CT 2017: Match 4, Who Said What: India v Pakistan

It was a rather tame end to the highly-anticipated clash between India and Pakistan at Birmingham. The Indian win was emphatic indeed. However, the fans would have surely loved the contest all the way more had there been a fight shown by the men in green. With the rain interruptions coming in, team Pakistan were set a target of 289 runs in 41 overs.

They ended up bundling up for just 164 in less than 34 overs to hand India a superlative win by 124 runs. Umesh Yadav returned with 3 wickets to his name, while Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja bagged two wickets each. Earlier in the game, all the top four batsmen in the Indian batting order scored fifties to help the team post a mammoth total in their allotted 48 overs.

Rohit Sharma top scored with 91 runs to his name, and skipper Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 81. Shikhar Dhawan had hit a fifty too and Yuvraj Singh provided the much-needed impetus towards the end with a blitzkrieg fifty. Hardik Pandya’s triple blow in the final over was the topping on the perfect innings that India played on the day.

Man of the Match Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh had plundered 53 off mere 32 balls. He hit 8 fours and a six in his innings with a strike rate of 165.63. He was awarded the Man of the Match award for his sensational effort with the bat. Speaking about the same in the post match presentation, Yuvraj remarked that they got off to a good start. He credited Virat for playing a good knock. He revealed that his intention was to take the attack to the opposition and he did just that.

Yuvraj Singh quoted: Yeah definitely to get some runs on the board it feels good. We all batted well. The openers gave us a very good start. Virat batted well. I was given the opportunity to go out there and attack. Not easy at all. I think you have to back yourself. You have to tell the opposition you are out there to attack and score runs. Depends on how you are feeling that day. I was feeling good today. Lucky got dropped and then capitalized in the end. Finished really well. India-Pakistan is always a big game. I think it sets up nicely. We will take the confidence and momentum forward. Our bowlers did very well throughout the game. We will take the confidence into the game against Sri Lanka.

India skipper Virat Kohli

Team India skipper Virat Kohli was very pleased with the way things unfolded on the day for the Indian side. He noted that the performance was a near perfect one. He cited that the fielding could have been better in the match. However, the win has certainly given momentum to the Indian team in the tournament.

Virat Kohli quoted: With the bat and the ball we were right up there, 9 out of 10. In the field we were 6 out of 10. If we tune that upto 8 or 9, we will be a very strong side in the tournament. I think this was a very complete performance starting the tournament. We took the momentum that we gained from the practice games into this game. Skill wise we were really very good. This is a tournament of all champion teams, where you can’t let off at any stage. The batsman chipped in with the runs.

He credited the openers for their stellar show with the bat. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan had posted a 136-run stand for the opening wicket in the match. Kohli noted that the intent that Shikhar showed from the beginning was commendable. He also credited Yuvraj Singh for taking the pressure off him in the match. Kohli had his word reserved for Hardik’s finish as well.

Kohli added: Last time we won here, Shikhar and Rohit were the key. The intent from Shikhar was outstanding. Rohit took his time. He needed runs under his belt. From the next game he will be expressive and we all know what kind of a batsman he is. I felt like a club batter in front of Yuvi. He took all the pressure off me, when I was not hitting it well. Yuvraj is in the team because he is a game changer. Hardik as well finishing it off was really outstanding. The batting I would say was 10 out of 10.

Lastly, he conceded that he was not totally content with the bowling and the fielding on the day. He also added that the team knew that the strength of the Pakistani batsmen lie in playing the spinners well. The Indian team fancied their chances in this regard and took the attack to the opposition.

Kohli added further: The bowling and fielding, I would cut one mark. Purely because of the fact that we were playing Pakistan. They play spin really well. Most of their line is made up of right-handers. In pressure situations to be able hit over mid-off and mid-on is tough. That allowed us to pick wickets and be aggressive throughout the innings. Guys who don’t play spin well, we will play with 2 spinners. It is about who you are playing against.

Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed

Pakistani skipper Sarfraz Ahmed was very reserved in his words after the humiliating defeat. He was certainly disappointed at the way things turned out for his team on the day. He rued that the fielding was not up to the mark and the final overs proved to be very costly for them. He is keen on improving in the batting order as well for the matches to follow.

Sarfraz Ahmed quoted: I think we were not up to the mark with the fielding. Everything was under control till the 40th over. We lost the plot in the last 8 overs. No regrets. We leaked over 100 runs in the last 8 overs and the momentum to India. We need to sit together and decide how to control the bowling rate in the death. This tournament has given good pitches. We need to sit together and decide how we can get to more than 300.