World Cup: India Thrashes Pakistan
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2023-10-16 03:22:28
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
Giving a fitting reply to the trending slight 'they can't play him' (used first by formed Pakistani prime minister Shebaz Sharif to say that Saheen Afridi's pace was too hot for the Indian to handle), Indian bowlers first showed who was the boss by bundling out the Pakistanis for just 191 (from 155 for 2) backed by brilliant captaincy from Rohit Sharma who used his bowlers effectively and then the skipper showed his batting chops to show how Afridi and company need to be played. Rohit was brutal in hitting 6 sixes and an equal number of fours in his innings of 84 and would have got the century if he had not become exhausted. In the end, he departed to a miscued shot and it was left to Shreyas Iyer and K L Rahul to take India home.
The Indian bowlers, led by Jasprit Bumrah, were brilliant. Barring Shardul Thakur (who bolwed just 2 overs), all the other five picked up two wickets each and showed what hunting in a pack means. With such variety in bowling, captain Rohit Sharma showed great understanding to rotate his bowlers wisely. He persisted with Md Siraj even when the Pakistanis were hitting him all over the place. Rohit has a word with the bowler who immediately corrected his length and gave India the first breakthrough. The spinners choked the Pakistanis in the middle overs and despite Babar Azam's first fifty against India and Md Rizwan's 49, Pakistani batters showed no application and were bowled out cheaply. Bumrah, who produced two beauties to dismiss the in-form Md Rizwan and Shadab Khan, was adjudged player of the match.
With this, India made it 8-0 in World Cup matches against Pakistan and proved that when it comes to the biggest stage, they dominate Pakistan like no other team. It was surprising that despite the stellar show by the Indian bowlers, the Pakistanis displayed a defeatist body language when they came out to field. With a hyped bowling attack that has delivered in the past, they should have gone for the kill despite the small total to defend. For, India would have got the runs in any case. Pakistan's only chance was to attack and get the wickets. They failed in having and executing any such plan. It was poor captaincy on Babar's part.
