India defeat Pakistan by 6 wickets in blockbuster clash

[Shayan]

Virat Kohli's batting masterclass (55* off 37) seals a straightforward win for India at Eden Gardens.

 

[Sadevdesai]

Can't believe Amir had an over left !!!

 

[IcedCoffee]

Okay, Pakistani fans, I have a confession to make. I had not switched off the television, after all. Lol. But, in all honestly, I had given up all hope of an Indian victory, after we lost those two wickets in two balls.

My heartfelt commiseration to all Pakistani fans at your team's loss (though I am glad that the streak of Indian wins over Pakistan in the world cups, continues).

Had Pakistan won today (as I was 100% confident at one time) I would have genuinely felt happy for you guys. You guys deserve a happier ending to India-pak World Cup encounters. And I have come to admire the well behaved Pakistan cricket fans a lot. Two decades ago, the rivalry was so much more bitter, as I recall. My feelings were so much hard too. Not anymore.

All in all, it was a good entertaining match. Thank you all, for such entertaining comments on this forum. This forum makes the matches so much more interesting.

That's cuz games were a lot closer then, and we kept winning. Now most of the fans have just given up hope, and instead trash talk our own team—and rightly so.

 

[Jabo]

Went how I expected it to go with a score of 120 on the board

Should drop Sami and Sharjeel for the next game

Or we can see keep seeing Sharjeel fail and laugh at how horrible he is

 

[cricket_fan27]

That's cuz games were a lot closer then, and we kept winning. Now most of the fans have just given up hope, and instead trash talk our own team—and rightly so.

Well ofcourse , When you believe that your team can beat the other team you have higher hopes , expectations . For the Past 9-10 years , India has won more than 70 % of games against Pak - it's bound to bring the motivation and support down

 

[Indian_Supporter]

How is Sharjeel Khan an opener guys? I mean he is so poor its unbelievable. I told after Asia cup that Sarjeel Khan's batting has same level of quality as of Sohail Tanvir. Both are leg side hacks. Surely you guys got better openers than him or the other lad you played in Asia cup.

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[Gotham Cronie]

2012 WT20: Pakistan scored 128, India won by 8 wickets.
2014 WT20: Pakistan scored 130, India won by 7 wickets.
2016 WT20: Pakistan scored 118, India won by 6 wickets.

We're making progress boys!

 

[xbronze]

2012 wt20: pakistan scored 128, india won by 8 wickets.
2014 wt20: pakistan scored 130, india won by 7 wickets.
2016 wt20: pakistan scored 118, india won by 6 wickets.

We're making progress boys!

lol

 

[Gotham Cronie]

2012 WT20: Pakistan scored 128, India won by 8 wickets.
2014 WT20: Pakistan scored 130, India won by 7 wickets.
2016 WT20: Pakistan scored 118, India won by 6 wickets.

We're making progress boys!

We're playing the long game. Just 6 more matches to go...

 

[AamchiMumbaikar]

Phew, first time since 2007 finals felt like we are going to lose. It was a strange eerie feeling right from the first over because of the pitch, was not feeling confident that we would chase anything over 110. Luckily we won and the streak is alive

 

[Haripotter]

We're playing the long game. Just 6 more matches to go...

By then the beast will also retire

 

[aniket1911]

Good game of cricket overall. Had it's up and down, the ohh and hurrahs, would love to see these sides in action again soon.

Is there any change in group rankings ?

 

[Afridi10S]

Pakistan lost the game at the toss

It was always going to be difficult batting first with all the rain around. We needed to bowl first to stand a chance of victory

 

[Nabeel23]

We would have never chased down 120+ on this pitch, Dhoni is too good as a captain, he would have closed all the gaps so no easy singles, their spinners would have destroyed us.

 

[MMHS]

PAK would have lost by more than 55 runs batting 2nd.

IND would have kept scoring at 6+ for 12 overs just by keeping 80%+ shot productivity, helped by aggressive Captaincy - then last 5 overs blats would have taken the total to ~140+.

