First things first, what is the fuss all about the Fantasy Cricket?
What is Fantasy Cricket?
A part of the fantasy sports genre is fantasy cricket. Fantasy Cricket is an online game in which a team of players is selected virtually. After selecting the players, points are scored based on the performance of all those players in real-life matches. In order to win a tournament, a player has to achieve maximum points in a fantasy cricket league and get to the leaderboard in the fantasy cricket app.
A match of fantasy cricket is based on the bowling and batting orders. This is considered to be the most debatable part of the cricketing strategy. Even if there is a slight change in the order, it can cause a great change in the game.
How to play Fantasy Cricket?
You can play fantasy cricket by selecting 11 players and 3 substitutes from the pool of players. In some fantasy cricket app and fantasy cricket sites, there are certain patterns that have to be followed while selecting the team. While in some fantasy cricket websites, there are no budget caps as well as no limitation on selecting a particular number of bowlers, batsmen, and all-rounders.
For instance, some fantasy cricket app has a fixed pattern, which could be 5 batsmen, 2 all-rounders, 1 wicket-keeper, and 3 bowlers. The main aim of online fantasy cricket is to outscore the opposition by an as bigger margin as possible. Fantasy cricket game is played in all the formats of cricket such as One-Day International, Test Cricket, and Twenty20.
History of India-Pakistan Rivalry
In cricket, India-Pakistan matches have been very interesting and thrilling. The rivalry between India and Pakistan is even visible in the cricket matches. There have been 7 major encounters of India and Pakistan over a span of 17 years. Let us have a look at all the 7 encounters.
1992
The Benson and Hedges World Cup 1992 began a new era of ODI cricket by introducing white balls, floodlights, colored kits, and fielding restrictions. It was also the first time when India and Pakistan met in World Cup history.
Team India batted first and scored 216/7. The Indian cricket team was led by the young Sachin Tendulkar, where he scored an impressive 54*(62). This was when Sachin Saga had begun. Pakistan had lost two wickets in the early stage, but the opener Aamer Sohail scored 62 (95). Javed Miandad had scored a knock of 40 runs, but in the end, Pakistan folded up for 173.
1996
The second clash of the two rivals in the World Cup was during the quarterfinals. Indian cricket team elected to bat first in the Chinnaswamy Stadium. India batted very well and put up a score of 287/8. Navjot Singh Sidhu’s scored a brilliant 93 while Ajay Jadeja scored a quick 45 in 25 deliveries.
Pakistan started well by scoring 84 in the first 10 overs with Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar on the crease. The captain Aamer Sohail tried to hit a boundary through the covers but missed it, and the off-stump was tossed with the ball. This was the first blow for Pakistan and India never stopped after that. India won the match by 39 runs.
1999
India and Pakistan played in the Super Six stage of the 1999 World Cup. Mohammad Azharuddin and Wasim Akram led their sides. Team India had a steady start before losing its opener in the early stage. Rahul Dravid remained stable on the crease and had crucial partnerships with Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar before he got out for 61. Team India put up a total of 227/6.
The Pakistan team had no chance due to the fantastic bowling by the Indian team. Venkatesh Prasad had amazing bowling figures of 5-27. Pakistan could only score 180.
2003
Pakistan batted first against India for the first time in the 2003 World Cup at Centurion. Pakistan had a steady start before losing a clutch of wickets. Saeed Anwar stayed on the crease and scored a century due to which Pakistan was able to put up a total of 273.
India had never chased a total above 222 in World Cup, and here they had to chase 273 against the fiery trio Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, and Waqar Younis.
Sachin Tendulkar came to bat and got off to a blistering start by a flurry of boundaries in the Centurion stadium. Tendulkar departed after a classic inning of 98 from 75 balls. He got the Man of the Series award in the 2003 World Cup. Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid managed to guide team India towards victory, with 26 balls remaining.
2011
India and Pakistan met after eight long years in the World Cup Semi-finals at Mohali. Indian cricket team had a great start due to Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. Sehwag got out in the 6th over. Tendulkar was dropped 4 times by Pakistan’s fielders at 27, 45, 70, and 81. Tendulkar scored 85. Suresh Raina scored 36, and team India managed to put up a total of 261.
