Pakistan outplayed India in the opening encounter for both teams in the T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai, as the Babar Azam-led team won by 10 wickets and finally registered their first win after suffering 12 defeats against the neighbours in World Cup history.
Babar won the toss and elected to bowl first as Shaheen Afridi reduced India to 6/2 in the third over by getting rid of Rohit Sharma for a golden duck and KL Rahul for just 3. Thereafter, Indian captain Virat Kohli batted responsibly to take the team to a competitive score of 151/7 while scoring 57, his 29th half-century in T20Is.
Afridi took three wickets, including the Indian captain who was looking for quick runs in the final overs. It was a brilliant display by the Pakistani attack as they kept a tight leash and took wickets regularly to dent the scoring rate.
Mohammad Rizwan (79*) and Babar Azam (68*) responded in some style as Pakistan chased down the target in 17.5 overs with all 10 wickets in hand. No Indian bowler could create even one opportunity as the Pakistani openers batted beautifully and calmly despite the immense pressure of history being against the team.
After the match, as Pakistani players celebrated their well deserved win, there were some heartening scenes as Virat Kohli came forward to congratulate the openers. He sportingly shook hands and gave a pat to both the players to appreciate their batting performance.
Later, former Indian captain, MS Dhoni who is with the Indian team as a mentor for the duration of the tournament, was seen mingling with the Pakistani players including veteran Shoaib Malik and captain Babar Azam.
Harsha Bhogle, who was commentating aptly described the special moment even as the relations between both nations have not been at their best in recent times. This was the first T20I played between India and Pakistan since the previous edition of the tournament in 2016.