Then, MS would have bowled with Test match fielding by Ash & Jaddu, keeping 7 men inside with a slip, silly point & leg slip - to get PAK 50/5 after 10 & then would have choked with Raina & UV for 80-85 sort of total.

The theory OP said was valid in 1981 - 35 years back. PAK cricket is still stuck there - Test cricket haven't changed much in those years, so the team is among top 3/4; LO has a paradime shift - & PAK is heading to Minnow level, though individually players are not poor.

By the way, PAK would have definitely batted 1st had they won the toss. Someone, should explain OP how a side can go with 4 Pacers & 3 of them absolute raw fast, hit the deck type, on this track without the slightest tinge of grass on it.

 

[Ankit007]

We kept the series alive. i dont have to change my avatar soon now

 

[JaDed]

Missed the match sadly ,hope not many umpiring blunder as expected Rohit got owned

 

[sjahmed23]

I agree with OP Shahid Afridi's body language and statement made it clear to me that he was really counting on winning the toss and letting our pacers lose on the Indians. But that didn't happen so there was no back up plan.

 

[Runner Up]

Pakistan never win toss against India in crucial matches, bad luck or what

 

[AZulfi]

Top order just too slow with the bat in the first 10 overs.

So the losing streak against India in World Cups which began in 1992 has yet to be broken. It is 10-0 now, an embarrassing stat (5-0 in 50-over world cups and 5-0 in World T20). This could only mean that Indian players apart from being more gifted with the bat are mentally tougher and absorb pressure better than Pakistani players who rather than treating it as just another game probably get all carried away by pre-match hype and emotion.

Pakistan need to stop relying on their bowling, except Amir, it's nothing so out of the world. Yesterday likes of Steyn got hit by England all over the park. So for God's sake, get out of this 80's and 90's mentality and realise that cricket today is heavily in favour of the batsmen. You need to produce proper batsmen, yes proper batsmen who perform consistently. Cannot have fantasies of defending low totals again and again and again. Kohli is just so good. When you see him bat, you wonder with what face do people support losers like Afridi and Shehzad? Big deal if these guys score in every 15th game. If we could find a batsman even 75% as good as Kohli, we would be more competitive. Big players win you big matches.

 

[rhnmirza]

Im not sure when will any Pakistan Captain learn to contain "Singles" whilst fielding!!

If you set a field to stop boundaries, you have minnow bowlers who can't bowl.

Surely any batsmen (besides Afridi!!!!) finds gaps early on and then shifts gears. Adding slips or close-in catching fielders just adds pressure to any batsman.

never learnt the art of field placing, something thrives at.

 

[AZulfi]

K(holi) just too good again, so patient and calm while chasing. a real match-winner

 

[MMHS]

Pakistan never win toss against India in crucial matches, bad luck or what

Actually, PAK won the toss at Centurion - then PAK's superstar Fast bowler Captain opted to bat 1st in a Day game, on a ground having 80%+ successful chasing record in Day matches - that too after over night rain delayed the toss for few minutes & PAK playing with 4 regular pacers ..................... ittefaq se, same guy was part of the TANK, that had chosen 4 fast bowlers on a dead slow Eden rank turner.

 

[jattafridi]

dhoni is so lucky i just wanna _____ him in the face

 

[rhony]

These are all silly excuses really. If at all, I think Dhoni made a blunder by chasing after the game vs NZ. He thought the ball would swing initially but it wasn't case. It's the batting that loses the games for Pakistan. Believe it, burn it in the brain and keep repeating it. Pakistani bowlers are good but there is no one that can bowl out 6 or 7 batsman. Wahab and Irfan have been under performing for a while and Sami is always unpredictable. Amir can do what he does but he doesn't pick 5 wickets in 4 overs. Not many can.

You need batsmen to perform. In the Asia cup game, Pakistani batsmen went gung ho and got dismissed for 83. Here, they were ultra cautious in the first 10 overs and paid the price. It was Tendulkar back then and Kohli now that's winning the games for them. This is a batsman's game. Realize that

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

No.

It would have been worse if you had chased.

