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In sport, sometimes there is no better way to prepare for a fierce rivalry than watching reruns or reading summaries of previous heart-stopping encounters.

And in cricket, there is no bigger rivalry than India vs Pakistan.

The sport’s history is embellished with historic India-Pakistan clashes at every tournament and in every decade.

With the teams set to meet again in the T20 Asia Cup 2025, Al Jazeera Sport picks the three India-Pakistan Asia Cup classics you must revisit before Sunday’s encounter:

2010: Harbhajan is a last-over hero with the bat

The 2010 edition of the Asia Cup was a four-team tournament played entirely in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, where all teams played a round-robin group stage, with the top two progressing to the final.

India beat Bangladesh while Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka, making their June 19 encounter a must-win for the Shahid Afridi-led side.

Pakistan opened with a 71-run partnership between Salman Butt and Imran Farhat. A par total of 267 followed the regular fall of wickets thereafter. India’s fast-medium seamer Praveen Kumar picked up three wickets, but it was Ravindra Jadeja’s left-arm spin that kept Pakistan in check.

Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag opened the batting for India’s chase, and while Sehwag fell after an uncharacteristically slow innings, Gambhir kept going as captain MS Dhoni chipped in with a half-century.

India seemed well set before Pakistan’s spinners struck in the last third of their innings. Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Dhoni and Jadeja fell in quick succession, leaving India reeling at 219-6 with 49 runs required off 29 balls.

Lower-order batter Suresh Raina had the responsibility to take India home alongside off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. Raina hit Ajmal for 12 off 4 before three economical overs from Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Amir.

With eight runs to defend in the final over, Amir made a near-perfect start as Raina ran a single. In a desperate attempt to get back on strike, Raina had a mix-up with Harbhajan and was run out, giving Pakistan the upper hand. India needed seven off four, with Kumar facing Amir. A double and a single brought Harbhajan back on strike for the final two balls.

Harbhajan, who had an altercation with Akhtar a few balls earlier, swung at a length delivery, clearing midwicket for a huge six. The Turbanator then turned towards Akhtar and let out a loud roar as the Indian dressing room celebrated wildly.

India were in the final and Pakistan were nearly out.

Brief scorecard

Pakistan: 267 in 49.3 overs – Salman Butt 74 (85), Kamran Akmal 51 (41); Praveen Kumar 3-53 in 10 overs.
India: 271 in 49.5 overs – Gautam Gambhir 83 (97), MS Dhoni 56 (71); Saeed Ajmal 3-56 in 10 overs.

2014: Afridi seals it with two sixes and a kiss

The round-robin format continued for the 2010 tournament in Bangladesh.

By the time India faced Pakistan, both teams had one win and one loss and needed a win to bolster their chances for a spot in the final.

Runs flowed off Rohit Sharma’s bat on a quick Mirpur outfield, and India seemed on their way to a big total despite losing Shikhar Dhawan early. Virat Kohli joined Rohit in smashing the Pakistani pacers.

While Rohit went his merry way, India were dealt a blow when Umar Gul dismissed Kohli for five. Regular wickets slowed India’s scoring rate, but they still posted 245, thanks to a late flourish by Ambati Rayudu and Jadeja.

Pakistan’s top-order, particularly Mohammad Hafeez, gave them a good start to the chase. However, it wasn’t long before India’s spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra forced a collapse worthy of Pakistani renown. Four batters were dismissed in the space of 42 runs.

Hafeez began the rebuild with Sohaib Maqsood in an 87-run partnership, but both were dismissed in consecutive overs, leaving Pakistan reeling at 203-6 off 45. Maqsood’s run out, in particular, was a gift for India after a huge mid-pitch mix-up with Shahid Afridi, just after Pakistan took the upper hand.

Afridi, the last recognised batter, was joined by Gul as Pakistan required 43 off 30 with four wickets standing. Every Afridi swing of his bat was met with trepidation as the all-rounder was known for attempting big shots irrespective of the match situation.

