Mumbai: Much of the spotlight in Colombo on the eve of India-Pakistan centred around the weather, and whether Abhishek Sharma would turn up fit for the blockbuster clash.
On the day, however, none of that mattered, for his opening partner, Ishan Kishan, turned up at his best while creating a storm of his own.
India’s keeper-batter made the difference between the two teams with his breathtaking shot-making on a tricky pitch where most other batters struggled for rhythm.
Powered by a 40-ball 77 from the pocket-dynamo, India drubbed Pakistan by 61 runs in the Group A league match of the ICC Men’s World Cup game to retain the bragging rights between the two arch-rivals.
Put into bat on the slow surface of the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, India’s players showed a good understanding of the pitch and did well to get to a total 175/7.
The bowlers backed the batting display by routing Pakistan for just 114 runs. Led by a dream start from pacers Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah who ran through the top-order inside the first two overs, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav, spun a web around Pakistan middle-order.
While Pakistan team were left to pick the pieces after their biggest drubbing in T20 World Cups at the hands of their old foes, Kishan was the toast of the Indian supporters. Out of the Indian side for nearly two years, it has been a fairytale comeback for Kishan since he was selected in the World Cup squad. The innings was a masterclass in batting on a sluggish pitch.
As if batting on a different pitch, Kishan single-handedly helped India seize the early momentum. In his 87-run second wicket partnership with Tilak Varma, Kishan scored 77. He reached his 50 off 27 balls with three fours off Abrar Ahmed in the seventh over of the innings.
Even with the ball not coming on the bat, the southpaw took risks and kept playing his strokes. The feature of his game that stood out compared to the others was the decisive footwork which helped him get into the right positions to get on top of the shots and generate power.
While India’s run scoring also dipped after the exit of Kishan in the ninth over, Suryakumar Yadav (35 runs) and Tilak Varma (25 runs) still played sensibly. They didn’t try to emulate the opening batter’s example, instead choosing to play the waiting game, working their ways with singles and an odd boundary to ensure the excellent start was not frittered away.
One of the reasons for Pakistan bowler’s better show in the second half was Usman Tariq’s bowling. Tariq’s quirky bowling action had been one of the talking points ahead of the blockbuster clash. He had made quite an impact in the four T20Is he had played so far.
But, everyone wanted to see how he would shape up against the India batters who are better players of spin. The moment everyone was waiting for came in the 11th over when captain Agha brought in his surprise weapon. Suryakumar & Co showed that they had done their homework well and eschewed any undue risks against his variations. Against Tariq’s pause and release style, Surya took extra time to play and it paid off. Tariq finally had Suryakumar in the 19th over for final figures of 4-0-24-1 but was denied from having the impact that Pakistan were hoping off him.
Among the Indian bowlers, apart from the spinners, Pakistan were wary of the threat posed to them by Hardik Pandya. Right on cue, the India all-rounder struck in his first over. From the other end, Jasprit Bumrah produced a double blow in the innings’ second over to leave Pakistan reeling at 13/3.
Within two overs of their innings, Pakistan were in a tight spot but it was not how the game had started for them. Captain Salman Agha sprung a surprise on Indian openers by taking the new ball and provided his team a dream start by getting Abhishek Sharma out for a duck.
Their joy was short-lived though. India found a hero in Abhishek’s opening partner Kishan.
One of reasons Agha went with five overs of spin in the Powerplay was how Kishan treated Shaheen in the second over of the innings, smashing 15 runs.
The difference between the quality of Kishan’s innings on the sluggish pitch was more evident in how the Pakistan batting imploded when faced spinners.
After losing three wickets in the first two overs, it was always going to be an uphill task for Salman Agha & Co, but the struggles of their rest of their batters once captain Suryakumar introduced his spin troika of Varun Chakravarty, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav made for painful watching.
Their most successful and experienced batter Babar Azam was bowled in embarrassing fashion, playing all over an Axar delivery. Usman Khan tried gamely and hit a few blows on way to a 34-ball 44, but Axar had his measure by getting him stumped in the 11th over at the total of 73. After that it was a procession.
If anything, the match once again reiterated how one of the great cricket rivalries is now dead. The current India are simply far too good and far too consistent for Pakistan.
