- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
The Men in Green have never beaten India in a 50-over World Cup game.
By: Shubham Ghosh
PAKISTAN had an unbelievable collapse as they lost their last eight wickets for only 36 runs against arch-rivals India in a crucial World Cup 2023 game at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat on Saturday (14).
The Men in Green had a decent start after India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and invited them to bat. Openers Abdullah Shafique (20), who hit a century against Sri Lanka in the previous match in Hyderabad on Tuesday (10), and Imam-ul-Haq (36) added 41 runs before Mohammed Siraj caught the former before wicket.
Imam was dismissed by Hardik Pandya with the team score at 73 and thereafter, captain Babar Azam (50) and Mohammad Rizwan (49) added 82 runs in 17 overs for the third wicket. But just when the duo were looking dangerous and Rizwan especially was threatening to deliver another winning knock (131 not out) like he did against Sri Lanka, Siraj castled Azam and it triggered a massive collapse from which Pakistan could not recover.
Both India’s pacers and spinners rattled Pakistan’s remaining batters and from 155 for 2, they were bowled out for 191 in 42.5 overs. Only one of the last seven batters of Pakistan could cross the two-figure mark. India’s top five bowlers picked two wickets each with Bumrah returning with the best figures of 2 for 19 in 7 overs.
Left-arm spinners Kuldeep Yadav ended up with 2 for 35 and Ravindra Jadeja with 2 for 38.
Opening batter Shubman Gill returned to the Indian team in place of Ishan Kishan after recovering from dengue fever and missing the first two matches.
“Cannot get bigger than this, fantastic atmosphere,” India captain Rohit Sharma said at the toss as the home crowd roared.
“Sure lot of us are going to experience something really extraordinary.”
Favourites India come into the match unbeaten with victories over five-time winners Australia and Afghanistan.
Pakistan, who also won their two matches against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka, come in unchanged from their previous win.
Against Sri Lanka, they chased down a World Cup record of 345 in Hyderabad.
Skipper Babar Azam said he would have also fielded first had he won the toss.
“We also wanted to bowl first,” he said. “We have had good two wins, momentum and confidence is high. Jam-packed stadium, we will enjoy it.”
Teams
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf
Umpires: Marais Erasmus (RSA), Richard Illingworth (ENG)
TV Umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG)
Match Referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)
(With agency inputs)