At first, he targeted Jadeja, hitting him for a four and a six in the 46th. The following over, from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, also brought two boundaries before Mohammad Shami kept Pakistan quiet in the 48th.

Kumar’s next over, with two wickets and just three runs, all but ended Pakistan’s hopes as Afridi watched on from the non-striker’s end.

The final over was handed to Ashwin, who had taken 2-31 in his nine overs thus far. The wily spinner gave India the perfect start by bowling Ajmal first up. Pakistani fans held their heads in disbelief while India’s celebrated wildly.

Junaid Khan was last in, and he played a perfect dab to pinch a single, bringing Afridi back on strike.

With nine needed off four, the stadium held its breath knowing Afridi could sway the match either way.

As Ashwin began his delivery stride, Afridi stepped back and swung hard at a short ball. The connection between was by no means ideal, but Afridi’s power cleared the ropes.

Afridi again gave himself room with the ball pitched closer to his body, but when has that ever stopped Afridi from playing a risky shot? Another wild swing skied the ball, but it again cleared the boundary.

Ashwin was all hands-on-head as the Indian team stood in disbelief.

Afridi was all arms lifted wide in his trademark star-man celebration as Junaid embraced him. A delighted Afridi gave Junaid a quick kiss on the cheek before the star all-rounder was mobbed by his teammates.

Brief scorecard

India: 245-8 in 50 overs – Rohit Sharma 56 (58), Ravindra Jadeja 52 (49); Saeed Ajmal 3-40 in 10 overs.
Pakistan: 249-9 in 49.4 overs – Mohammad Hafeez 75 (117), Shahid Afridi 34 (18); Ravichandran Ashwin 3-44 in 9.4 overs.

2016: Kohli trumps Amir in low-scoring thriller

The Asia Cup 2016 was the first played as a T20 and produced one-sided group games until India met Pakistan in the fourth match of the round-robin stage.

Pakistan lost Hafeez to the fourth ball of the match.

A poor umpiring decision, with Khurram Manzoor surviving a caught-behind, left India furious. However, Dhoni’s team didn’t have to wait too long for Manzoor’s departure as Afridi’s men continued to struggle on a low-scoring pitch, losing wickets in every other over.

In a total of 83, Sarfaraz Ahmed’s 25 was Pakistan’s only saving grace. Hardik Pandya led the attack with three wickets, but each of India’s bowlers chipped in, including a then-fresh-faced Jasprit Bumrah.

The chase was seemingly simple, given India’s power-packed batting. Mohammad Amir, playing his first Asia Cup since returning to the team following his cricket corruption-linked ban, had other plans.

The left-arm pacer made a near-perfect start, striking Rohit’s toes with a swinging yorker, only for it to be adjudged not out. There was no surviving the following inswinger, which struck the pads.

Kohli was next in to face the pumped-up Amir, swinging the ball to his will. A single switched strike with Ajinkya Rahane’s first ball ending up being his last, Amir swinging the ball back into the right-hander viciously to strike his pads plumb in front.

Amir’s second over, and India’s third, brought more lbw appeals as Kohli was struck on the pads by another skilful delivery that straightened, but failed to impress the umpire. Amir had his reward next ball, as Raina was the man to go, chipping an easy catch to short mid-on.

Kohli and Yuvraj Singh saw out Amir’s spell, nudging towards the target. Kohli, in particular, showed nerves of steel to see off Amir’s scintillating swing.

The Indian batting star soon reaped his reward, however, settling in to take boundaries off all the bowlers, including Amir’s last.

India’s charge was halted in the 15th when Kohli fell on 49, followed by Pandya, but the team total was 76-3. New batter Dhoni and Yuvraj took six more deliveries to finish the job.

India won by five wickets, but the match could have had a nervy finish were it not for Kohli’s brilliance.

