AR Rahman’s ‘Vande Mataram’ filled the air as the India players walked off the field on Sunday. The Premadasa could have been mistaken for Wankhede or Eden Gardens since the majority of the spectators had broken into a celebratory jig long before it all ended.
Once Jasprit Bumrah removed Saim Ayub and Salman Agha in the second over, Pakistan lost the zeal to go for the 176-run chase. Babar Azam paid the price for a cross-batted swat against Axar Patel two overs later, and it was curtains for Pakistan.
India’s 61-run victory, which extended their supremacy to 8-1 in the T20 World Cup against Pakistan, also led to some inevitable questions being raised about the hype surrounding the match.
Is it worth the build-up? The rivalry has long been sacrificed since Pakistan hardly has it in them to challenge India’s dominance.
If it was Ishan Kishan who showed what it takes to succeed with the bat in big matches, Hardik Pandya and Bumrah knocked them out of the contest pretty early with the ball.
The destroyer
Ishan has been a “changed man” since his comeback to the side. Having been forced to take a mental break two years back, the left-hander utilised it to rejuvenate his career with his new-found spiritual focus.
It not only helped him to concentrate better, but also allowed him to change his style. A strike-rate of over 200 in seven matches is ample evidence of his abilities.
On Sunday, he smashed 77 off 44 balls to rob the Pakistan attack of its zing, which meant that 98 came off the remaining 80 balls.
Pakistan’s ploy of depending solely on spin to rattle the Indian batting backfired as none of the six slow bowlers managed to put a skid on the scoring rate. Usman Tariq was held back, but did it really benefit them in the end?
Ishan had set out on a mission to destroy their spinners from the outset and even the early dismissal of Abhishek Sharma had no effect. He repeatedly reverse-swept both Agha and Abrar Ahmed as Pakistan struggled to stop the flurry of boundaries.
Abrar bore the brunt of the mayhem as Ishan launched into him once the Powerplay ended. He went about his task in a cool and nonchalant fashion.
“Ishan thought something out of the box. At 1/1, someone needed to take the responsibility and he did that amazingly,” skipper Suryakumar Yadav said later. “There was a little bit of slump in between the seventh to 15th overs, but then that’s the beauty of T20 cricket... The way Tilak, Shivam (Dube) and Rinku (Singh)
batted, I think it was commendable.”
That Ishan had come off a heavy dose of domestic cricket helped his cause on a wicket which gripped and turned from the outset. He showed the intent to attack and repeatedly cleared the 90m long straight boundary with ease.
Ishan often hit with the spin, resulting in his 10 boundaries and three sixes. It was mainly because of him that India managed to reach 175. Surya was the second-highest scorer with 32 off 29 balls.
The captain’s innings was significant since it came after Pandya was dismissed off the first ball. Rinku’s flurry in the last over provided the final impetus.
With a Super Eight berth now confirmed, the Indians look unstoppable. Only a bad day in office can ruin their chances of a title triumph, but that possibility looks slim.
