India vs Pakistan – Ahmedabad, October 15
India’s first UNESCO World Heritage City, Ahmedabad is steeped in history and tradition. Sprawling on either bank of the Sabarmati, it is known for its rich heritage, art and crafts, cuisine and for being the home of many cotton mills for more than a century and a half.
The pitches are largely expected to be batter friendly, irrespective of whether the match is played on a red-soil surface or a black-soil track. Given that it’s early in the Indian season, the pitches could be lively enough to interest the pacers as well. The venue, though it now has a new avatar, has a special place in Indian cricket lore, since it was here that both Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev went past important milestones. It was also where India defeated Australia in the 2011 quarterfinal, Australia’s first defeat in a knockout game since the 1996 final.
Trivia: India have won both their home World Cup matches against Pakistan, a quarterfinal at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru in 1996, and the last-four clash at the PCA Stadium in Mohali in 2011.
India vs Pakistan head-to-head
| Matches | India Wins | Pakistan Wins | |
| Overall | 132 | 55 | 73 |
| In Ahmedabad | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| In World Cups | 7 | 7 | 0 |