Ravi Bopara opens up on India-Pakistan rivalry after Asia Cup 2025

Former England all-rounder Ravi Bopara reckons India doesn’t treat Pakistan as a threatening opponent as they have had a fantastic record against them in the recent past. India recently defeated Pakistan three times in the Asia Cup and won the continental tournament after registering a five-wicket win in the final against the arch-rivals at Dubai on Sunday.

The scales are hugely tilted in India’s favour as they have won the last seven matches against Pakistan, including both ODIs and T20Is. Bopara reckons India considers England, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand as major threats but Pakistan might be at the bottom of their list.

“I don’t think India see Pakistan as a major threat. They might see England as a major threat. They might see Australia or New Zealand or South Africa. Pakistan will be at the bottom of that list,” Bopara said on the Beards before Wicket podcast.

“The rivalry will be right at the top of the list, but in terms of cricketing quality, it’s different. I’m pretty sure in India’s dressing room, the talk is something like: ‘Let’s not take them too lightly today, let’s make sure we bury them.’ “In Pakistan’s dressing room, it’s probably more like: ‘Hey, one of us has to have a day out today and we’ll win,” he added.

Bopara reckons India and Pakistan have a different mindset, and the latter relies more on hope when they face the former.

“They don’t think they’re going to out-skill India. They just hope that if someone like Fakhar Zaman has a big day, that might be enough. But India’s mindset is completely different,” the former player said.

India has completely dominated Pakistan in the white-ball formats and there is no doubt that it has been a one-way traffic between the two teams.