The Greatest Rivalry: India vs Pakistan

While I enjoyed watching this 3 part show, this felt....very incomplete and wasn't what I expected it to be. The show is primarily from Sehwag and Shoaib Akthar's POV and the roles they played in the India's tour of Pakistan.

The cricket rivalry is more than the one tour and while there's some political context provided, it's not enough to do justice to the title of the doc. I understand that given the vast (cricketing) history between both these nations, it's not easy to make a documentary but just call it "2004 India tour of Pakistan" instead of making it sound like it's about the cricketing history. Plus, it's misleading this is mainly about the ICT making history in bilateral competition. If that's what you're going for, go all out telling the story from India's POV but they didn't do that either.

It's always fun to listen to people share stories and context you may not have known behind real life events, that was the only fun part about the show. But as much as I liked listening to everybody speak, it wasn't what was sold to me and it was too less. I mean, how do you make a documentary about India vs Pakistan cricket without the T20 final?

Watch it anyway, but go in without expectations and go in to listen to a handful of players talk about the context behind ONE series and you'll probably not be disappointed.

Right from its announcement, it has created a sense of excitement, as an India vs Pakistan match is not just a cricketing war-it is, in turn, a battle of pent-up emotions.

Another Netflix documentary is here, focusing largely on India's tour of Pakistan in 2004 and bit of Pakistan's tour of India in 1999. It explores the atmosphere of those times-the political scenario, the Cold War-like tensions, and behind-the-scenes moments from the cricketing world, where arch-enemies on the field turn out to be friends off it.

It is surely a nostalgic trip for 90s kids, making you feel like you are reliving those moments all over again. Featuring interviews with Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Shoaib Akhtar, and Inzamam-ul-Haq in prominent screen time, the documentary also includes insights from Wasim Akram, R. Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, and others. The political turmoil between these two nations can be felt through the words of these sporting legends.

The match footage surely evokes emotions and hits hard. Creatively, what works best is that the series is not biased toward one country, giving equal importance to both sides. However, this also dilutes the emotional depth that could have been achieved if it had been told from a single country's perspective. One would have expected more cricketing legends to feature in the series, especially Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, and Yuvraj Singh, but unfortunately, they chose not to be part of it. Additionally, while the documentary primarily focuses on the 2004 tour, it could have explored more.

Watch it if you love cricket. Watch it if you want to understand this historic rivalry. Watch it to experience the emotions behind the game. And lastly, watch it because it is three-episode documentary that won't take much of your time.

#PranuReviews #TheGreatestRivalryIndiaVsPakistan #TheGreatestRivalryIndiaVsPakistanReview.

You make a series on indo-pak from 1999-2005, with no mention of Sachin's batting exploits ? Even if it is pivoting on two series- 1999 and 2004, where are Sachin's great innings of Chennai, Rawalpindi or even Multan? The tide of the rivalry changed with Sachin's centurion knock- no mention of that? Sachin's catch of inzamam that turned the final ODI or that Googly to moin in Multan ?

Yaaawn! Same old tropes- Pakistan bowling great, sehwag's daredevilry.. tired of them now!

4 points- for Ganguly, Osman, Inzamam , Waqar interviews.. too much time to Akhtar and Sehwag interviews.

Even in the cursory Sachin tribute in the beginning- u talk about his 1992 World Cup exploits and video shows him batting in Sharjah in 1998.. why call it greatest rivalry- essentially it is only about 2 series, which too are inadequately researched... Might as well call it - Sehwag and Akhtar show.

Yet to see a good sports documentary coming from India.

As a passionate cricket fan, I was excited to watch The Greatest Rivalry: India vs Pakistan (2025), expecting a well-rounded portrayal of this iconic contest. However, the documentary felt more like The Virender Sehwag Story rather than a true exploration of the India-Pakistan cricketing legacy.

While Sehwag's contributions were phenomenal, the documentary largely overlooked other legendary players who shaped this rivalry. Sachin Tendulkar's iconic battles, Sourav Ganguly's fearless leadership, Rahul Dravid's resilience, and Virat Kohli's unforgettable knock in recent times deserved more attention. MS Dhoni's fearless batting against Pakistan in his early days. The likes of Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, and other key figures who played crucial roles in these encounters were barely acknowledged.

A rivalry of this magnitude isn't defined by just one player-it's a saga of countless unforgettable moments and legendary performances from both sides. The documentary could have been even better with more episodes and a deeper dive into these iconic stories that fans would have loved to relive.

I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary. I personally would have liked to have seen more legendary cricketers featured but I think they did pretty well to get some great cricketers on both sides to share their stories. It can be unrealistic to get every single cricketing great to give their piece my dear viewers. It really is the greatest rivalry in sport and it was great to watch. I liked the historic footage and also showing older matches. Shoaib was a treat to watch and get his views on the rivalry. I was engrossed from episode 1 and couldn't put it down. Really well made, interesting, and shows how much great talent exists for both sides and both want to rebuild a stronger relationship to make way for this great sport to be played more often.