Brief scorecard

Pakistan: 83 runs in 17.3 overs – Sarfaraz Ahmed 25 (24); Hardik Pandya 3-8 in 3.3 overs.
India: 85-5 runs in 15.3 overs – Virat Kohli 49 (51); Mohammad Amir 3-18 in 4 overs.

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison, shortly after a majority of a Supreme Court panel voted to convict him on charges related to an attempted military coup.

On Thursday, four out of five of the justices had found Bolsonaro guilty of trying to illegally retain power after his 2022 electoral defeat to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Justice Carmen Lucia said there was ample evidence that Bolsonaro acted “with the purpose of eroding democracy and institutions”.

A fourth judge, Justice Luiz Fux, broke with his colleagues on Wednesday and voted to acquit the 70-year-old former president of all charges.

Currently under house arrest, Bolsonaro faced up to 40 years in prison after being found guilty on five charges, including leading a “criminal organisation” to conspire to overthrow Lula.

Still, Fux’s vote could invite challenges to the ruling.

Bolsonaro has maintained he will run for president in 2026, despite Brazil’s top electoral court barring him from running in elections until 2030 for spreading unfounded claims about Brazil’s electronic voting system.

The Supreme Court also convicted seven co-conspirators, including former defence minister and Bolsonaro’s 2022 running mate Walter Braga Netto; former Defence Minister Paulo Sergio Nogueira; Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp Mauro Cid; his military adviser Augusto Heleno Ribeiro; former Justice Minister Anderson Torres; former naval chief Almir Garnier Santos; and ex-police officer Alexandre Ramagem.

Reporting from Brasilia, Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman said the sentencing, which was originally scheduled for Friday, was unexpected.

“It’s extremely significant and also a surprise,” she said. “The last of the five justices gave his guilty verdict just a short time ago, and then he and the remaining four had to calculate what the sentence would be.”

“We have to keep very much in mind that this may or may not happen immediately,” she added. “Bolsonaro’s lawyers and that of the other seven co-defendants still have some legal wiggle room here.”

“Apart from that, the supporters of Bolsonaro in Congress have already submitted an amnesty law, hopefully to get Bolsonaro off the hook,” she said.

United States President Donald Trump has called his ally’s trial a “witch-hunt”, hitting Brazil with 50 percent tariffs, imposing sanctions against the presiding judge, Alexandre de Moraes, and revoking visas for most members of Brazil’s high court. Trump said on Thursday that he was very unhappy about Bolsonaro’s conviction.

In a statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would “respond accordingly to this witch-hunt”.

“The political persecutions by sanctioned human rights abuser Alexandre de Moraes continue, as he and others on Brazil’s supreme court have unjustly ruled to imprison former President Jair Bolsonaro,” Rubio said.

Antiestablishment anger

Bolsonaro, a former army captain and paratrooper, became known for his defence of Brazil’s two-decade military dictatorship after being elected to the back benches of Congress in 1990 in the early years of Brazil’s democracy.

He never hid his admiration for the military regime, which killed hundreds of Brazilians from 1964 to 1985.

In one interview, he said Brazil would only change “on the day that we break out in civil war here and do the job that the military regime didn’t do: killing 30,000”. He was referring to leftists and political opponents.

Later, he surfed on mass protests that erupted across Brazil in 2014 during the sprawling “car wash” bribery scandal that implicated hundreds of politicians – including Lula, whose conviction was later annulled.

His antiestablishment anger helped elevate him to the presidency in 2018, and dozens of far-right lawmakers were elected on his coattails, creating roadblocks to Lula’s progressive agenda.

Facing a close re-election campaign against Lula in 2022 – an election Lula went on to win – Bolsonaro’s comments took on an increasingly messianic quality, raising concerns about his willingness to accept the results.

“I have three alternatives for my future: being arrested, killed or victory,” he said in remarks to a meeting of evangelical Christian leaders in 2021. “No man on Earth will threaten me.”

Bolsonaro maintains a solid political base within Brazil, and the verdict is expected to be met with widespread unrest.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has officially moved forward with a settlement expansion plan in the occupied West Bank that would make any future Palestinian state virtually impossible.

