Last Updated:February 22, 2025, 20:19 IST

Why have India-Pakistan matches become ‘friendly’ without any send-offs, sledging or controversies? Wahab Riaz explains.

From the Aamir Sohail-Venkatesh Prasad send-off to Gautam Gambhir’s fights with Shahid Afridi and Harbhajan Singh’s altercation with Shoaib Akhtar — the India-Pakistan cricket journey has historically seen many heated, passionate moments which has made it an unmissable rivalry.

But in recent years, such moments have disappeared, even though matches have been quite competitive otherwise. In fact, some pundits and fans on both sides of the border have even accused their teams of being ‘too friendly’ with each other, sharing laughs instead of sledges.

News18 CricketNext asked former Pakistani bowler Wahab Riaz, a JioHotstar Expert, about the reasons behind this change.

“I believe [it is the] ICC rules and regulations,” Riaz said, addressing the media prior to the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 clash between India and Pakistan. “They are very strict on the things that are going on the field and especially off-field. I think that has cut down the deep, intense, situations where the aggression was there and we used to talk to each other. So I believe it’s all about the ICC rules and regulations that have taken away that part from the game.”

The last time things got a bit fiery between the two teams was during the 2017 Champions Trophy final, the last time they met in the tournament, where Pakistan stunned India to win the title.

Pakistan can definitely bounce back: Wahab Riaz

Speaking further in the interaction, Riaz backed Pakistan to ‘bounce back’ after the 60-run defeat to New Zealand with a better performance against India, though he hoped they keep their minds in the ‘present moment’.

“They (Pakistan) can definitely bounce back by winning against India. Hopefully, they can perform. Pakistan can win the match but the best thing is that it is the perfect platform to give their best,” he said. “We need to stay at the present moment, the team that absorbs pressure well, and not think and live in the present moment will win… Pakistan played well in patches, but consistency (was) missing. They didn’t play ODIs much, played T20s more,” he added.

The highly-anticipated clash will begin at 2:30 pm IST.