"Ek bar fir mouka mouka" - Twitter reacts as India set to lock horns with Pakistan once again in ICC T20 World Cup 2022

India will lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan once again at the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 on October 23 at the picturesque Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on January 21 (Friday) announced the schedule for the next edition of the global T20 event.

The two neighboring nations are placed in Group B alongside South Africa, Bangladesh and two other qualifying teams. Group A, on the other hand, has hosts Australia, New Zealand, England, Afghanistan along with two other qualifiers.

After a lopsided outing in the last edition of the T20 World Cup, both teams will play each other yet again in their first game of the tournament. The Super 12 clash will have emotions at an all-time high as both teams will look to start their campaign on a winning note, in their quest for World Cup glory.

Fans from both sides of the border were certainly ecstatic and flooded social media platforms with their messages as soon as the fixtures were out.

What happened when India last played Pakistan in a T20 World Cup game?

Babar Azam & Co finally ended their losing streak against the Men in Blue in World Cup tournaments the last time they played India. Pakistan beat their arch-rivals comprehensively by 10 wickets at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Shaheen Afridi ran riot with the new ball, removing openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul cheaply. But an outstanding half-century from Virat Kohli and a valuable 39-run innings from Rishabh Pant propelled India to a challenging total of 151/7.

But Pakistan's openers, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, produced a magnificent batting performance. They chased down the total with over two overs to spare. Rizwan was the more devastating of the two, finishing with 79 while Babar remained unbeaten on 68.

So far, they have locked horns against each other on six occasions in World Cup tournaments. The Men in Blue have won on five occasions while Pakistan ended their losing streak in 2021.

About the author

Ankush is a cricket journalist at Sportskeeda covering news, listicles, features, and exclusives. A graduate in Commerce and an accountant by qualification, Ankush followed his true calling for sports journalism, and today, has over 8 years of experience having working for the likes of Sportzwiki and Cricfit. Ankush places a very high emphasis on factual accuracy in his articles and believes in representing the true image of the story. Writing in the simplest and most easy-to-understand language possible, especially for those not well-versed with English, is one of his strengths.

Ankush, who captained his state in the National School games, is a big fan of Ravichandran Ashwin. He admires his unconventional thinking and his eagerness to keep learning despite being a legend of the game. His favorite cricket team is Australia because of their mentality and fighting spirit, and them beating India in the 2003 World Cup final left a lasting impression on him.

Apart from watching and covering cricket, Ankush also likes to read books whenever possible.

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