ICC Champions Trophy: India vs Pakistan – June 4 could give rebirth to Virat Kohli vs Mohammad Amir rivalry

New Delhi: It was the first over of their innings. Mohammad Amir brewing up with confidence, steamed in for his third delivery on a somewhat lively Mirpur wicket. He had just outfoxed opener Rohit Sharma with an incredible length delivery that zipped through to crash onto his pads. Virat Kohli walked in next, and was the new batsman at crease. Amir changed his line and length, and bowled a fuller delivery well outside off. It nicked the outside edge and whistled down to third man. Virat got off the mark with a single and that is where it all began.

India-Pakistan have long been tagged as arch-rivals as far as the Gentlemen's game goes. Walking decades down the history of 22 yards, Pakistan had gained their Test status way back in 1952. India were their first opponents. Captivating on the absence of pacer Khan Mohammad and most importantly, few quality spinners, India registered victory in the first Test.

It was then, almost 65 years ago. The rivalry has changed since then. Although not for the fans, who still tear their vocal chords out on terms of patriotism. In terms of cricket, yes indeed. Since the mid 70s India-Pakistan match revolved mostly around fiery Pakistan pacers attacking the classy Indian batting line-up.

A Birth to a new side of their rivalry

If only one could recollect the 1978-79 season. After a long gap of 18 years, India flew aside to Pakistan for ODI-Test tour. Edging past the visitors in the ODI series, Pakistan continued their dominance over dicey Indian batting line-up in the Test series too. Sunil Gavaskar was the lone man battling for the neighbouring country as Imran Khan and Sarfraz Nawaz delivered scintillating pace on a rather slower wicket to topple down India in the second Test match.

With the emergence of Kapil Dev, India avenged their thirst on home soil. Banking on the internal collision in the visiting team, coupled with the absence of Nawaz, Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar fought hard to keep the Pakistanis at bay. Despite a hard fought battle in the final test, Pakistan failed to pull one back as India stood tall 2-0 at the end of a six match Test series.

Most glorifying battle of all – The Akhtar-Sachin rivalry

The rivalry then shifted to the generation that followed. While for Pakistan, bowling artillery looked more like left-arm crackler Wasim Akram, skipper Waqar Younis and then Rawalpindi express Shoaib Akhtar. And for the Indian top order changed to Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, aggressive Virender Sehwag, Rahul 'The Wall' Dravid, skipper Sourav Ganguly and finally calm and patient VVS Laxman.

Speaking for the fans, they all did surely remember every bullet of a delivery that was delivered down by Akhtar to the Little Master. Yes, the former may have made his debut back in 1997, but he thumped his image on world map in 1999 when he struck down Dravid and Sachin off two consecutive yorker deliveries. Both blurred in pace, swung in through the air and rattled the stumps as Akhtar had bent down exhaling overwhelmingly.

Another glorifying moment, goes back to the 2003 World Cup. The second instance of their classy battle on world stage. With Pakistan setting a target of 275 runs, openers Tendulkar and Sehwag had the job to give India, the initial momentum. And the task to cease their existence at the crease, Shoaib was with the new ball. But Sachin, it seems, had a different strategy all together. Using the paced up deliveries coming from the other end, the opener lashed down each to the boundary. The seamer's breezing pace vapourised to the mere wizardry that was carved by Sachin. 98 off 75 and finally Akhtar struck him down, but the damage was done already.

The newest of its kind

Moving down the rivalry chart is what is reserved for Generation Next. Virat Kohli vs Mohammad Amir. The first of its instance was seen in the Asia Cup tournament 2016.

A true revelation for the Pakistani pace attack, Amir jumped to world fame at an early part of his career. But soon stumbled down to low below, in 2010, when he was caught in the whirlwind of betting scandal and that kept him off the game. Marking a ravishing return in 2016, in a pre-tournament series, Amir was one-on-one against the 'Run Machine', Virat Kohli. The latter was already then credited as the best batsman in the world.

Set in the background of Shere Bangla National Stadium, Pakistan ran out within 83 after being put to bat first. Surely looked like a piece of cake for the Indians. 83 runs off just 120 deliveries at a run rate of just 4.15 – it was just a matter of time that India would crumble down Pakistani hopes. And they did, after picking themselves up from the hustle they faced in the first half of their innings– courtesy Mohammad Amir.

The 25-year-old's late swingers going at dead speed, outfoxed both the openers, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane and crashed onto their pads to dismiss them of a leg-before wicket. Suresh Raina, his third victim, too failed to judge the line and length, as India stood at 8/3 after the first over. It was then that Virat walked in to the rescue. Amir looking to hunt down another, continued with his incredibility with the ball, but Virat showed why he is the best in the world.

The first 15 deliveries did indeed trouble the Delhi-based batsman, but soon he gained momentum and what followed was another piece of masterclass from the youngster. His lone struggle of 49 runs off 71 deliveries was enough to nullify Pakistani pace attack as India won by 5 wickets.

In the post match presentation, Kohli said, "I would like to complement Mohammad Amir for the way he bowled. I actually congratulated him while he was bowling. I was so happy to play such an amazing spell. He is a world-class bowler."

The battled continued, but now at larger platform. The stage World Cup T20, the venue was Eden Gardens. Much went round, as usual, prior to the much-anticipated India-Pakistan match, but headlines were different. Apart form the basic rivalry between the two neighbouring countries, fans were more interested in seeing a version 2.0 of 'Amir vs Virat'.

Once again put to bat first Pakistan, this time got 118 in a rain-truncated knockout stage tie. Amir was given the new ball, hoping that he can emulate his Asia Cup feat there in Eden. For the first three overs, India were off to a slow start as Amir's late swingers once again thwarted the Indian openers. Rohit Sharma remained his sole victim of the day. Kohli too failed to create much damage on the pacer as he managed only a single boundary off his last delivery. In the end, the 28-year-old managed to notch up a half-century as India crawled into the next stage defeating Pakistan by six wickets.

That was the last of their rivalry that the fans were perhaps blessed to see. The stories of their battle soon disappeared from newspapers and talk shows, but it stayed dormant within them. With the ICC Champions Trophy just round the corner, the two nations have got the privilege to witness another classy version of their rivalry.

On a seamer friendly English track, Amir will once again be expected to be at his best. While Virat will have to sort of test his condition at England, with the memories of the 2014 series still afresh in his mind.

So June 4 is the date, with the two young guns expected to go all blazing against each other, with conditions more favouring the pacer. What will thus unveil is still remains mystery.