But Pakistan's crushing defeat to India on Sunday at the Champions Trophy has reignited the question: is this rivalry overhyped, propped up by slogans like "war minus the shooting" - a phrase George Orwell coined in 1945 to criticise excessive nationalism in sports?

Michael Atherton says with so much hype around the India versus Pakistan fixture, the cricket didn't lived up to the expectation.

India thrashed Pakistan by six wickets to seal a berth in the semi-finals. Defeat always hurts, but what hurts fans in green even more is that Pakistan got knocked out of an ICC tournament they were h

India and Pakistan are renewing their epic rivalry on the cricket field in front of an audience of hundreds of millions of people tuning in to catch the two arch rivals go head-to-head in Dubai on Sunday.

India has refused to play its Champions Trophy matches in Pakistan, which is hosting its first major global tournament in almost 30 years.

Following a disappointing performance in the Champions Trophy, including a substantial defeat to India, the Pakistan cricket team and its support staff, led by interim head coach Aaqib Javed, are poised for major changes.

Milestone man Virat Kohli anchored a tricky chase with an unbeaten hundred as India put one foot in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy with a six-wicket victory against Pakistan in a high-octane Group A match between the arch-rivals on Sunday.

Once considered to be the greatest rivalry in world cricket, it has now been reduced to a show of India's bench strength and the performances of their world-class stars. The gap between India and Pakistan has killed off the great rivalry and the match in Dubai in the Champions Trophy was proof of that.