 

[Sandeep]

Imagine what Ashwin, Jadeja and Raina would have done to your batting if we got the opportunity to bowl 2nd. Dhoni would've never bowled first had he known the pitch had so much turn. Pakistan were actually given the advantage and they squandered it.

 

[Slog]

No. Please stop crying

 

[ChachaCricket]

Pakistan would've bundled for 80.

 

[Tusker]

Pakistan never win toss against India in crucial matches, bad luck or what

Actually they have won the toss 3 times

 

[Warrior]

A special thank you to Shoaib Malik

I thought he was awesome today. Without his batting and awesome spirit in the field it would have been over before Amitabh could say "Haeein".

I seriously wouldn't mind a discussion on him on the captaincy front for 2020s.

I was never a big fan of his in the past but always admired his agility more than his batting but I must say there is a serious case of him leading us in the shortest format. Although his past weird tendencies as captain could hamper him if he was to be thought of as captain for at least for the next 18 months.

 

[MRSN]

Pakistani batsmen did their job!!

I'm sorry but criticism on batting is completely unfair. The ball was turning square. It was like batting on a 5th day test match wicket.

Pakistan lost match when selectors didn't pick specialist spinner [Asgher] and Afridi didn't pick available spin choice in Nawaz.

Any team would have struggled to cross 120+ on this pitch with two specialist spinners turning square like Jadeja and Ashwin did to the openers.

For a change I think batsmen batted with some responsibility..could have finished better but I don't think they should be making up for blunders of selectors and captain. NZ would have had India for 50+ runs win on this wicket with Santner and Sodhi.

 

[Rafay Shafiq]

According to Lara and Yousuf, score was not bad.

 

[MRSN]

the kind of playing XI we were going with I think Pakistan would have lost by a bigger margin.

 

[tigerkhan]

especially for som1 who is playing as an "all-rounder," his over 6 runs economy on this square turner was amazing.

move on...... the guy is neither a genuine all-rounder nor a good thinking cricketer.

if he was smart, he would have had slip on his very first ball against Yuvraj.

Simply a one dimensional cricketer.

 

[Arun Verma]

Commiseration to Pakistan team. Who play four fast bowlers on rank turner? Pakistan deserved to lose in this match.

We are back in the game and still unbeaten on Pak-Ind history.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

I agree. If this was a 20 over game they would have scored 140 which on this pitch was bloody good.

 

[Abdullah]

Totally agree.
Just go back n watch Jadeja bowling. If we had one of imad and nawaz it would have beensome different. If we had both we'd won

 

[in_cutter]

If Afridi did not promote himself like a hero and waste all those deliveries, we would have scored 140.

 

[Slog]

His good batting was deemed irrelevant by his pie chucking

Pitch is turning square and you are bowling full deliveries and taking the rank turner out of the equation?

Use some brains ffs

 

[pakistani pride]

LOL if anything this game was in our hands when we scored 120 odd runs . Batting was first was ok.

Really after many many wc games we had india for the taking. Breaking thr streak at eden gardens packed housd. The script couldnt have been written better.

Afridi for me and many pak fans will go down as a big big loser. He gifted india this match.

 

[Barragan]

I concur, the batsmen did their job, especially Akmal and Malik.

The score was defendable, but the pace-men lacked common sense (barring Amir) and the spinners were simply atrocious.

 

[AFG_Brit]

If Afridi did not promote himself like a hero and waste all those deliveries, we would have scored 140.

No guarantee other batsmen would have done better, u happy with his last match 49 of 18?

He tried but it didn't pay off.


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[WC-Passion]

If Afridi did not promote himself like a hero and waste all those deliveries, we would have scored 140.

Agreed. 1 fluke innings made him fool himself.

 

[castortroy]

The games v India are not even close anymore

I remember back in the day when we used to play Australia and we would get hammered on a regular basis.

Any Pak win would be a closely fought game but we would win 1 in 5 against the Aussies (I guess it's still the same now)

It's exactly the same v India. These wc games of late have been so one sided that the gulf between the two sides is just getting bigger and bigger

The losses are so predictable with Kholi being the match winner. We can't set scores and we inevitable crumble when chasing against them

It will take a whole new generation of Pak players to overcome India ever again.

