Usman Khan of Pakistan bats during the ICC Men's T20 Cricket World Cup West Indies & USA (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
It is the greatest cricketing rivalry of all-time! It is the mother and father of all battles. It is the El-Classico of international cricket. It is one of the most watched sport encounters across the world. India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan in the Group A clash in the 2025 Champions Trophy in Dubai on Sunday and it is expected to be a blockbuster. While India have dominated their neighbours in ICC events, it is Pakistan who have a better head to head in the Champions Trophy. They defeated India in the 2017 final at The Oval in London which was incidentally the last edition of the tournament.
As these two cricketing giants again lock horns in another marquee contest, RG looks at 10 insightful numbers which could define this mega encounter.
3-2: Pakistan hold the edge against India in the ICC Champions Trophy
Pakistan hold the edge in the Champions Trophy against India with a 3-2 head to head record. It is the only ICC event where they have a marginal advantage against their arch-rivals. In the World Cups (50-over and T20 WC), India have dominated Pakistan and hold a staggering 15-1 head to head record!
61.5% : Pakistan’s Loss Percentage in Dubai
Pakistan do not have a great record at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium and have lost 8 of their 13 matches at the venue. India, on the other hand, have won six of their seven matches at the venue.
5-0: The head to head in favour of India in the last five matches
India have dominated Pakistan in the last five ODI matches between the two countries and hold a 5-0 record. They have won all the encounters by massive margins – three by a margin of seven or more wickets, one by 89 runs and another by 228 runs!
2639 – Gill is the leading run-scorer in ODIs since 2022
Shubman Gill is the highest run-getter in ODI cricket since 2022. He has an aggregate of 2639 runs in 48 innings at an average of 66 and strike rate of 101.65 with eight hundreds!
34 – Haris Rauf’s tally of wickets in the death overs since 2021
No bowler from a major cricket-playing nation has picked more wickets than Haris Rauf’s 34 in the death overs in ODIs since 2021.
128.39 – Rohit Sharma’s strike rate in the powerplay since 2023
Rohit Sharma’s strike rate of 123.98 is the second-best in the powerplay only after Travis Head in ODIs since 2023. The Indian skipper has re-defined the batting template for India at the top of the order in white-ball cricket with the mantra on maximizing runs rather than on preserving wickets. Rohit was instrumental in taking India to the final in the 2023 World Cup at home and then played a pivotal role in their triumph at the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.
6.47 – India’s run-rate in the powerplay in ODIs since 2023
Led by the dynamic Rohit Sharma, India have revolutionized batting in the powerplay in white-ball cricket since the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE. India has the highest run-rate in the first six overs (6.47) in ODI cricket since 2023.
25.4 – Shami has the best strike rate in ODI history
Mohammed Shami picked five wickets in the tournament opener against Bangladesh. His bowling strike rate of 25.4 is the best ever in ODI history (150 wickets). He became the fastest bowler to 200 ODI wickets in terms of balls delivered. The veteran Indian pacer reached the landmark in 5126 balls surpassing Mitchell Starc who took 5240 deliveries to reach the milestone.
115 – The average runs conceded by Pakistan in the last 10 overs in last 3 ODIs
Pakistan have been guilty of leaking runs in the death overs in their last three ODI encounters – significantly all at home. They were tonked for 110 by South Africa at Karachi before getting plundered for 113 by New Zealand at the same venue. New Zealand then smashed them for 123 in the 2025 Champions Trophy opener in Lahore.
4/7 – Shaheen Afridi has dismissed Rohit four times in seven innings
Rohit Sharma has had his problems across formats against left-arm pacers who can swing and seam the new ball. Shaheen Afridi has dismissed him two times in four matches in ODIs. The left-armer has also had the wood over Rohit in T20Is having seen the back of him twice in three innings.
Nikhil Narain
