Match Report: Pakistan beat India to break World Cup jinx
India's lack of attacking bowling options is a cause for concern
Pakistan has finally managed to beat India in a World Cup game and while Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan stood tall for the 2nd half of the game, it was Shaheen Shah Afridi who set up this fantastic win along with help from Haris Rauf. Pakistan was clinical in every department - there were no dropped catches, bowlers stuck to the fields and apart from 1 overthrow, there were no freebies.
Prior to this game, India had a W/L ratio of 1.3 since 2018 in T20Is where they were asked to bat first, well below the overall W/L ratio of 2.1. In addition, bowling in the 2nd half this time of the year in UAE is quite tough with dew making it hard to grip the ball and this was visible with both of India’s spinners going for runs after the first 10 overs of Pakistan’s batting. So the toss did matter, but none of that changes the fact that the opening spell from Shaheen Shah Afridi was something else.
As one of the most attacking limited-overs bowlers in the world, Afridi got Rohit Sharma with an accurate yorker, a ball that he (along with Mitchell Starc) is known very well for. But the highlight of that spell had to be the dismissal of KL Rahul. Bowling left arm over the wicket, Afridi pitched the ball on a good length at 87 miles per hour. His natural angle would have taken it past the off-stump and yet it nipped back sharply to off & middle stump. Realistically, there was very little that Rahul could have done anything about it. Even though Afridi usually bowls 2 in the PowerPlay, it made sense to give him a 3rd over today, and Kohli was forced to bat outside the crease to manage the movement.
Rishabh Pant had to join his captain earlier than he would have imagined and both of them batted well together. Pant was watching the ball well as he adjusted his approach to Mohammed Hafeez based on the pace of the delivery. Together, they put on a 50 run partnership in 38 balls which set the base for India to score quickly. Unfortunately, they managed only 19 runs in the next 3 overs and lost the wicket of Rishabh Pant.
India’s only tactical blunder all day was sending Ravindra Jadeja over Hardik Pandya, batting at 6 only 2nd time in his T20I career. While having a left-right combination is a good idea, Hardik is a tremendous hitter of spin bowling and would have been very useful against Shadab Khan. Potentially, this caused India to fall short by at least 10 runs but considering how well Pakistan batted, it may not have made a difference.
Virat Kohli likes batting against Hasan Ali and it showed, as he took Ali for 2 fours in the 16th over in a bid to bat aggressively. But the right-arm quick from Rawalpindi, Haris Rauf, was quite spectacular. While he is known for his speed and yorkers, he showed he wasn’t a one-trick pony with a number of slower balls that made hitting very tough. As India finished with 151, it felt like they had done a pretty good job but taking wickets before the dew sets in would be key to stopping Pakistan from a reasonable total.
The two Indian players who were playing in the World Cup (and against Pakistan) were Suryakumar Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy. Both of them immediately showed that they meant business and had no nerves. Yadav walked in during that Afridi spell and casually slapped him for an effortless six. He even swept the spinner beautifully before getting caught behind. Chakravarthy was superb in the first 3 overs as both Rizwan and Babar Azam struggled at picking the direction of spin.
But other than Chakravarthy, none of the Indian bowlers really seemed to threaten Rizwan or Babar. There were no dropped catches or missed run-out chances, and the required rate never even went past 8.5 runs an over. Rizwan is a leg-side heavy batter and he used the creases beautifully to upset the lines the Indian bowlers could try. When he reached 50 in the 15th over, he had scored just 6 runs on the off-side.
Unlike the English spinners who were able to attack the stumps versus the West Indies, Indian spinners had to adjust the line constantly. It also doesn’t help India that Ravindra Jadeja is a fine spinner for containing the opposition but he doesn’t pick up a lot of wickets. In recent times, oppositions have tried to manage Bumrah by not giving him too many wickets and then scoring off the other bowlers. They will likely plan the same way against Chakravarthy and that forces India to find wickets of the other two bowlers when defending medium-sized totals.
As incredible as Bhuvneshwar Kumar can be, he isn’t the new ball swing bowler he used to be. And that might force India to pick Rahul Chahar who attacks the stumps and bowls a lot of googlies since Ravi Ashwin (similar to his test partner Jadeja), isn’t a big wicket-taker in T20s. Shami also had an ordinary night, and he needs to get his line and length right if India hopes to continue with 3 pacers.
With only 2 teams going through to the Semis from each group, losing two games can basically mean a team could end up finishing 3rd. Therefore, India will really hope both they and Pakistan beat New Zealand to put them in a good spot. And hopefully, in that time Indian bowlers can figure out how to take more wickets.