India had a humiliating start to the 2021 T20 World Cup campaign as they lost by 10 wickets against Pakistan in their opening match in Dubai on Sunday.
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India had a humiliating start to the 2021 T20 World Cup campaign as they lost by 10 wickets against Pakistan in their opening match in Dubai on Sunday. The Men in Blue were put to bat on a tricky batting wicket and the Pakistan bowlers did a brilliant job to restrict India to 151 for the loss of 7 wickets in 20 overs. Former India batsman Ajay Jadeja said that he was disappointed with the comments of India captain Virat Kohli after the game in which he said that India were pegged back and had to reconsider their plans when they lost their openers early in the game.
Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi dismissed Rohit Sharma for a golden duck, and soon after sent in-form opener KL Rahul to the dugout. Shaheen had an impressive game as he finished with figures 3 for 31. The left-arm pacer’s quick in-swinging deliveries were too good for the Indian openers to handle.
“I heard Virat Kohli’s statement that day. He said when we lost two wickets, we fell behind in the match against Pakistan. I was disappointed with that,” Jadeja said on Cricbuzz Hindi Live.
“When a player like Virat Kohli is out there in the middle, there is no way the match has ended. He had not played even two balls and was thinking like that. So, it shows India’s approach,” he further added.
Although captain Virat Kohli steadied the ship with a 49 ball 57, he never got ample support from the other end. Rishabh Pant chipped in with a 30 ball 39. Captain Babar Azam and his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan came out to bat with intent and chased down the target without losing a wicket in 17.5 overs.
Rizwan and Babar then scored 79* and 68* respectively to register Pakistan’s first-ever 10-wicket win in a T20I match and their first-ever win over India in any World Cup game.
Meanwhile, Pakistan went on to strengthen their position in Group 2 by beating New Zealand by five wickets. Haris Rauf took 4 wickets by giving away only 22 runs to restrict New Zealand for a below-par score of 134 for 8 in 20 overs. In response, Pakistan chased down the target for the loss of five wickets with 7 balls remaining.
India will next play New Zealand on Sunday in Dubai. It would be a crucial match for both teams as they are yet to register a point.
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