Skipper Rohit Sharma's 86 and an inspired bowling display helped India hammer Pakistan by seven wickets in their high-profile World Cup clash at the 132,000-capacity Ahmedabad stadium on Saturday.
India bowled out Pakistan for 191 after their rivals collapsed from 155-2.
India then overhauled the total with 117 balls to spare to extend their unbeaten streak against their neighbours to eight in the 50-over showpiece tournament.
Rohit stood out in his 63-ball knock laced with six fours and six sixes to keep India, who began the event as favourites to win the title, unbeaten in their three matches in this edition.
Pakistan now have two wins and one defeat in the 10-nation tournament.
"There is no doubt about it that the bowlers set up the game for us again today. It was a great effort," said Rohit.
"I don't think it was a 190 pitch. At one stage we were looking at 270-280 but they came back and showed grit and that says a lot about the guys."
Pakistan counterpart Babar Azam admitted his middle order and opening bowlers let him down.
"We had a collapse in the middle order," he said.
"The way we started, we were targeting 280 or 290 but the collapse cost us so our total is not good.
"With the new ball, we were not up to the mark."
Rohit hit the ball to all parts of the ground with his delightful flicks and pulls to entertain an almost all-Indian crowd at the world's biggest cricket stadium after Pakistan fans were effectively banned from attending.
India lost Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli -- both for 16 -- before Rohit and Shreyas Iyer, who hit the winning four to reach 53, put on 77 runs for the third wicket and placed India comfortably on course for victory.
Rohit fell attempting another hit off Shaheen Shah Afridi to get caught at mid-wicket, but Iyer and KL Rahul took the team home with ease.
The bowlers set up victory after India elected to field and Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja took two wickets each.
Pakistan were bowled out in 42.5 overs, losing eight wickets for 36 runs in 80 balls.
- 'One of those days' -
The total was Pakistan's third lowest against India in the World Cup after their 173 in Sydney (1992) and 180 at Manchester (1999).
Pakistan started strongly but lost their openers before skipper Babar Azam (50) and Mohammad Rizwan (49) attempted to rebuild and hit back in their stand of 82.
Azam reached his fifty off 57 balls with a boundary but fell in the next over, bowled by Siraj as the crowd roared to see the back of the world's number one ODI batsman.
Kuldeep Yadav soon struck twice in an over to send back the left-handed Saud Shakeel and Iftikhar Ahmed, bowled around the legs for four after the ball deflected off the batsman's gloves.
Bumrah denied Rizwan his fifty with a slower-off cutter that rattled the stumps as Pakistan slipped to 168-6.
Bumrah, playing in front of his home crowd, had a spring in his step and struck again in the next over to get Shadab Khan out for two before Pandya and Jadeja combined to wrap up the tail.
"It felt good," said man of the match Bumrah who had figures of 2-19 off seven overs.
"You try to analyse the wicket as soon as possible so when we started bowling, we came to know that the wicket was on the slower side and a hard length would make run-scoring more difficult."
The hotly-anticipated match raised enormous interest with city hotels booked and desperate fans even booking full-body check-ups in local hospitals to be sure of a place to sleep.
A prominent hotel in the city usually charges 6,000 rupees ($72) for a deluxe room but on Friday, Saturday and Sunday the price for a day had been hiked to 70,000 rupees ($841).
Only a trickle of Pakistanis, many expatriates, made it to the game after fans from across the border endured visa delays.
Toss
Pakistan will bat first after India won the toss in the grand 2023 Cricket World Cup battle being fought at Narendra Modi Stadium in Indian city of Ahmedabad in front a record crowd of over 120,000 today (Saturday).
Both the teams are entering into the high-voltage encounter winning two matches each, with Pakistan comfortably defeating Netherlands and Sri Lanka while India outclassing Australia and Afghanistan.
India is also undefeated in seven previous World Cup encounters against Pakistan.
Four years after they last squared off in a 50-over World Cup, the stage is set for Pakistan and India to renew their cricket rivalry on cricket's biggest extravaganza. Potentially in front of 130,000 fans at the world's largest cricket stadium, Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium. Goosebumps and chills are guaranteed throughout the day.
In cricket, nothing is bigger than the game, unless it's Pakistan vs India.
"Cannot get bigger than this, fantastic atmosphere," Rohit Sharma said at the toss as the home crowd roared.
"Sure lot of us are going to experience something really extraordinary."
Favourites India come into the match unbeaten with victories over five-time winners Australia and Afghanistan.
Pakistan, who also won their two matches against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka, come in unchanged from their previous win.
Against Sri Lanka, they chased down a World Cup record of 345 in Hyderabad.
Skipper Babar Azam said he would have also fielded first had he won the toss. "We also wanted to bowl first," he said. "We have had good two wins, momentum and confidence is high. Jam-packed stadium, we will enjoy it."
The world's biggest cricket stadium was a sea of blue due to a largely Indian presence after Pakistan fans from across the border were unable to secure visas.
Rohit Sharma said: “It is a dream for us, and all of us are going to experience it is. It is not going to change much, dew will also be a factor so we want to chase. We want to keep striving for the best, and come out and play every day. We want to start well and play well, and do our best. It's the most important factor, keeping yourself relaxed, keeping the atmosphere relaxed. Gill is back in place of Ishan Feel for Ishan. He has stepped up, but Gill has been a superb player for us.”
On his turn, Paksitani captain Babar Azam: “We were looking to field as well. We have had good two wins. Momentum is very high and we want to continue that. Jampacked stadium, we are enjoying our opportunity, and just want to enjoy. We have to be good in the field. We have had good practice sessions. Same team.”
TEAMS
Pakistan: 1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Babar Azam (capt), 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Shaheen Afridi, 11 Haris Rauf
India 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj
Weather report
As per Accuweather, the rain chances during the game time of India vs Pakistan at the venue is zero as for now. The temperature in Ahmedabad is expected to be hot and around 35 to 40 degrees while it will come down to 26 degrees in the evening.
Babar Azam struggling for form
Pakistan captain Babar Azam has been struggling for batting form since scoring 150 not out against Nepal in the Asia Cup 2023 opening match in Multan. Since then, Babar Azam has only managed to score 71 runs. This is Babar Azam's joint-longest streak of not scoring 30 or more in an ODI innings. Can Babar hit form in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match against India today?
Rohit Sharma faces Afridi threat
Team India captain Rohit Sharma has been out five times in 13 innings against left-arm pace bowlers inside the powerplay since 2021. Rohit will be up against potential threat from Shaheen Shah Afridi as India take on arch-rivals Pakistan in match no. 12 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Who will come out on top on Saturday?
Umpires: Marais Erasmus (RSA), Richard Illingworth (ENG)
TV Umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG)
Match Referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)
Head-to-Head record
India v Pakistan record ahead of their World Cup group game at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday (Match starts 0830GMT):
Last 10 meetings
15/06/2013: Birmingham - India won by 8 wickets
01/03/2014: Dhaka - Pakistan won by 1 wicket
15/02/2015: Adelaide - India won by 76 runs
04/06/2017: Birmingham - India won by 124 runs
18/06/2017: The Oval, London - Pakistan won by 180 runs
19/09/2018: Dubai - India won by 8 wickets
23/09/2018: Dubai - India won by 9 wickets
16/06/2019: Manchester - India won by 89 runs
02/09/2023: Pallekele - No Result
10/09/2023: Colombo - India won by 228 runs
Overall
India wins: 56
Pakistan wins: 73
Tied: 0
No result: 5