Won't be happening in the hafeez, Afridi era

 

[yadunoe]

pakistan cricket team is run by complete idiots who plays four fast bowlers on a turning pitch where is asghar and gohar I know sami played ok today but he is useless the guy has more lives then a cat . not playing immad or nawaz is a complete and utter blunder. the balls sharjeel wasted at the top was the reason we lost he is simply clueless against spin even though he had a great psl he was always a leg side hack should of had babar instead

 

[pakistani pride]

120 odd was a very decent score. Not having a spinner killed is. Really how on earth?

Also wahab. Just keep him for tests and perhaps odi series on bouncy tracks.

 

[pakistani pride]

Ooh stop this crying will you? Today we had a genuine chance of winning. Our coach and captain messed up big time. Im for once happy we looked relaxed when batting.

4 pacers at this venue? We lost the match. India didnt win it.

 

[loves_cricket]

I agree, it was near to NZ score against us.

 

[Barragan]

He was excellent today and I won't look into his bowling performance much because his primary role is to bat well and he was brilliant at that.

 

[castortroy]

11-0 streak and you think we lost because we didn't pick a spinner?

 

[AlphaFighter]

Well to be honest India deserve it, they were not scared of making tough decisions and throwing their youngsters in the firing line. After 2011 Indians were very swift to get rid of Gambhir, Dravid, Laxman, Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan the moment it appeared that their best days were finished even if their replacements were not ready.

In Contrast Pakistan is still carrying Afridi.

 

[pakistani pride]

11-0 streak and you think we lost because we didn't pick a spinner?

Oh bhai that streak is nice and well but each game is played on a different day.

Today yes we had a genuine chance had we picked 1 specialist spinner. We had m at 30 odd for 3. 4 overs of genuine spin would have won us the game. You dont need to be an einstein for that.

 

[rhony]

Ooh stop this crying will you? Today we had a genuine chance of winning. Our coach and captain messed up big time. Im for once happy we looked relaxed when batting.

4 pacers at this venue? We lost the match. India didnt win it.

That's ignorance. Who would you have selected instead of Sami? Are you sure they would take 2 wickets in two balls like Sami did?

The relaxation you saw when batting was actually fear of getting out. It choked the run rate and Malik's, UA's innings were just too late. If you thought you were going to win with Imad Wasim and a sub par score of 119, you are delusional. Pakistan should have scored 135 to 140 on this wicket to even have a chance of winning.

 

[Mamoon]

The WT20 2012, 2014 and 2016 were identical.

Pakistan bat with the handbrake on, limp to a modest total before Kohli chases down the total without much fuss.

Ridiculous.

 

[AlphaFighter]

Even if we got 145 plus there is no way our bowling would have defended it. The way Dhoni went beserk against Irfan i am pretty sure he would have done the job in the situation where 25 were required of 12 balls like he has done so many times. Kohli would have timed his run chase even better.

Barring Amir and except for that one over of Sami, our pace attack is over rated. Wahab and Irfan are just too indisciplined. Our spinners were toothless.

 

[Mamoon]

He walks into our team at the moment. Those who say that he should be dropped have no idea what they are talking about.

 

[speed]

kohli is like ponting of 2000s we can't get him out.

 

[Mamoon]

Our lack of power-hitting was exposed again.

We really don't have a batsman who can consistently get you 30 (15) deliveries at the death, something Razzaq was able to back in the day.

Umar can do it on his day, but that is rare.

Sharjeel is a joke in front of good bowlers.

The likes of Malik, Hafeez and Sarfraz catch thin air when they look to slog. Less said about Afridi, the better.

We have issues at every position, but we will continue to fail to compete in this era if we don't produce power-hitters like Miller, Buttler, Maxwell etc.

 

[rhony]

The WT20 2012, 2014 and 2016 were identical.

Pakistan bat with the handbrake on, limp to a modest total before Kohli chases down the total without much fuss.

