Pakistan cricket team's batting collapsed badly against India in the 12th match of ICC World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
Despite a decent start, the Green Shirts failed to carry on to the momentum and started playing defensively which ultimately put pressure on the coming batters.
Pakistan were 73-2 in 12.3 overs when their skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan started playing together. The two built an 82-run partnership but that came at a cost as it was completed in 17.1 overs (103 balls).
The Men in Green were all out for 191 runs in just 42.5 overs (255 balls) and out of those, they played 156 dot balls, which ultimately proved costly as the pressure was shifted to the new batters who crumbled under pressure and gave their wickets away.
After completing his half-century, Babar was bowled by Mohammad Siraj which started the collapse as the Green Shirts were all out in the next 12 overs for 191 runs.
One thing that needs to be mentioned is that Rizwan was batting 47 runs when Babar got out. As soon as the captain departed, the 31-year-old got defensive and played eight dot balls before losing his wicket to Jasprit Bumrah for 49 runs.
Pakistan’s middle-order consisting of Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan failed to score in double digits.
Brilliant captaincy by Rohit Sharma helped the Blues restrict the arch-rivals to just 191 runs as Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya all bagged two wickets each.
It must be noted that the arch-rivals have crossed paths seven times in the ICC World Cup and the Green Shirts' record isn't something they would like to talk about as they have lost seven out of seven matches against the Blues.
Teams
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf
Wasay Qayyum Wasay Qayyum is a sports journalist at Geo Super.