The Israeli leader signed an agreement on Thursday to move ahead with the project, which would bisect the West Bank.

“We are going to fulfil our promise that there will be no Palestinian state. This place belongs to us,” Netanyahu said at the event in Maale Adumim, an Israeli settlement just east of Jerusalem.

“We are going to double the city’s population.”

The settlement, on a 12sq-km (4.6sq-mile) tract of land east of Jerusalem, is known as “East 1” or “E1”.

The development plan, which includes 3,400 new homes for Israeli settlers, would cut off much of the West Bank from occupied East Jerusalem while linking up thousands of Israeli settlements in the area.

East Jerusalem carries particular significance to Palestinians as their choice for the capital of a future Palestinian state.

All Israeli settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, are considered illegal under international law, regardless of whether they have Israeli planning permission.

Reporting for Al Jazeera from Amman, Jordan, because Israel has banned Al Jazeera from the West Bank and Israel, Hamdah Salhut explained that this expansion is controversial because it destroys any territorial continuity from the West Bank to East Jerusalem, further dismantling any possibility that there could be a Palestinian state in the future.

Palestinian leaders push back

Palestinian Authority presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh on Thursday insisted that a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital is the key to peace in the region. He called it and the two-state solution “inevitable” despite Netanyahu’s move.

Rudeineh condemned Israeli settlements as illegal under international law and accused Netanyahu of “pushing the entire region towards the abyss”.

He noted that 149 United Nations member states have already recognised Palestine and called on all countries that have not yet done so to recognise a Palestinian state immediately.

How did we get here?

Netanyahu has long championed settlements in occupied Palestinian territory and fought any efforts towards peace between Israel and Palestine. He railed against the signing of the Oslo Accords, two agreements in the 1990s between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization that many hoped would lead to the creation of a Palestinian state.

“I de facto put an end to the Oslo Accords,” Netanyahu was caught on video boasting in 2001.

In 1997 during his first term as prime minister, Netanyahu helped establish the settlement of Har Homa in East Jerusalem, CNN reported. He added in an interview with the Israeli news site NRG that a Palestinian state would never be formed while he was in office.

More recently, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said settlements such as E1 will help erase Palestine from the map, even as Palestinian statehood gains increasing recognition from UN member states.

“This reality finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state because there is nothing to recognise and no one to recognise,” Smotrich said.

The UN General Assembly demanded in September 2024 that Israel end its presence in the West Bank by withdrawing its military, immediately stopping work on new settlements and evacuating settlers from occupied land.

More than 100 nations voted for the resolution. Fourteen voted against.

The vote followed an advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice in July 2024 that said Israel’s continued presence in occupied territory was unlawful and Israel was “under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers from the occupied Palestinian Territory”.

Netanyahu called the opinion a “decision of lies”.

More recently, 21 countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan, condemned Israel’s plan to build its new settlement.

Germany announced on Thursday that it will back a France-led proposal for a two-state solution, the Bloomberg news agency reported. Berlin is planning to support a UN resolution this week to adopt the New York Declaration, led by France and Saudi Arabia and calling for the creation of a Palestinian state and a right to return for refugees.

Belgium, France and Malta have pledged to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly session this month. Other countries, including Australia, Canada and the UK, have announced conditional recognitions, but it has remained unclear whether they will do so at the gathering.

The situation in the West Bank and Gaza

The settlement expansion news comes amid escalating violence.

On Monday, six people were killed in a shooting attack in Jerusalem when two Palestinian gunmen attacked a bus stop at the Ramot Junction. Several others were wounded.

Israeli forces responded by storming towns and demolishing the homes of the Palestinian suspects in the West Bank.

Al Jazeera reported on Thursday that nearly 100 men were arrested in Tulkarem in the West Bank. The arrests came after an attack that “lightly wounded two soldiers,” Haaretz reported, quoting the Israeli army.

