India Wins, Again – IND vs PAK T20I World Cup 2024

What a turn of events, India almost lost but some exceptional performances from Bumrah and Rishabh Pant flipped the tables!

India vs Pakistan, this contest has everything a dramatic event has - drama, emotion, action, and passion. Yesterday’s clash between at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York was the epitome of cricketing class.

Eventually, India won the match by 6 runs. It was a close call.

Earlier there was a chance of heavy rain, so the match could have been abandoned but luckily, everything fell into place.

Winning the toss, Pakistan decided to bowl first. Cashing on their strong point - bowling, Babar went ahead with a wise decision, since the pitch went a little damp. These pitch conditions restrict the higher count of runs, which PAK had to stop.

First Innings Scenario

Let's glance over the major events in the first innings of the contest.

Loose Opening by India

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli opened for India, but things didn’t work out as they expected to! In the second over, Naseem took Virat’s wicket, a heavy blow to India. Virat’s magic didn’t work in the IND vs PAK match, he scored only 4 runs.

Soon in the 2.4 over, Rohit Sharma departed by scoring only 13 runs. India was at 19/2 at this point. Somebody had to take the charge.

Rishabh Pant Managed Well

Rishabh Pant gave the kind of performance India needed. Pant emerged as influential and dominating on the field against Pakistan bowlers. Pant was smooth and played with an intention of regulating the match and increasing India’s chances of scoring higher runs.

Being less aggressive and playing more strategically, Pant relied on fours and hit 6 of them. Soon, Babar Azam took this catch and Amir took Pant’s wicket. Babar Azam's total runs were 42 off 31 balls with a strike rate of 135.48.

Doomed Middle Order

The middle-order batting line upholds the responsibility of improving the score and managing the trembling batting performance. But in this case, India’s middle order failed to work.

The order which includes explosive batsmen like ICC No.1 batsman Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja failed!

All the batsmen mentioned above scored 7, 3, 7 and 0 runs respectively! And in the end, India got whitewashed at 119 runs in the 19th over.

It Happened for the First Time!

This is the first time in the history of the India Pakistan match, that the former side lost all 10 wickets against PAK in a T20I match. Also, the score of 119 runs is the lowest first-innings total for India against Pakistan in the T20Is.

Challenging Bowling by PAK

Pakistan’s bowling must be credited for India’s poor batting performance. It was due to PAK’s bowling that India got whitewashed in the T20Is.

Every bowler gave a satisfactory performance level, but Naseem and Haris were the stars. Both took 3 wickets each. Shaheen Afridi and Amir took 1 and 2 wickets respectively. Iftikhar Ahmed and Imad Wasim couldn’t add a wicket to their account.

Second Innings Scenario

Let's glance over the major events in the second innings of the contest – IND vs PAK World Cup 2024.

Rizwan Tried to Open Well!

The onus for a great opening lies on the shoulders of both the openers but only one of them understood the assignment.

Mohammad Rizwan managed to add runs and protect the wicket but the captain, Babar Azam could walk with him, shoulder to shoulder. The openers protected the wicket till the 4th over in the 4.4 over, Suryakumar took Babar’s catch and Jasprit Bumrah took his first wicket.

Rizwan couldn’t stay at the pitch after the 14th over, Bumrah bowled him.

Middle Order Batting – Doomed Here Too!

There were no major differences in the middle-order batting performance of both teams. Wickets started to fall, one after the other in the IND vs PAK T20! Usman, Fakhtar, Imad and Shadab, none of them was able to add runs to the scoreboard.

Collectively, the middle order added only 45 runs!

Top of the Line Bowling by Bumrah!

The credit for whitewashing the Pakistan team goes to great bowling by Jasprit Bumrah. Giving away only 14 runs, Bumrah took 3 wickets at the economy rate of 3.50.

Bumrah took important wickets. If Rizwan would have allowed more room to settle, then things could have been fatal for the Indian team. But Bumrah’s lightning-fast bowling sent him back to the pavilion.

Another part of the credit goes to Hardik Pandya. The all-rounder took 2 wickets. Arshdeep and Axar took 1 wicket each.

What’s Next for Pakistan?

Pakistan has already lost two contests in the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup 2024, one against the USA and now against India. The next match against Canada might decide their future in the tournament, winning the match would secure their chances of playing ahead and losing it might take them out of the tournament.