Prior to India and Pakistan’s Champions Trophy 2025 match, Ravi Shastri has expressed his opinions on the fierce cricket rivalry between the two countries.
Ahead of their Champions Trophy 2025 match, former Indian cricketer Ravi Shastri shared his opinions on the fierce rivalry between India and Pakistan. Shastri feels the game has far more significance than Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of India, who previously minimized the match’s significance.
When Shastri was coaching India, he used to respond in the same way as Gambhir, viewing it as simply another game, according to an interview with The ICC Review. But he acknowledged that this fixture is truly unique.
“You must express it. But you secretly hope to win that. You’ll be reminded of it until your next match against Pakistan if you don’t,” Shastri said.
He added that no matter how many games India wins, people will only remember the losses against Pakistan.
“It can be a taxi driver, it could be anyone on the street. What happened to India? The same question to Pakistan. What happened to Pakistan? So it always plays on your mind,” he said.
Ricky Ponting, the legendary Australian cricketer, concurred with Shastri’s assertion that some rivalries are more advantageous than others.
“When India plays New Zealand, the build-up won’t be as big as when India plays Pakistan,” Ponting stated. “It’s not simply hoopla from the media. There is no doubt that players want to defeat some teams more than others.
Ponting said, “If you’re an Indian, you want to beat Pakistan more,” citing other well-known cricket rivalries. Being Pakistani means wanting to defeat India more. You want to beat England more if you’re Australian, and vice versa.
India and Pakistan will play each other on February 23 in Dubai as members of Group A of the Champions Trophy. They haven’t played here in an ICC tournament since 2021, when Pakistan defeated them by a margin of 10 wickets.
Shastri, meanwhile, thinks the outcome won’t change India’s perspective. It was a Twenty20 match. It’s a 50-over match.
“It is completely different,” he remarked.
Longer formats work better for India, Shastri said. “You can become agitated in T20. Experience and depth are crucial in 50-over cricket. India is a significantly superior and more seasoned side when compared man to man with Pakistan.