Washington, DC – Mere minutes after news broke out that American right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk was shot, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared a social media post expressing his sympathy.

As Kirk was declared dead on Wednesday, Netanyahu and other Israeli officials rushed to eulogise the 31-year-old activist and emphasise his support for Israel.

“A lion-hearted friend of Israel, he fought the lies and stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization,” the Israeli prime minister wrote on X. “I spoke to him only two weeks ago and invited him to Israel. Sadly, that visit will not take place.”

That push, to portray Kirk as a fallen champion of Israel as much as of the US conservative movement, comes as many influential right-wing commentators have been increasingly critical of Washington’s unconditional support for its Middle East ally.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called Kirk an “incredible friend” of Israel.

“Charlie represented the Judeo-Christian values that unite Israel and America,” he said in a social media post. “Above all, he was a fearless warrior for truth and freedom. He was murdered for that.”

No suspect has been detained for the killing of Kirk, a close ally of United States President Donald Trump, and the motives behind the killing remain unclear.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir paid tribute to Kirk on Wednesday, sharing a photo of the right-wing activist with an Israeli flag outside the Ibrahimi Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites, in the occupied West Bank.

“The collusion between the global Left and radical Islam is the greatest danger to humanity today,” Ben-Gvir said.

“Charlie Kirk saw the danger and warned about it. But the bullets of the despicable murderer struck him.”

In some of his final public appearances, Kirk – who regularly bashed Islam and Muslims – promoted the unfounded conspiracy theory that Islam and the political left are working together to undermine the US and Europe.

“Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America,” he wrote in a social media post on Tuesday, a day before he was shot.

Several Israeli politicians underscored Kirk’s ties to Israel while lauding his views.

For example, former Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz described Kirk as a “voracious defender of Judeo-Christian values, America & the State of Israel”.

The term “Judeo-Christian values” appeals to mainstream US conservatives, but critics say it aims to exclude Muslims and other religious groups from Western societies.

They also argue that it is ahistorical, given the hostility and anti-Semitism Jewish communities have faced in Christian societies in Europe over the past centuries.

But “Judeo-Christian values” were a recurring theme in the Israeli eulogies for Kirk.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich joined other Israeli officials in calling Kirk a “true friend of Israel”.

The murder of Charlie Kirk is a tragic and devastating blow.

Charlie was a true friend of Israel, but beyond that, he was a man who engaged in genuine dialogue with his opponents as a way to promote his values.

A dialogue in which he defended the morals and principles he… pic.twitter.com/Ta4wncQr9G

Kirk’s Israel views

Kirk was indeed a staunch supporter of Israel – but not without occasional misgivings.

Last month, he denied the well-documented Israeli-imposed starvation in Gaza, echoing Israeli officials’ falsehoods that the United Nations-declared famine in the territory is “pure visual warfare”.

Still, despite his years of pro-Israel advocacy, he was not immune to the ideas of the growing “America First” movement that has been questioning the benefits of Washington’s devotion to its Middle East ally.

As Israeli leaders lobbied Trump to bomb Iran in June, Kirk warned that the US president’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) base was opposed to the war.

“I can tell you right now, our MAGA base does not want a war at all whatsoever,” Kirk said on his podcast. “They do not want US involvement. They do not want the United States to be engaged in this.”

Kirk supported Trump’s crackdown on Palestinian rights campus advocacy, including efforts to deport Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, which activists say violated free speech rights.

However, he sometimes spoke out against overreaches by pro-Israel advocates to censor the country’s opponents.

In May, he voiced opposition to a proposed law to penalise boycotting Israel.

“In America you are allowed to hold differing views. You are allowed to disagree and protest,” Kirk wrote on X at that time.

“We’ve allowed far too many people who hate America move here from abroad, but the right to speak freely is the birthright of all Americans.”

In July, he hosted a panel of young conservatives sceptical of the US-Israel alliance and appeared to express frustration with accusations of anti-Semitism against any criticism of Israel.