IND vs PAK or the Ashes: Which is cricket’s biggest rivalry?

India versus Pakistan or the Ashes - which is the greatest rivalry in cricket history? It is a highly-debated and intriguing issue within the cricket fraternity as both the rivalries have emerged from distinct backdrops and managed to stand the test of time.

The India versus Pakistan rivalry was born from the partition of British India in 1947. The socio-political tension and the battle of one-upmanship has been on display since the first-ever cricket match between these two sides in October 1952.

Both teams have not met each other in a bilateral series since 2012-13 due to the strained relations between the two nations, however, the ICC (International Cricket Council) and ACC (Asian Cricket Council) have made it a point to keep them in the same group in the multi-national tournaments organised by them. Tickets are sold out in no time for the matches between India and Pakistan and the viewership numbers are always insane whenever the Men in Blue meet the Men in Green face off.

Both the countries are highly passionate about the sport and fans make it a point to fill the stands whenever and wherever these two teams play. While Pakistan have not beaten India too often in multi-national events, especially in the last decade, the rivalry continues to cause a spike in the adrenaline levels among the fans. It will not be wrong to say that the rivalry transcends the sport.

Coming to the Ashes, England and Australia are the age-old rivals on the cricket field. The rivalry, which dates back to 1882-83, oozes royalty. Australia beat England on English soil for the first time in 1882. The Sporting Times published a famous mock obituary: English cricket had "died" and "the ashes" would be taken to Australia. This sparked England's vow to "regain those Ashes" in the subsequent series in the 1882-83 season, leading to the legendary name of the historic rivalry.

While T20 leagues, including the IPL, have dominated the cricketing landscape in the recent years, the Ashes has remained the gold standard of Test cricket. Some closely-contested matches over the years have contributed immensely to making fans love the longest format of the game even more.

What do the former cricketers say?

“A cricket match involving arch-rivals India and Pakistan is the biggest extravaganza in sports... even the Ashes cannot match it," Sourav Ganguly told Cricbuzz.

“This rivalry is huge... probably bigger than the Ashes," Ravichandran Ashwin said while speaking to SportsCafe.in.

Shahid Afridi also opined that a five-match Test series between India and Pakistan is potentially "bigger than the Ashes" during an interview with The Indian Express while Tom Moody once stated that the hype around the India versus Pakistan rivalry has "surpassed the Ashes buzz" in an interview with India Today.

To conclude, both the rivalries deserve credit for having played an important role in making the sport as popular as it is today. However, the fact that India and Pakistan's rivalry extends beyond cricket and is equally engaging irrespective of formats gives it a slight edge.