In T20 WC 2021, India and Pakistan encounters in ICC tournaments have been one-sided. The men in blue have weighed heavily over the men in green on most occasions. The two sides were set to meet each other in the 2021 T20 World Cup in Dubai. This was the 6th time the two teams would meet in the T20 World Cup. India had won all five games and this was set to change during the massive encounter in Dubai.
Babar Azam won the toss and chose to bowl first with Indian skipper Virat Kohli more than happy to bat first. Shaheen Shah Afridi ran riot with the bat in the very first over of the game. The left-arm seamer trapped Rohit Sharma LBW for a first ball duck to strike in the 4th ball of the opening over.
The left-arm seamer then struck in the first ball of the third over when he bowled KL Rahul for 3 runs off 8 balls. It was a dreadful start for India who had lost their two best batters to give Pakistan a huge advantage. Suryakumar Yadav came out to bat and added 25 runs for the third wicket with Virat Kohli.
Pakistan beats India for the first time in T20 WC 2021
The stand between Yadav and Kohli ended when Hasan Ali dismissed SKY for 11 off 8 balls. Rishabh Pant came out to bat and added 53 runs for the 4th wicket with Virat Kohli in 40 balls, Shadab Khan held on to a smart catch to dismiss Pant for 39 off 30 balls.
The best batter for India was Virat Kohli who scored 57 off 49 balls with five boundaries and a six to lead India to 151/7 from their 20 overs. Pakistan dominated the Indian bowlers to win the game by 10 wickets with 13 balls left to play. Skipper Babar Azam scored 68 not out off 52 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes. Mohammad Rizwan was not out on 79 off 55 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes.
Babar Azam speaking at the end of the game said, “His was the team’s effort, and the early wickets were very helpful. It gave us a lot of confidence and our spinners were very good as well. We applied our plans and got the results. We, the openers, kept it simple and built a partnership and because the wicket was getting better so we just wanted to keep batting till the end, which we did. It won’t get easier just because we beat India.”
Virat Kohli became the first ever Indian skipper to lose a game to Pakistan in the ICC events. The then skipper speaking at the end of the game said, “They started brilliantly with the ball, and 3 wickets for 20 runs was not a good start. We needed wickets early but with the bat they gave us absolutely no chances. It played slow in the first half and hitting through the line was not that easy as it was in the second half, after 10 overs. We needed those 15-20 extra runs and for that we needed a good start but Pakistan’s bowling didn’t allow us to get those extra runs.”
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