More from this ICC World Cup 2023
It was all coming together for India, and somehow there was a belief that we are winning this without a doubt. I think India should just soak this one-in-a-lifetime event. I get it that India and Pakistan don’t meet on the pitch very often but the Asia Cup left a little dent in that so-called “rivalry”
But on this day, it was a houseful event with loud and somewhat toxic fans just laying it on the opponents and it felt like Pakistan was under huge pressure of performing. Not all the players in their team were as experienced or had the head game to take on this huge match, an early 2000s Pakistan team would be a different story.
Sachin was carrying the trophy, there were a jillion people and it was something that those fans will never forget.
I can’t believe they’re not playing Shami, man! Shardul is great, and I know he’s a batter, but Shami is an important bowler; with Siraj and Bumrah, I don’t know if we’ll need to bat THAT deep! KL Rahul is unbeaten, we haven’t seen the middle-order bat yet. Plus Shami carried the team in many matches when Bumrah wasn’t around, how does everyone forget that?
Kuldeep Yadav gets wickets from his eighth over. Saud Shakeel and Iftikhar Ahmed in the same over!
He played it all over the ground. His cover drives were exquisite, I think both him and rizwan targeted Pandya and sometimes Siraj. Babar looked flawless; there were no issues or dropped catches.
He hits a 4 off Kuldeep’s last ball, and the next over, Siraj’s lowie gets his off stump; it looked like an unbelievable ball (The ball just angled in, heading for the top of off. Babar wanted to run that down to third man, but it keeps low, and the ball hits three-fourths of the way up the stumps). The team’s trust in Siraj finally paid off; everyone expected him to be taken off when he was brought back for just one more over!
Rohit that big grizzly soft timer of the ball was so close to his 100! We were all holding our breath to see that happen but that flick! Ah! Either way, his innings looked flawless and he’s always so easy on the eyes, the Afghanistan match I think we were just sitting there for him to get to that 100, it was that simple.
Rohit Sharma: You just know the exact moment Sanju Manju will attack; his body language just changes. The intensity in his eyes increases manifold. He starts looking like a beast spawned from hell to end the viewer’s career. Everyone sees Sanju Manju, but the viewer, deep in his heart knows that the person at the crease is not Sanju Manju but his doomsday.
Rohit Sharma’s timing, he’s a lazy, gentle bear of a batsman!
Sachin walked into the commentary box and was reciting his old war stories; he was quite dull as a commentator, though; it felt like nobody gave a shit about the batters who were actually doing quite well; it felt like they were going to keep batting forever.
Babar is a player with lovely cover drives; Rizwan was in his element, playing an aggressive
At one point, Rizwan flicks Kuldeep over using his pace that’s when the little master in the comm box takes notice and compliments the shot.
At this point, the score predictor was going crazy, showed big numbers, and even the audience was expecting 300+ runs for sure!
The partnership finally was broken.
This partnership against Pakistan is what we wanted to see, and this was just brilliant to watch, they basically took it home with the target being so little. 56 (42). It was not about the runs only, it was just the emotion that was flowing through their entire innings.
There was a bit of a run-out situation, but the Pakistanis didn’t get that satisfaction. Eventually, Hasan’s slow one gets Kohli.
Pakistan lost 8 wickets for just 36 runs. After Babar and Rizwan we knew it was over, but not this fast; I was really expecting them to bat the whole time at least and probably move to 220-240 runs but that Indian bowling attack blitzed through the entire lineup like a hot knife through butter!
Siraj gave away like 12 runs in the first over, and there was already a lot of chatter on social networks; you know how toxic the Indian audience can get, especially against Pakistan, and the Indian bowler’s name isn’t their favorite. Both Siraj and proved them were about to kick their butts; Rohit trusted and brought him back as if they knew what was going to happen; I think Siraj and maybe even the other bowlers are getting a little more backing to do their thing regardless of leaking runs, I’m sure there are thresholds, but I think they’re building trust with bowlers like Siraj. Anyway, he comes back and delivers a beauty to dismiss Abdullah Shafique!
There were enough antics like Pandya blowing magic into the ball before dismissing and giving a send-off to Imam; well, apparently, the broadcast showed his reaction and not Imam’s response.
Jadeja almost got Rizwan right after, but a review suggested it was missing a leg.
A stunning middle-overs collapse from Pakistan, which had them lose eight wickets for 36 runs, turned what should have been an enthralling run chase into a dull formality.
Kuldeep’s Saud Shakeel dismissal was a surprise, Erasmus didn’t think it was out but well well it straightened out straight enough to send him back!
Iftikar couldn’t believe the spin doctor’s turn, I mean every match either him or Jadeja showcased something like this all the time. He bowled around the legs! The googly down leg, Iftikhar goes for a sweep, the ball catches his gloves and rolls back onto his stumps, behind his back. Ifti was probably thinking it was a stump and was sure that he was in the crease. I’ve only seen Warnie do this!
Final nail in the coffin was bringing back Bumrah and that magical Rizwan wicket.
Each Indian bowler played a part in their way, five different players splitting the ten Pakistan wickets evenly. With Pakistan folding for 191, it was like bringing a gun to a knife fight.
This was exactly played out like it was probably planned, the opening bowlers blitzing the openers during the powerplay and then surprising the middle order with the spin doctors not letting them get away, thinking they could slow the game down. This is just perfect, and never have I ever enjoyed the Indian bowling attack. There are not many loopholes well, maybe Pandya and Thakur giving away runs, but they’re still excellent all-rounders, I think other teams would kill to have two all-rounders who are at their skill-level.
Before the tournament began, everyone talked about the batting, but well bowlers surprised us beyond our expectations.
Bumrah’s wickets are always a treat; he did it again! That off-cutter to dismiss Rizwan was magical! The genius of the ball was just flicking that off stump; well, it was just kissed the off stump!
You can’t expect anyone to play that ball, and you could see Rizwan struggling to piece the whole scene together, thinking, “What the hell just happened?” It wasn’t his fault. I bet not many could play that ball in that conduction on that pitch, I guess.
There were two other balls we’ve seen Bumrah do this to Ollie Robinson (the angle) in the England test and then Shaun Marsh (all about the dip)
He’s not just a bowler, he reads the game so well, I loved what he said during the presentation, here’s the quote “Just the awareness helps. When I was young I used to ask a lot of questions, so that has helped me develop a lot of knowledge. I like to read the wickets and try a lot of options. [Rizwan wicket] I saw Jaddu’s ball was turning, so I count my slower ball as a spinner’s slower ball. I thought that can make the run-scoring tough, and it worked.
There was a little phase in there where there was reverse swing. [Shadab wicket] It was an outswinger I was looking to ball but there was parts of reverse swing happening. I have seen him [Waqar Younis] and Wasim Akram bowl some magical deliveries. So to get his nod is great.”
Him quoting Pakistani bowlers after defeating Pakistan was actually pretty heartwarming, all the noise you hear outside of the field is just toxic nonsense, game recognizes game no matter where they’re from. I mean wow! How can you not love this gold-level talent who’s a 360-degree bowler? I can’t wait to see what he does next in the next match. Also, praying he’s going to stay fit throughout, I mean he’s on a really good stride here, I don’t think that’ll happen. Here’s to hope!
More from this ICC World Cup 2023