Ridiculous.

His SR was 149 in this game. That's the difference between Pakistan and India. Not Imad Wasim.

 

[tigerkhan]

Rameez thinks that Ahmad shehzad is technically very strong

I know that it was a square turner, however, majority of the Pakistani batsmen (especially shehzad) made it even more difficult for themselves by mostly playing against the spin on this pitch.

Just look at how Yuvraj and Kohli played our spinners. I don't remember a single ball they played against the spin. Yuvraj waited for afiridi's deliveries to come on to him and then played them on the onn-side.

How could one call batsmen playing against the spin on a square-turner, technically strong?

 

[pakistani pride]

That's ignorance. Who would you have selected instead of Sami? Are you sure they would take 2 wickets in two balls like Sami did?

The relaxation you saw when batting was actually fear of getting out. It choked the run rate and Malik's, UA's innings were just too late. If you thought you were going to win with Imad Wasim and a sub par score of 119, you are delusional. Pakistan should have scored 135 to 140 on this wicket to even have a chance of winning.

Its all ifs and buts how ever we all know many a pprs want wahab and irfan out of the t20 team. It was quite clear both nawaz and imad had to play.

Even 1 specialist spinner would have been enough. Sharma , dhawan amd raina were not the danger. It were the other 3 and on this track only a good spinner could stop them.

 

[JaDed]

Ooh stop this crying will you? Today we had a genuine chance of winning. Our coach and captain messed up big time. Im for once happy we looked relaxed when batting.

4 pacers at this venue? We lost the match. India didnt win it.

I'm guessing we never win it?

 

[AlphaFighter]

I know that it was a square turner, however, majority of the Pakistani batsmen (especially shehzad) made it even more difficult for themselves by mostly playing against the spin on this pitch.

Just look at how Yuvraj and Kohli played our spinners. I don't remember a single ball they played against the spin. Yuvraj waited for afiridi's deliveries to come on to him and then played them on the onn-side.

How could one call batsmen playing against the spin on a square-turner, technically strong?

Our spinners were utter rubbish. We all saw in the previous game how the likes of Kohli and Yuvraj were seriously troubled by a decent spin attack.

 

[srh]

How the hell was ball was turning so much in Pak inning but not in India inning?

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Batting much better and measured. There is progress being made even its slow.

 

[pakistani pride]

I'm guessing we never win it?

I posted in other threads that after many wc games we finally looked like winning. Keeping to t20 on 2012 and 14 you were way better and trashed us.

Today was a different case and you know that.

 

[Mamoon]

By Pakistani standards, Shehzad is technically okay because at least he plays with a straight bat. Most of our batsmen are leg-side sloggers.

However, by international standards, he is average.

I have put Shehzad criticism to bed because I have resigned to the fact that he is the best available opener in the country, after witnessing the plight of the likes of Manzoor, Sharjeel and Sami Aslam.

 

[JaDed]

I posted in other threads that after many wc games we finally looked like winning. Keeping to t20 on 2012 and 14 you were way better and trashed us.

Today was a different case and you know that.

Fair enough and i do agree to a certain extent also it was Pakistan's best chance to defeat us we were under pressure had to win and have never won against Pak in Calcutta.

 

[WC-Passion]

The WT20 2012, 2014 and 2016 were identical.

Pakistan bat with the handbrake on, limp to a modest total before Kohli chases down the total without much fuss.

Ridiculous.

I swear Kohli has some kind of super transformation every-time he plays v Pakistan. Looked dazzled v NZ and looks like Superman v Pakistan whether it's a donkey or Amir bowling.

India's spin bowling and mental strength, alongside great captaincy from a cool and composed Dhoni always will prevail against us.

2011 WC was the WC where I honestly think we should have won the WC and was when we had the best chance of beating India.

 

[yamibone]

Can't compare their batting to ours when our spinners are part timers and were utter tosh today.
Shehzad has a good technique, but poor temperament, and thats why he is so inconsistent. But theres nobody better?

