India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup 2021: Man of The Match, Post Match Presentation, Scorecard and Highlights

T20 World Cup 2021: Azam-Rizwan’s record opening stand, Shaheen Shah sizzles in Pakistan’s emphatic win

It was ‘lucky 13’ game against India at the World Cup, Pakistan registered their first win over their neighbours on the big stage. In their 13 meetings, India have won seven ODIs and five T20Is with Pakistan finally breaking the jinx with a comprehensive win on Sunday.

1

51679

After being put into bat, skipper Virat Kohli guided India to 151/7 after Shaheen Shah Afridi removed both openers cheaply. The Pakistan bowlers put up a clinical show to restrict India to 151. Kohli put up a steady half-century. But in comparison, Pakistan skipper Azam along with opener Mohammad Rizwan set the stadium ablaze with an unbeaten opening stand, to chase down the target with 13 balls to spare.

Shaheen Shah Afridi (3/31), who removed the dangerous Rohit Sharma (0) and KL Rahul (3) along with skipper Kohli (57) took home the man of the match trophy.

T20 World Cup: India vs Pakistan: Hardik Pandya taken for scans after being hit on the shoulder

After getting their tournament off to a strong start, Pakistan will next take on New Zealand on Tuesday (Oct. 26). Meanwhile, India have a longer gap before their next time and will look to quickly regroup before their next match against New Zealand on Sunday (Oct 31).

Post Match Presentation Highlights of India vs Pakistan match:

Player of the Match: Shaheen Shah Afridi

Losing Captain: Virat Kohli: We did not execute the things that we wanted to but credit is certainly due – they outplayed us today. When you lose three early wickets it’s very difficult to come back, especially when you know the dew is coming. They were very professional with the bat as well. Hitting through the line was not as easy in the first half as it seemed in the Pakistan innings, so when you know the conditions can change, you need 10-20 extra runs. But some quality bowling from Pakistan didn’t let us get off the blocks. We’re certainly not a team that presses the panic button. Very important for us to stay composed and understand our strengths. It’s the start of the tournament, not the end.

Winning Captain: Babar Azam: We executed our plans well and the early wickets were very helpful. Shaheen’s wickets gave us a lot of confidence and the spinners dominated as well. The plan with Rizwan is always to keep it simple. We tried to get deep in the crease and from about the 8th over the dew came in and the ball came on nicely. This is just the start, we have confidence to build on now. It will remain match by match for us. The pressure on us wasn’t that much – we weren’t thinking of the record against India at all. I only wanted to back all our players who’ve been preparing well. When you play tournaments before a big World Cup, it helps and our players came in with a lot of confidence because of that.

Player of the match: Shaheen Afridi: This is the first time we’ve beaten India and I feel very proud. I knew it would be good for us if I got early wickets and that worked out. My idea was to get as much swing as possible. You don’t get a lot here, but I wanted to get those breakthroughs and gave it 100%. In my opinion the new ball was difficult to play, so credit goes to Babar and Rizwan. All the teams are difficult at the World Cup, we’ll try to take this momentum forward and make the final.