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It had to end. At some point, India's long-running winning streak had to come to an end. It took a Babar Azam-led Pakistan to wash off the 29-year-old stains off a generation of Pakistan cricketers and achieve the unachievable (so far), to beat India in a World Cup match. From mauka mauka advertisements to breaking television sets to animated fan’s viral videos on the internet, everything came to an end at Dubai Cricket Ground, which is practically Pakistan's backyard.
In the last three decades, Pakistan bowlers have always been top-notch, even in the world cup games. It is their batting which has been a major disappointment in these high-voltage games. They have self-destructed under pressure, whether it is Aamir Sohail’s unnecessary provocative actions to charge up a polite Indian fast bowler or a Misbah-ul-Haq trying to play a scoop shot off a slower delivery, hoping against hope that it will go over the short fine-leg fielder.
In their 13th attempt, the duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan looked mature beyond years, soaking up the pressure, keeping the taxi meter running even when boundaries were hard to come by. They did not err. No chances. No hiccups. They played the waiting game, pounced when the Indian troops’ shoulders dropped and created history by getting rid of the traumatic years of agonising defeats, letting go of all the heartbreaks they have faced over the years and achieve what no Pakistan team has achieved.
A perfectly paced partnership
Chasing 151, skipper Azam and wicketkeeper-batter Rizwan took the mantle to hold the opponents’ bowlers from the scruff of their neck. The unbeaten 151-run partnership helped Pakistan register a flawless victory. This is the highest opening partnership ever in the history of T20 World Cup and second-best for any wicket.
Rizwan and Azam remained unbeaten for 79 and 68 respectively. The skipper took 52 balls to score 68 runs including six fours and two sixes. Rizwan played with a slightly better strike rate for his 79 off 55 deliveries including six fours and three sixes.
No matter what India threw at the two openers, the breakthrough did not come. There was no mystery to the mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. They were cautious at first and then played him like any other spinner. Jasprit Bumrah’s toe-crushing yorkers either hit the bat or missed everything on its way. The wicket-taking Mohammed Shami was taken to the cleaners whereas Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s swinging deliveries were not enough to find a genuine inside edge or find them plump in front of wickets. The only bowler they respected for a few overs was left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja. However, even Jadeja conceded a few boundaries when the two openers took the decision to end the run chase early. The much-talked about dew factor also created problems for Indian bowlers and eased the run chase for Pakistan. In the end, they chased down 152 with 13 balls to spare.
Shaheen’s spell
Shaheen Afridi’s new-ball spell pushed India on the back foot right from the first over. Rohit Sharma’s nemesis, the in-swinging delivery from a left-arm pacer once again turned out to be too good for him. Rohit’s golden duck was followed by a single-digit score from in-form KL Rahul. The spell prevented India from getting off the flier in the powerplay overs. The pressure of early wickets also led to Suryakumar Yadav playing an ugly shot to lose his wickets and put India in damage control mode. Later, with the old ball, the 21-year-old took the wicket of Indian skipper to prevent India from Kohli from getting India past 160. He also became the first Pakistan bowler to dismiss Kohli in a T20 World Cup match.
Kohli’s record fifty
The 32-year-old surpassed Gayle with his 57-run knock. Kohli now has most fifty-plus scores in T20 World Cup. The skipper soaked in the pressure in middle overs after early wickets. He did not make the same mistake West Indies did against England by trying to hit each and every ball out of the park. He rotated the strike when Rishabh Pant was firing from the other end and took calculated risks when boundaries were hard to come by.
Death overs’ take-off malfunction
At one point Pant looked like he will take the game away from Pakistan. But, Pakistan’s leg-spinner Shadab Khan got the prized wicket of India’s wicketkeeper-batter which stopped India’s acceleration before the death overs. Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja too did not go all guns blazing as apart from Hasan Ali, none of the Pakistan bowlers faltered and leaked runs. Haris Rauf also played his role well after Azam introduced him in the second half of the innings. Rauf took the wicket of Pandya and finished his four-over spell conceding just 25 runs.
