In both ODI and T20 formats, India and PAK lead the chart
The Asia Cup 2025 is here, with India aiming to defend the title and increase its trophy tally. However, it is incredibly hard to determine the outcomes of India’s matches or predict India’s victory in the tournament. Although one can definitely go back in time and recall times when India displayed pure dominance on the field, winning matches by massive margins.
Before India’s campaign opener, let us recall some of those massive victories with the hope that India will recreate the same aura in the upcoming games.
256 runs
(Credit- ESPN Cricinfo)
Hong Kong isn’t a team that one can associate with cricket even in 2025, so one can imagine how things were in 2008. India has always been a cricket-playing nation, and therefore, the team did not hold back against a minnow like Hong Kong. Opening first, India scored 374 runs, which, to be honest, wasn’t great given Hong Kong’s stature. However, it was the bowling line-up that rattled Hong Kong, bundling them in merely 118 runs. India won by a massive 256-run gap.
228 runs
The second and third positions are held by PAK’s two massive victories. Fourth belongs to India when the team secured an epic victory against PAK in Colombo in 2023. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul scored 122 and 111 runs, respectively, and helped India post a target of 356 runs. On the other hand, Kuldeep Yadav grabbed five wickets and brought down PAK, bundling them for 128 runs. This was India’s largest ODI victory against PAK in terms of run margin.
116 runs
(Credit- WION)
In 2004, India met the United Arab Emirates at Dambulla for a day/night match. Batting first, the Indian openers surprisingly faltered, but the middle order took the reins and stabilised the innings. Sourav Ganguly scored 56, but the star of the match was Rahul Dravid with his 104 runs that helped India score 260 runs at the expense of six wickets. In response, the Indian bowling line-up wrapped up the UAE within 144 runs, securing a victory by 116 runs.
101 runs
(Credit- The Bridge)
Moving on to the T20 format, India holds the second place with a victory margin of 101 runs, whereas arch-rival PAK stands at the top with 155 runs. India’s 101-run victory came against Afghanistan in 2022. This is the match in which Virat Kohli scored his 71st international century. Not to forget, this century came after a lean patch of nearly three years. It must be mentioned that this century is the only century Virat Kohli has ever scored in his T20 international career, which saw him play 125 games. Afghanistan was bundled for 111 runs, and India won the game by 101 runs.
Last but not least, in the top 10, India has two more victories, but given T20 rarely allows big victories, given the lesser number of overs, the two victories are by margins of 45 and 40 runs against Bangladesh and Hong Kong, respectively.
