T20 World Cup 2021: MS Dhoni joins Pakistan players for a chat after India's loss in Dubai

Team India mentor MS Dhoni was seen in interaction with Pakistan’s Imad Wasim and Shoaib Malik after India slipped to a 10-wicket defeat in Dubai on October 24. With the victory, Pakistan snapped their 12-match losing streak against their Asian rivals in T20 World Cup and ODI World Cup combined.

After being invited to bat, India were reduced for 31/3 inside the powerplay courtesy of a searing spell of Shaheen Afridi, who dismissed both Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in successive overs of his spell. Inside the powerplay, India also lost Suryakumar Yadav, who nicked Hasan Ali behind before a half-century stand between Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant restored sanity.

Kohli scored a gritty 57 off 49 before being dismissed towards the fag end of the Indian innings to give Afridi his third scalp for the night, while Pant was undone by Shadab Khan earlier after a well-made 39 off 30. However, the horrific start meant that the catchup could only take India to 151/7.

During the chase, Pakistan were rather flawless against a clueless Indian bowling attack as a record unbeaten stand between openers Mohammad Rizwan, who struck six boundaries and three sixes in his 55-ball 79 and Babar Azam, who scored a 52-ball 68, with six boundaries and two sixes, took them home with 2.1 overs to spare.

Beautiful Picture 🇵🇰 #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/hd6282pffG

— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) October 24, 2021

After the loss, Kohli admitted that India could not execute their plans properly while acknowledging the efforts of the opposition who were clinical on the night.

“We didn’t execute properly. Credit where it’s due and Pakistan outplayed us today. They started brilliantly with the ball, and 3 wickets for 20 runs was not a good start. We needed wickets early but with the bat, they gave us absolutely no chances,” Kohli said.

“We needed those 15-20 extra runs and for that, we needed a good start but Pakistan’s bowling didn’t allow us to get those extra runs. We could make the argument of getting in another slower bowler, but it’s important to stay composed and understand our strengths because with the dew the slower bowlers couldn’t be effective either. This is just the first game of the tournament, not the last,” he added.

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