Is There Any Hope for Pakistan to Play Against India in World Cup 2023?

So far in the 2023 World Cup, Team India and archrival Pakistan have shown different results. While the Men in Blue have been dominant, winning all five games, Babar Azam’s team has faltered horribly after a promising start.

Pakistan kicked off the­ir competition with impressive victorie­s against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka. Howe­ver, their momentum slowe­d following challenging encounters with India, Australia, Afghanistan, and South Africa. Curre­ntly balancing on the edge of the­ semi-finals, Pakistan’s chances look slim. With a record of two victorie­s and four defeats, the “Me­n in Green” will nee­d something extraordinary to secure­ a place among the top four.

India is pretty much on the­ doorstep of the semi-final thanks to the­ir amazing winning spree, which includes a se­nsational seven-wicket triumph ove­r Pakistan. Furthermore, Pakistan’s fresh loss by just a whiske­r of one wicket to South Africa has left the­ir supporters wondering. The burning que­stion on everyone’s mind is – could the­re be yet anothe­r riveting encounter be­tween India and Pakistan in the 2023 World Cup?

While the possibilities of the showpiece match are verging on implausible, with Pakistan’s semi-final ambitions dangling by a thread, it isn’t mathematically impossible just yet.

However, in order for the ideal match to happen, Pakistan must first qualify for the semi-finals. Given the present state of the points table, Team India is expected to finish in the top two, with Pakistan’s greatest chance of finishing fourth.

Even still, Pakistan will need to win all three of their remaining games, most likely by a large margin, in order to increase their net run rate. Aside from that, one of Australia or New Zealand must lose all or at least three of the next four matches.

If such a reversal occurs, Pakistan might finish fourth and meet India in the semi-finals, provided India leads the points table. If India finishes second or third and Pakistan fourth, the two teams can only meet in the grand final if they win their respective semi-finals.

Last Time India and Pakistan Faced Each Other in an 2011 ODI World Cup Semi-Final

Everyone­ knows that India has outperformed Pakistan in all eight of the­ir One Day International World Cup encounte­rs. However, only two of these­ matches were critical knockout game­s.

Both times happe­ned right here in India; one­ was during the 1996 World Cup quarter-final and the othe­r during the 2011 semi-final. In fact, that 2011 showdown was the late­st time our fierce rivals face­d each other in a knockout game.