Please don’t call Indo-Pak matches a rivalry: Suryakumar Yadav

Dubai: Having crushed Pakistan with consummate ease in the Asia Cup Super 4 match here, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav on Sunday urged everyone to stop calling the contests between the two nations a meaningful “rivalry.”

India and Pakistan have faced each other 15 times in T20Is, with the reigning world champions winning 12 of those encounters, and in the latest instance the Suryakumar-led side won by six wickets.

When a senior Pakistani journalist asked if the gulf in standards between the two sides had grown too wide, Suryakumar responded with a smile: “Sir, my request is that we should now stop calling India vs Pakistan matches a rivalry.”

When the scribe clarified that he was referring to “standards, not rivalry,” the Indian skipper quipped nonchalantly.

“Sir, rivalry and standard are all the same. Now what is a rivalry? If two teams have played 15 matches and it’s 8-7, that’s a rivalry. Here it’s 13-1 (12-3) or something. There is no contest,” he said before walking out of the media conference room with a grin.