India defeated Pakistan by 61 runs in a one-sided contest in Colombo.
Ishan Kishan starred with 77 runs, and Suryakumar Yadav made 32 as India powered their way to 175/7 in 20 overs on a difficult pitch to bat on. In response, Pakistan batters tried to emulate India’s aggression but failed to do so, getting bowled out for 114 runs. India won by 61 runs and qualified for the Super 8s round.
Before the much-anticipated India-Pakistan match, there was considerable talk about how India's bowling lineup, which included Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Hardik Pandya, and others, would perform against Pakistan's batting.
However, Indian bowlers dominated the game, as Pakistan struggled to handle both pacers and spinners, losing wickets at regular intervals.
With Pakistan at 78 for 6 in the 12th over, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav turned to his part-time bowler Tilak Varma. To add salt to the Pakistani team's wound, Tilak took a wicket on the first ball, catching Shadab Khan off Shivam Dube to make it 78 for 7.
Pakistani experts and journalists viewed the decision as a disrespect to the Pakistan cricket team's reputation. After Tilak's bowling. Surya also called on Rinku Singh to bowl one over, in which he conceded nine runs.
Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali was pained to see the humiliation Suryakumar Yadav and India caused to Pakistan by bowling part-timers in the much-hyped game.
“Surya ne jo sabse jor se tamacha mara hai na, jab usne Rinku aur Tilak Varma ko bowling karayi hai (Surya has slapped hard by bowling Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh). This is the value of Pakistan’s cricket. I’m not talking about Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, or Varun Chakaravarthy."
Basit Ali said on YouTube.
Similar to Basit Ali, the host of another show called Dug Out, which features regular appearances by former Pakistani cricket stars Imad Wasim, Sohail Tanvir, Azhar Ali, and Azhar Mahmood, expressed similar feelings over Surya's decision to bowl part-timers.
“They have embarrassed us today by bowling Rinku Singh. It’s like they wanted everyone to bowl,” host Shazad Khan said.
Cricket writer Jarrod Kimber noted in his video on YouTube, “When Tilak Varma got the ball, Pakistan’s chances were less than 1%. And yes, there were some cricketing reasons to bring him on. Spin was doing well. Pakistan had used a load of them themselves, of course. And so having someone who can bowl a little bit of part-time spin at that point makes sense. But it’s also pretty funny when you’re bringing on a bowler who has three wickets in 42 T20Is to bowl in a game like this. It can only ever mean two things: you’ve completely won the game, or you’ve completely lost the game. And in this one for India, it obviously meant the former.”
Pakistan will now need to defeat Namibia in their final Group A game on February 18 to qualify for the Super 8s.