 

[tigerkhan]

Our spinners were utter rubbish. We all saw in the previous game how the likes of Kohli and Yuvraj were seriously troubled by a decent spin attack.

You are right about our spinners today but to be honest for any batsman, who is getting paid to play cricket (a professional) playing against the spin on a pitch like today, is a cricket blasphemy.

Also, if you noticed there were no LBWs and bowled today by the spinners. The ball was just turning too much. Pak batsmen should have used this fact to their advantage by trying to play sqaure, with the spin.

I don't know what our think-tank is getting paid for? They can't read the pitch. Can't give batting tips for specific conditions. Just exactly what do they do?

 

[rhony]

Its all ifs and buts how ever we all know many a pprs want wahab and irfan out of the t20 team. It was quite clear both nawaz and imad had to play.

Even 1 specialist spinner would have been enough. Sharma , dhawan amd raina were not the danger. It were the other 3 and on this track only a good spinner could stop them.

Remember that Pakistan was in the game only when Sami picked up those wickets. The score was not enough to begin with and then Afridi, Malik bowled badly. Malik's first ball to Yuvraj was good but after that he kept on pitching on leg stump for that miracle ball that turns to outside off. Yuvraj was just happy to sweep. Afridi kept bowling full for some reason and his lengths were disappointing. Imad for Wahab would have been a good choice but I think they will never drop Wahab against India. Having said that, Imad doesn't turn the ball that much. I'd like to think he's like Jadeja with his flat spinners but he is an inferior version and doesn't flight the ball.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Pakistan were definitely 20 runs short at least. 118 is a nothing score in T20s. India will not bundle up under 100 every time.

 

[Mamoon]

I swear Kohli has some kind of super transformation every-time he plays v Pakistan. Looked dazzled v NZ and looks like Superman v Pakistan whether it's a donkey or Amir bowling.

India's spin bowling and mental strength, alongside great captaincy from a cool and composed Dhoni always will prevail against us.

2011 WC was the WC where I honestly think we should have won the WC and was when we had the best chance of beating India.

And there is a thread on PP about Kohli's lack of performance against Pakistan )

He is a very competitive player and such matches bring the best out of him.

Best batsman in the world along with Joe Root.

 

[tigerkhan]

Can't compare their batting to ours when our spinners are part timers and were utter tosh today.
Shehzad has a good technique, but poor temperament, and thats why he is so inconsistent. But theres nobody better?

Dude it's common sense not to play against the spin on square turners, for all the people who get paid to play cricket. Has nothing to do with our spinners and their spinners.

 

[WC-Passion]

By Pakistani standards, Shehzad is technically okay because at least he plays with a straight bat. Most of our batsmen are leg-side sloggers.

However, by international standards, he is average.

I have put Shehzad criticism to bed because I have resigned to the fact that he is the best available opener in the country, after witnessing the plight of the likes of Manzoor, Sharjeel and Sami Aslam.

Please give Sami Aslam a chance. Manzoor and Sharjeel have played much more games than him and it's not fair to write him off already.
People were writing Babar Azam off after that 12 and 24 and now he's arguably our best batsmen.

 

[castortroy]

Our bowlers have no clue as to how get Kholi out

 

[emranabbas]

And extra spinner would have not made a difference, India were playing spinners well and that's the reason we lost

The game wasn't about restricting India to score the game was about taking wickets

Why was Amir kept till the final overs?

Why was sami not given overs after taking 2 wickets in a row

Until the spinners didn't come on we were in the seat

 

[rhony]

I swear Kohli has some kind of super transformation every-time he plays v Pakistan. Looked dazzled v NZ and looks like Superman v Pakistan whether it's a donkey or Amir bowling.

India's spin bowling and mental strength, alongside great captaincy from a cool and composed Dhoni always will prevail against us.

2011 WC was the WC where I honestly think we should have won the WC and was when we had the best chance of beating India.

1999 was the best chance. It was an ATG Pakistani team chasing a sub par Indian score. 2011 on the contrary had ATG Indian batsman. I get you though. 4 dropped catches of Tendulkar with that dubious LBW decision were just outrageous.