ISLAMABAD: Online streaming platform Netflix announced this week it would release its highly anticipated documentary profiling the fierce cricket rivalry between India and Pakistan on Feb. 7, weeks before the Champions Trophy tournament gets underway.
India and Pakistan enjoy one of the fiercest sports rivalries when it comes to cricket. Separated after partition in 1947, both nuclear-armed countries have fought three wars against each other over the past seven decades, with diplomatic ties between them remaining mostly bitter.
The political tensions make for an enthralling contest every time the two teams take a cricket field against each other. India and Pakistan clashes have been the biggest, quickest-selling and most anticipated matches of every multilateral cricket tournament, drawing thousands to stadiums across the globe and millions to TV sets worldwide.
Netflix announced it would release its upcoming sports documentary titled: “The Greatest Rivalry: India vs Pakistan” on Feb. 7. The poster of the documentary features former Indian batters Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag walking toward a cricket pitch with members of the Pakistan cricket team huddled together.
“Two nations. One epic Rivalry. 1.6 Billion prayers,” Netflix wrote in an Instagram post on Monday. “Come witness the thrill of a legacy like no other in The Greatest Rivalry: India vs Pakistan, arriving on 7th February, only on Netflix.”
The trailer of the documentary features interviews from Sehwag and former Pakistan bowling great Waqar Younis, both talking about swing bowling.
“Once the batsmen they started knowing about the reverse swing and they were also smart,” Younis says in the trailer. “So they were keeping a really close eye on the shiny side. So what we tried to do then was, we started hiding it.”
The last time India and Pakistan faced each other was at New York’s Nassau County Stadium on June 9 in the T20 World Cup. India beat Pakistan in a last-over victory, beating the green shirts by six runs in a thrilling encounter.
Both rivals are set to face each other in the Champions Trophy ODI fixture scheduled to take place in Pakistan in February. However, India will not tour Pakistan for the tournament but face the cricket rivals in Dubai on Feb. 23.
Political tensions have kept both cricket teams from touring each other’s countries over the past couple of years and playing against one another at neutral venues only during ICC tournaments.
India’s national cricket team has not toured Pakistan since 2008 due to soured political relations. Pakistan hosted the Asia Cup in 2023 but was forced to shift all of India’s matches to Sri Lanka under a “hybrid model” after India refused to send its team to Pakistan.
After India announced it will not send its team to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy tournament, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced in December that India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 cycle will be played at a neutral venue.