Pakistan opener Mohammad Hafeez scored 43. Pakistan ended up with 29 runs short of winning, and India picked up its second World Cup at Wankhede by winning the finals against Sri Lanka.
2015
India clashed against Pakistan in the group stage in World Cup 2015. Team India batted first but lost Rohit Sharma during the early stage. Virat Kohli came out to bat and put up an excellent show for the Adelaide crowd. Virat scored a century and got out at 107 off 126 balls. Shikhar Dhawan 73(76) and Suresh Raina 74(56) helped team India to put up 300 on the board.
The Pakistan batsmen failed to score except Misbah-ul-Haq, who scored 76 off 84 balls. MS Dhoni showed great captaincy while the bowlers restricted Pakistan for 224 in 47 overs. Mohammed Shami had the best figures of 4-35.
2019
India encountered Pakistan in Manchester in the 2019 World Cup. India came out to bat. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul put up a dominating opening partnership of 136 runs before KL Rahul got out for 57. Rohit Sharma scored his second century of the 2019 world cup. He also managed to put up a partnership of 98 runs with Virat Kohli. Team India managed to put up a mighty total of 336-5.
There were slight chances for the Pakistan team when Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman put up 104 runs partnership for the 2nd wicket. But that hope was gone when Kuldeep dismissed both of them in a span of 2 overs. The match had several delays due to rain, but ultimately India came home with a victory.
In total, India and Pakistan had 7 encounters in the World Cup. India has been successful in winning all the 7 times against Pakistan.
Important Events for India-Pakistan Matches
Mushtaq Ahmed was the former leg-spinner of Pakistan. He called for the resumption of cricketing ties between Pakistan and India. He wants both countries to improve their relationship. There have been no bilateral series between India and Pakistan after 2012-13 when India had hosted 3 ODIs and 2 T20s.
According to Mushtaq Ahmed, India and Pakistan should play more of bilateral series and forget about the rivalry. India and Pakistan’s matches have always been huge, and he also said that they are even bigger than Ashes.
As per the statistics, India and Pakistan have played 58 Tests out of which India won 9 tests, Pakistan won 11 tests, and 38 were drawn. Similarly, 65 ODIs have been played, out of which India won 27 matches, Pakistan won 36 matches, and 2 were drawn. 2 T20s have been played where both the teams have won 1 match.
Notable Players in Indian Cricket Team
- Sachin Tendulkar
Tendulkar is considered to be the god of cricket and also the best batsmen in the world. He has scored 100 centuries together in the test, and ODIs. - Virat Kohli
Virat is the only batsmen to score 5 centuries in a row. He has scored 10000 runs in the shortest time. He has hit the fastest 13 centuries. He is considered to be the next Sachin. - MS Dhoni
Dhoni is the only captain to lift all the ICC trophies. He is the perfect finisher, and team India has been able to win 2 world cups under his captaincy.
Notable Players in Pakistan Cricket Team
- Shahid Afridi
He is known to be the game-changer for Pakistan. He is a match-winning player with more than 8000 runs in ODI. - Imran Khan
He was the man who took Pakistan towards winning the World Cup. Imran Khan scored more than 7000 runs together in tests and ODIs. - Wasim Akram
He was known as the King of Swing. Wasim Akram had managed to get more than 900 wickets together in tests and ODIs.
Highlights about recent matches for India and Pakistan
India
The most recent match for team India is the 1st ODI against West Indies. India is playing an ODI series against West Indies. India had put up a score of 287/8, and West Indies managed to score 291/2 in 47.5 overs. West Indies won against India in the 1st ODI. This is a 3-match ODI series, and before this India and West Indies played a 3-match T20 series in which India won by 2-1.
Pakistan
Pakistan had finished the 3-match T20 series against Australia in which Australia won by 2-0 and 2-match test series against Australia in which Australia won by 2-0. Pakistan played the 1st test against Sri Lanka in which the results were drawn. It is going to be a 2-match Test series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
