3-2.
Years later, Yashovardhan Azad, head of the Indian security delegation, reminisced about the memorable events like opener Virender Sehwag’s triple century in Multan from the tour.
Sunday Flashback: March 25, 2004. Indian cricket tour to Pakistan. Landing at Multan – escorting the Indian Cricket team out for the Test Match – Received by Mayor and IG Multan. Dravid declared when Tendulkar was on 194. Biggest stadium of Asia with all the facilities.… pic.twitter.com/lztEwr4fxk
— Yashovardhan Jha Azad (@yashoazad) August 25, 2024
The next year, Pakistan toured India with the Inzamam ul Haq-led side drawing the Test series 1–1 and winning the ODI series 4–2. Then came India’s tour to Pakistan in January 2006. While the ODI series ended 4-2 in favour of the visiting side, the home team won the Test series 1-0.
Pakistan then returned in November 2007 for a five-match ODI series and three-match Test series. India won the ODI series 3-2, while the Test series was clinched 1-0 by the Rahul Dravid-led side that saw the return of Ganguly after his controversial omission from the side.
The cricketing ties were set to be strengthened further with a scheduled tour of Pakistan in January 2009. But then came the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that led to the Indian government canceling the cricket tour. The Sri Lankan squad, which agreed to tour Pakistan instead, was attacked by gunmen in Lahore in March 2009.
The thaw came only in November 2012 when the Pakistan cricket team arrived in India. While the T20 series was drawn 1-1, Pakistan won the ODI series 2-1. That turned out be the last time India and Pakistan faced each other in a bilateral series.
Multilaterals with increased scrutiny
While the Asia Cup 2025 being played in the UAE is under lens post the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor that followed, it is worth noting that its 2008 edition was the last time the ‘men in blue’ travelled to Pakistan.
What has changed over the years is the sense of animosity. For instance, India faced off against Pakistan in South Africa’s Centurion in September 2009—less than a year after the 26/11 attack—without much din. That was for the ICC Champions Trophy.
India went on to meet Pakistan on the cricket field, barely a few months after the Pulwama terror attack in February 2019. The two sides clashed at Manchester, England for the ICC Cricket World Cup in June. Similarly, the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy brought the teams together in England and Wales, after the terrorist attack in Uri and Pathankot.
However, these engagements came with a rider—the games were played at neutral venues for the Asia Cup tournaments in 2018, 2023 and 2025 as well.
A similar script played out during the Champions Trophy earlier this year when India stayed put in Dubai to play their matches, including the finals. At the same time, the remaining games took place in Pakistan. The decision was reached at last after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) protested the BCCI decision not to send the team to Pakistan.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Suryakumar Yadav was big news for TV anchors—his handshake snub to birthday wishes to Modi