- In the five occasions that India beat Pakistan in the 50-over World Cups between 1992 and 2011, Sachin Tendulkar won the man of the match award on three occasions – in 1992, 2003 and 2011.
- The only occasion India and Pakistan players came together to play as part of the same team was in 1996, when Australia and West Indies refused to tour Sri Lanka citing security concerns. A joint India-Pakistan team toured the island as a symbolic gesture.
- In the India-Pakistan joint team that toured Sri Lanka in 1996, it was decided that there would be an Indian captain and a Pakistani manager. Mohammed Azharuddin captained the team, while Intikhab Alam was the manager. Navjot Singh Sidhu was the twelfth man.
- The Pakistan tour of India in 1960-61 saw all five Tests drawn, and was the last series between the two countries for 17 years. There were two wars in the interim in 1965 and 1971. Cricket ties were once again resumed in 1978.
- Playing his last Test against Pakistan on a dustbowl in Bangalore in 1987, Sunil Gavaskar scored a fantastic 96 against Iqbal Qasim and company, but failed to save India from a narrow defeat. In the process, India lost the series 0-1.
- India and Pakistan came together for the first time in 1987 to jointly host the World Cup. This was the first occasion that the World Cup moved beyond English shores. Both India and Pakistan crashed out of the tournament in the semi-finals.
- In 1998, at the Independence Cup in Dhaka, the Indians recorded a world-record run chase against Pakistan in the final. Hrishikesh Kanitkar, with a last-over four, won the match for India, overhauling a Pakistani total of 314. Saurav Ganguly was the star for India with 124 in the final.
- In the inaugural match of the Asian Test Championship against Pakistan in Calcutta in 1999, India lost the match amidst much controversy by 38 runs. It was the first occasion in Test history when the police had to empty the ground for the game to go on.
- India’s 2004 tour to Pakistan was a series of many firsts. It was India’s first series win in Pakistan, first full series win away from home in 18 years, and also the first one-day series victory in Pakistan.
- Twice in the history of India Pakistan cricket, Pakistan have been reduced to six wickets down for under 50, and both times they have won the game. The first was in Kolkata in 1999, when Pakistan were 26-6, and the second was in Karachi in 2006, when Irfan Pathan took a hat-trick to reduce Pakistan to 39-6. Again, they won the game.
- In the India-Pakistan Test match in Kolkata in 1999, the crowd went berserk when Tendulkar was run out after a collision with Shoaib Akhtar. Finally, Jagmohan Dalmiya, the CAB President, had to get Tendulkar to appeal to the crowd to calm down so that the game could resume.
- At Multan in 2004, Shoaib Akhtar is said to have provoked Virender Sehwag after bowling consecutive short balls by saying “Maar, kya hua, maar [Hit, what happened? Hit]”. Sehwag responded by saying: “Bhikh maang raha hai yeh ball dal raha hai [Are you begging or bowling]?”
- In the 1992 World Cup in Australia, India were knocked out of the tournament in the group stage. The only silver lining was beating Pakistan. Tendulkar was man of the match for his 54 off 62 balls and 1-37 off 10 overs. The match is also remembered for Miandad’s famous frog jumps to mock Kiran More.
- The reason why Mushtaq Ali did not tour Australia as part of the Indian team in 1947-8 is interesting. One of the reasons cited was an illness in the family. The other was that he was undecided on whether to go to Pakistan, or stay on in India.
- There has only been one instance when Sachin has mentally imagined himself to be batting at both ends. It happened in the 1999 Test against Pakistan at Chennai. When India were reduced to 82-5, chasing 250-plus for victory, Sachin in the company of Nayan Mongia started imagining batting at both ends after every delivery to keep up his intensity.
- In the first ever bowl-out in a T20 World Cup match, India beat Pakistan in South Africa in 2007, after the two teams were tied at the end of the regulation 20 overs. India went on to win the cup beating Pakistan again in the final.
- Joginder Sharma will forever be remembered in India’s cricket history because it was he who picked the last wicket in the World T20 final in 2007. He had Misbah-ul-Haq out caught by Sreesanth at fine leg to give India victory.
- The India-Pakistan World Cup semi-final in Mohali witnessed the highest-ever television rating for a cricket match. It got a rating of 35.2, phenomenal in contemporary television history.
- Before he played his match-winning innings of 98 against Pakistan at Centurion in South Africa in 2003, Tendulkar had just a bowl of ice cream at the dinner break, and nothing else. He did not talk to anyone, and just listened to music in an attempt to concentrate.
- When the Pakistan team landed in India in 1999 for the Test series, they were whisked away from the airport via a backdoor. In the bus designated for the Pakistan team, a group of security personnel on duty were asked to travel in an attempt to hoodwink potential rabble-rousers.
- Shoaib Akhtar, who always felt an India-Pakistan game was special, felt Tendulkar played him the best during the 1999 World Cup. Akhtar said that while he was bowling at his best, the world’s No. 1 batsman was playing like that, and hence he had no chance despite bowling quite well.
- In the only IPL that Pakistan players were allowed to play in (2008), Sohail Tanvir won the purple cap for picking up the highest number of wickets in the tournament. He picked 22 wickets for the Rajasthan Royals.
- For a previous edition of the Asia Cup, the famous Pakistan fan, Chacha, known for his presence at multiple India-Pakistan contests, actually funded the Indian fan Sudhir Chaudhary’s trip to Dubai. This is a perfect example of cross-border bonhomie.
- The India-Pakistan series of one-day internationals for the Sahara Cup in Toronto in 1997-8 was played at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club. The matches were attended largely by the Indian and Pakistani expats in Canada.
- Cricket diplomacy isn’t something new in India-Pakistan history. While the Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers watched the World Cup semi-final in Mohali, Pakistan premier Zia-ul-Haq had come to Jaipur to watch a day of the Test in 1987 as an act of diplomacy.
The Previous Set of Anecdotes: Lost Jobs, Noor Jehan Ending Careers and Sledging a Bleeding Sachin – India-Pakistan Anecdotes