When it comes to ICC tournaments, India vs Pakistan is often seen as the marquee clash of the tournament, even more so because the two teams have not played a bilateral series since 2012 owing to geopolitical tensions.
Now with the newly revamped format for the 2027 ODI World Cup and 2028 T20 World Cup as announced by ICC on Wednesday, there’s a chance that the highest revenue generating clash will be played more than once.
ODI WORLD CUP 2027
As per the revised guidelines, 12 teams from the participating 14 nations will progress to Super Seven stage, followed by new opening “Super Series” round featuring the teams ranked 12th, 13th and 14th which will determine one qualifier for the main competition.
The top four teams from the Super Seven Stage will then qualify for the semi-finals. Lets assume India and Pakistan are drawn in the same group in the opening round, as has been tradition in ICC tournaments.
Barring a few upsets against lower-ranked teams, both India and Pakistan will be widely expected to advance to the Super Seven stage. Since the Super Seven Stage is a round-robin format, India and Pakistan will most definitely face off against each other atleast twice in the 2027 edition.
Should the two teams make it to the semifinals, then the frequency will subsequently increase.
T20 WORLD CUP 2028
The 2028 World Cup will continue feature 20 teams like the previous edition but the teams will be split in five groups of four this time around.
Once again assuming India and Pakistan face off in the group stage, the top two of each group will progress to the Super 10 round.
There, the ten teams will be split in two groups of five, with the winner of both groups directly progressing to the semifinals.
The second and third-placed teams from the two groups will compete in two Eliminator matches with the winners of those will join the group winners of the Super 10 round in the semifinals.
Under this format as well, there’s a chance India and Pakistan could face off more than once.
Since the Super 10 stage will follow the seeding format based on the ICC rankings of the teams at the time, India and Pakistan could potentially be part of the same group at the Super 10 stage.
If that does not end up being in the case, should Pakistan and India not top their respective groups, a clash in one of the Eliminator would also be on the cards.
Thereafter, a meeting in the semifinal/final is also a possibility depending on how the other results in the tournament go.
Published on Jul 15, 2026
