A thrilling showdown much sought after in cricketing history ended with a regular sight as India dominated proceedings to defeat Pakistan by 7 wickets in front of more than a lakh fans in Ahmedabad. Rohit Sharma was adept with his bowling changes as bowlers came clutch against a formidable Pakistan batting to restrict the scoring rate, with Pakistan crumbling from 155-2 to 191 all-out. The combined effort of the bowlers did less work for the batsmen, with Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer finishing the proceedings to extend India’s winning streak over Pakistan in ODI World Cups to 8-0.
Pakistan had their moments in the game towards the first half, as their openers tried to unsettle India’s pacers followed by an 82-run partnership between skipper Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan where they looked in control, but did not quite run away with the game. However, Babar’s stumps were unsettled by Mohammed Siraj opening the floodgates for Pakistan’s collapse losing 8 wickets for 36 runs. Pakistan’s bowling also looked well out of place against India’s in-form batters, who chased down the modest target with almost 20 overs to spare.
Despite India’s historical record against Pakistan in the World Cup where they’ve won most matches batting first, Rohit Sharma asked Pakistan to bat first clearly indicating that his team is focusing on the present rather than what happened in the past. The openers Abdullah Shafique and Imam Ul Haq took advantage of some loose bowling from Mohammed Siraj to score as many as 9 boundaries amongst them, looking well in control.
However, Siraj pulled back his length and kept the stump-to-stump line which reaped benefits as Abdullah Shafique fell victim to a ball that kept low trapping him in front of the wicket. Imam Ul Haq followed his partner trying to drive a delivery well outside off stump off the ball of Hardik Pandya. Pakistan’s two best batters were at the crease now and slowly but steadily they built up a partnership with the odd boundary coming every now and then.
Indian spinners adopted a defensive approach keeping their lines tight and being economical, Rizwan survived a scare when the onfiled call for an LBW was overturned by DRS. Pakistan found themselves at 155-2 with almost 20 overs to go with fans looking at a thrilling chase later. What followed made a potential thriller of a chase to an obligatory formality. Mohammed Siraj who went for runs in his initial spell struck back to dismiss Babar Azam, in yet another delivery that kept low.
Kuldeep Yadav showed his variations by trapping Saud Shakeel in front of the stumps off a delivery that skidded off the surface, the chinaman introduced havoc into the Pakistan camp as he bowled Iftikhar Ahmed around his legs in the exact same over. Pakistan’s boat which seemed to be steady until that point began to take tumbles, eventually capsizing.
Jasprit Bumrah was reintroduced and instantly produced results by clean-bowling Rizwan who was bamboozled by an off-cutter. This was followed by another unplayable delivery to break the defenses of Shadab Khan to dismantle his off-stump. Mohammed Nawaz was caught off Hardik Pandya at Mid-on, followed by Hasan Ali who skied a slog off Ravindra Jadeja. Pakistan was bundled out for 191, which in the words of commentators was “cards only Pakistan could manufacture”.
Rohit Sharma was joined by SHubman Gill, who recovered from a fatal Dengue blow a few days ago. Together, they made a mockery of Pakistan’s target in the opening overs striking Hasan Ali and Shaheen Afridi for 5 boundaries in the first three overs. Shubman Gill was dismissed by Afridi giving Pakistan a few seconds of hope. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were in the crease yet again, just like the previous match and it was India’s match from that point.
Rohit Sharma came out to own the day as he struck the Pakistan bowlers mercilessly out of the ground, scoring 5 maximums in the process. Virat Kohli mistimed a pull-short straight to mid-on in the 10th over, but India were already batting at 79-2 at the end of 10 overs. India accelerated towards their target with Rohit Sharma getting to his fifty off just 36 deliveries. Pakistan’s spinners were hopelessly out of form and were dominated by Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer, forcing Pakistan’s skipper to make regular bowling changes.
Rohit fell 14 runs short of a well-deserved ton miscuing a shot off Shahin Afridi. KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer would go on to finish the proceedings for India with Iyer getting to his maiden fifty in the ODI World Cup. Team India have now made it 3 in 3, with two wins coming off restricting the opponents under the 200-run mark.
We’ve got 6 individuals who can do the job with the ball. My job as a captain is important there as well. It’s to read the conditions and figure out who’s the right guy to do the job – Rohit Sharma
Indian captain Rohit Sharma was jubilant about the memorable win over Pakistan and praised his bowlers for a combined effort in building pressure and providing break-through as and when the situation demanded. He also alluded to their prolific batting performance to their clarity with regard to the batting order and mindset coming into the World Cup.
” My job as a captain is important there as well. It’s to read the conditions and figure out who’s the right guy to do the job. It’s only because the guys – before entering the WC – they got a lot of runs. We were very clear about what we wanted to do. Didn’t want to be in two minds about who’s going to bat where” said Rohit Sharma.
The skipper was confident about how the team was playing and said that they focused on one match and opponent at a time focusing only on what was in front of them.
” All in all, it’s looking good. Want to keep my fingers crossed. Don’t want to get too excited. Don’t want to get too low as well. Want to stay balanced. Keep calm and keep moving forward. Every opposition we come up against is all quality. You have to play well on that particular day, and that’s what we’re looking at” Sharma added.
India goes top of the table and will play Bangladesh next.
Also Read: IND vs PAK: “I Never Thought That I Will Play World Cup”- Mohammed Siraj’s Emotional Statement