India and Pakistan clashes at World Cups have been fairly exciting. But India has been able to overpower them 7 times till date. Now, in CWC 2023, both archrivals are taking on each other for the 8th time in overall world cups. The match started on 14th October with a rousing reception from fans and special ceremony. But in an anti-climax, India decimated Pakistan batting in the first half of the match.
Fans had huge anticipation to see India and Pakistan take on each other in a world cup match. Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field first. Pakistan needed to score at the least 280-320 runs to put India under pressure. Pakistan started off well as Imam-ul-Haq has hit 3 boundaries in Mohammed Siraj’s second over of the innings. Openers have been able to put on 41 runs in 8 overs. For the last ball of 8th over, Abdullah Shafique(20) got out to Mohammed Siraj.
Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam got together but Hardik Pandya removed Imam(36) for 73 on board. Azam and Mohammad Rizwan started re-building and looked in control. India looked at all different bowling options to break their partnership. They both have put on 82 runs and Pakistan looked like cruising to put up 270, at the least. In the 30th over, Mohammed Siraj dismissed Babar Azam(50) and this started a huge collapse. India did not let Pakistan any sort of respite.
Immediately, Kuldeep Yadav sent back Saud Shakeel(6) and Iftikhar Ahmed(4) in the same over. He bowled two brilliant deliveries to get rid of them. Captain Rohit Sharma tactfully introduced Jasprit Bumrah into the attack. Bumrah removed Mohammad Rizwan(49) and Shadab Khan(2) with two beauties. India quickly reduced Pakistan to 171/7 from 155/2. Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya cleaned up rest 3 wickets and Pakistan got bowled out for 191 in 42.5 overs. India needs to bat wisely and score 192 runs to secure a huge win in this game.
All the 5 major and regular bowlers took 2 wickets each and this is a great example of team effort. India preferred to go with Shardul Thakur to strengthen their batting instead of Ravichandran Ashwin. While Thakur did not bowl much, India would be praying that they don’t need him with bat. Pakistan did what Pakistan is known for doing – crumbling under immense pressure. While top order looked calm and composed, middle order who saved them earlier could not resist a good bowling attack. Now, it’s over to Indian batters to deliver.
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