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20-03-2016, 09:53 AM
World T20 India v/s Pakistan: And, the dominance continues
India maintained their win-record against Pakistan in ICC World events in tact as Virat Kohli stars in tricky run-chase of 119
India-Pakistan match was not just a game of cricket but was a message to the cricket fans across borders. A white crystal pigeon was presented to all the former cricket legends, along with the legendary Amitabh Bachchan, to ensure that cricketing rivalries remain restricted to the grounds and the best team win.
"May the better team win," was how Bachchan wished the two teams.
And in the end, his words came true as a 'better batting side' of India defeated 'only bowling unit' of Pakistan by six wickets with 13 balls remaining in this 18-over each World T20 encounter here at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.
To start with, MS Dhoni lived up to his reputation of being lucky one with coin on bigger occasions once again. Shahid Afridi knew the shortcoming of his batters and looked worried about playing first on this moist pitch. Mohammad Amir-led pack sitting outside were hoping against hope to get a total decent enough to defend.
And, Ravichandran Ashwin-led Indian bowling pack got down to tried and tested theory of bowling around stumps.
At the end of Pakistan's quota of 18 overs, a total of 118/5 looked just too low for this high voltage match.
Finally, the end result remained the same.
Pakistan's jinx in ICC world events continued in Eden Gardens too. India survived a scare of their own, but Virat Kohli's art of pulling team back from the hopeless positions like numerous other occasions to save the blushes for Men in Blue came to the fore.
Kohli played as if he has no word called pressure in his personal dictionary. His 55-run unbeaten knock off 37 balls not only pulled India back in the competition but has also placed him in a league of his own where winning matches while chasing has become his habit.
However, the situation could have gone out of hands for hosts after Pakistan seamers once again reduced India top-order to 23/3. Pakistani think-tank knew about Indian batting line-up's deficiency against a genuine pace attack. And, that was the only hope for the visitors in case a World event jinx was to be broken.
Rohit Sharma played the way he is known for till the time he was outsmarted by Amir for second time in a row. Sami, specially being included for this game, justified Afridi's confidence by scalping shaky Shikhar Dhawan and clueless Suresh Raina to bring Pakistan back into the game.
It was once again a scary situation like the Asia Cup final in Mirpur earlier this month. Yuvraj Singh was giving repeated heartbreaks to his dressing room. But Kohli was there rock solid, in absolute control of his emotions.
At 60/3 after 10 overs was anybody's game. Kohli's six and a four turned it upside down by punishing offie Shoaib Malik in the next. And with Yuvraj also chipping in with his six over mid-wicket, the entire Eden Gardens was up on their toes.
Though Yuvi left after scoring a 23-ball 24, but then the 24 runs scored in last 12 deliveries were enough to judge the outcome of the game. The 61-runs for the fourth wicket in just 44 balls was more of a tribute to Kohli's one more brave-heart knock during crucial Indian chase.
Dhoni, to his credit, once again came out with winning shot like many other occasions to make it 11-0 score in the World events for India against Pakistan.
Earlier, it was clear from the time when Sharjeel Khan and Ahmad Shezad came out to bat in front of a packed house of nearly 67,000 crowd, that they were absolutely not technically equipped to handle Indian bowling. What happened in Mirpur a few days back – when Pak could only manage a paltry 126 – was looking yet another reality. Or may be even less!
Afridi, though, took legendary former skipper Imran Khan's advice seriously by promoting himself to No. 3 after the loss of clueless Sharjeel. But even he or Umar Akmal, promoted to No. 4, failed to play a cameo which was necessary to take them to decent total.
In fact, Sharjeel was Pakistan's public toast recently after scoring heavily during Pakistan's Premier League in Dubai. But his two batting displays against India has exposed his technical deficiencies like any other player coming from the T20 format.
The win has put India back in the reckoning, but Pakistan is still in front of their arch-rivals, at No. 2, riding on a better run rate in their opener. India are languishing at No. 3 in the five-team group with an aggregate run rate of -.90
"May the better team win," was how Bachchan wished the two teams.
And in the end, his words came true as a 'better batting side' of India defeated 'only bowling unit' of Pakistan by six wickets with 13 balls remaining in this 18-over each World T20 encounter here at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.
To start with, MS Dhoni lived up to his reputation of being lucky one with coin on bigger occasions once again. Shahid Afridi knew the shortcoming of his batters and looked worried about playing first on this moist pitch. Mohammad Amir-led pack sitting outside were hoping against hope to get a total decent enough to defend.
And, Ravichandran Ashwin-led Indian bowling pack got down to tried and tested theory of bowling around stumps.
At the end of Pakistan's quota of 18 overs, a total of 118/5 looked just too low for this high voltage match.
Finally, the end result remained the same.
Pakistan's jinx in ICC world events continued in Eden Gardens too. India survived a scare of their own, but Virat Kohli's art of pulling team back from the hopeless positions like numerous other occasions to save the blushes for Men in Blue came to the fore.
Kohli played as if he has no word called pressure in his personal dictionary. His 55-run unbeaten knock off 37 balls not only pulled India back in the competition but has also placed him in a league of his own where winning matches while chasing has become his habit.
However, the situation could have gone out of hands for hosts after Pakistan seamers once again reduced India top-order to 23/3. Pakistani think-tank knew about Indian batting line-up's deficiency against a genuine pace attack. And, that was the only hope for the visitors in case a World event jinx was to be broken.
Rohit Sharma played the way he is known for till the time he was outsmarted by Amir for second time in a row. Sami, specially being included for this game, justified Afridi's confidence by scalping shaky Shikhar Dhawan and clueless Suresh Raina to bring Pakistan back into the game.
It was once again a scary situation like the Asia Cup final in Mirpur earlier this month. Yuvraj Singh was giving repeated heartbreaks to his dressing room. But Kohli was there rock solid, in absolute control of his emotions.
At 60/3 after 10 overs was anybody's game. Kohli's six and a four turned it upside down by punishing offie Shoaib Malik in the next. And with Yuvraj also chipping in with his six over mid-wicket, the entire Eden Gardens was up on their toes.
Though Yuvi left after scoring a 23-ball 24, but then the 24 runs scored in last 12 deliveries were enough to judge the outcome of the game. The 61-runs for the fourth wicket in just 44 balls was more of a tribute to Kohli's one more brave-heart knock during crucial Indian chase.
Dhoni, to his credit, once again came out with winning shot like many other occasions to make it 11-0 score in the World events for India against Pakistan.
Earlier, it was clear from the time when Sharjeel Khan and Ahmad Shezad came out to bat in front of a packed house of nearly 67,000 crowd, that they were absolutely not technically equipped to handle Indian bowling. What happened in Mirpur a few days back – when Pak could only manage a paltry 126 – was looking yet another reality. Or may be even less!
Afridi, though, took legendary former skipper Imran Khan's advice seriously by promoting himself to No. 3 after the loss of clueless Sharjeel. But even he or Umar Akmal, promoted to No. 4, failed to play a cameo which was necessary to take them to decent total.
In fact, Sharjeel was Pakistan's public toast recently after scoring heavily during Pakistan's Premier League in Dubai. But his two batting displays against India has exposed his technical deficiencies like any other player coming from the T20 format.
The win has put India back in the reckoning, but Pakistan is still in front of their arch-rivals, at No. 2, riding on a better run rate in their opener. India are languishing at No. 3 in the five-team group with an aggregate run rate of -.90
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