Familiar opposition: India’s five most frequent opponents in last decade
When it comes to flexing the muscles in global cricket, India is the undisputed superpower and its power is directly proportional to its revenue. The revenue, in turn, depends on the number of fixtures India play in. Thus unsurprisingly India is one of the busiest cricketing nations.
BCCI President Sourav Ganguly recently announced that India will be touring Sri Lanka before the World Test Championship final and the England tour. While it created many talking points regarding team selection, one of the talking points was India’s frequency of games against Sri Lanka. So here’s a deep dive into who have been India’s most frequent opponents in international cricket in the past decade (From 13th May 2011 to 13th May 2021).
5. New Zealand – 44 matches
Black Caps have been India’s 5th most frequent opponent in international cricket. These two teams have clashed the most in ODIs, they have played 22 ODIs since May 2011. New Zealand have the upper edge over India with 12 wins and 9 losses. The Asian team dominates the island nation in the other two formats.
4. Sri Lanka – 54 matches
Sri Lanka find themselves at the fourth spot as India’s most favourite opposition. And they have been thoroughly dominated by the Asian giant. In nine Tests, India have won six and lost only one. In 15 T20Is, India have been victorious on 11 occasions. In 30 ODI encounters, India lead 23-6.
3. West Indies – 68 matches
The Caribbean team has faced India in 68 international matches and has won on only 13 occasions. While India have an overwhelming majority over West Indies in the limited-overs formats, their domination in Tests is unreal. In their 16 Tests since 2011, West Indies have not been able to defeat India even once. India have won 13 times while three matches ended in a draw.
2. England – 76 matches
England have been the most improved side in limited-overs cricket in the decade gone by. They became the ODI World Champions for the first time in 2019. However, India still have an upper hand over them in ODIs and T20Is. The Asian team leads 17-13 in 32 ODIs while they have 9 victories in 17 T20Is. England have 14 Test victories over India as compared to India’s 10 wins. These two teams will play another 5-match Test series in this English summer.
1. Australia – 81 matches
Australia have been India’s most frequent opponent in international cricket in the last decade. They have battled in 24 Tests with India winning 10 and Australia winning 9 of them. Australia have a slender lead over India in 38 ODIs with 19 wins and 17 losses. India have a decisive edge over the Kangaroos in the 20-over format with 11 victories and 7 losses.
