The jam-packed crowd that assembled at the Eden Gardens was made to wait for the high-octane clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan at the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 as the groundsmen battled against time to get the ground in order.
But once the action started, both sets of supporters had moments to cheer about, but as in previous World Cup encounters it was India who came out on top.
Virat Kohli proved to be the match-winner yet again as he crafted a superb half-century on a difficult batting surface to guide India to a six-wicket victory in a match that was crucial to India’s survival at the World T20.
Here is how the players from both teams ranked on the big day.
India
Rohit Sharma – 4/10
Managed to hit a couple of boundaries against an off-length Mohammad Irfan but attempted a big shot against the wrong line by Mohammad Amir, thus lofting a high catch to Shoaib Malik at mid-off. The Indian opener might not rate Amir highly, but it's the second time the left-armer has got him in quick succession, as Rohit fell to Amir during the Asia Cup contest as well.
Shikhar Dhawan – 3/10
The Delhi cricketer looked out of sorts as he failed to come to terms with the lack of pace on the surface. Got himself into a shell playing a lot of dot balls and ended up playing on to Sami as he became the second Indian wicket to fall on the day.
Virat Kohli – 9/10
Much like the Asia Cup encounter between the two sides not so long ago, Kohli along with Yuvraj Singh proved to be India’s saviours after the loss of three early wickets. The Indian vice-captain proved yet again how much a big-match he his starting off with a superbly placed boundary off Sami before playing smartly picking up singles to keep the scoreboard ticking.
He dug into a Shoaib Malik later on that shifted the match firmly in favour of the hosts. Looked like he was batting on an altogether different surface as he scored a masterful half-century.
Suresh Raina – 5/10
Picked up the wicket of Sharjeel Khan in his only over and should consider himself unlucky that he was not used again. He couldn’t offer much with the bat either as he was undone by the extra pace of Mohammad Sami as the latter sent the stumps flying to dismiss for a first-ball duck.
Yuvraj Singh – 7/10
Though Yuvraj never looked in free-flowing touch, he played the able deputy to Kohli in India’s run chase forming a good stand with the Indian vice-captain following three quick wickets. Survived a close chance against Sami but put his experience to good use as he assessed the target and played according to the nature of the surface.
MS Dhoni – 6/10
Dhoni’s decision to not use the likes of Yuvraj Singh and more of Suresh Raina after the latter’s wicket-taking over was questioned by a number of cricket experts, especially considering the manner in which the opposition batsmen struggled against the huge amount of turn India’s main spinners extracted out of the surface.
Did his bit with the bat though as he supported Kohli at the other end before hitting the winning runs as he has done on so many occasions in the past.
Hardik Pandya – 6/10
The Indian all-rounder had a good start to his day on the field as he took a brilliant catch to dismiss Ahmed Shehzad before more importantly deceiving the dangerous Shahid Afridi with a slightly slower delivery to send the Pakistan skipper back to the pavilion before he could do much damage.
However, the use of the slow balls too much proved to be his undoing as Shoaib Malik and Umar Akmal smashed him for huge sixes as Pandya ended up with expensive figures.
Ravindra Jadeja – 7/10
Much like Ashwin, Jadeja also managed to extract a huge amount of turn from the surface. He had a number of deliveries that took the outside edge or narrowly beat the bat, thus restricting the Pakistani batsmen from stepping up the run-rate during the middle overs. The left-armer was rewarded with the wicket of Umar Akmal late on in the Pakistan innings.
Ravichandran Ashwin – 7/10
The off-spinner might have had a day to forget on Tuesday against New Zealand, but he was right on top of his game against Pakistan tonight. He was able to make the ball turn a mile on many occasions, and was extremely unlucky not to pick up a wicket, especially after having Sharjeel at sixes and sevens many a time. Dhoni’s decision not to use complete Ashwin’s quota of four overs was slightly amusing as well.
Jasprit Bumrah – 7/10
The youngster had a slightly mixed day as he started and ended well, but ended up gifting a few loose deliveries in between for the opposition batsmen to score from. He did pick up the wicket of Ahmed Shehzad though at a moment when the latter looked set to get the scorecard moving after negating the early danger.
Ashish Nehra – 8/10
The 36-year-old put all his experience to use by making the ball grip the surface by varying his pace smartly. He managed to keep the scoring in check the whole night and came back later on to dismiss Shoaib Malik who was looking in fine form.
Showed the younger bowlers how to absorb the pressure and maintain their cool in high-octane contests such as this one.
Pakistan
Sharjeel Khan – 5/10
“It looks like he’s batting with someone else’s bat,” said Harsha Bhogle during Sharjeel’s laborious stay at the crease. The 26-year-old seemed to come out all guns blazing trying to hit the very first ball of the innings to the boundary but looked completely clueless against the spin of Ravichandran Ashwin. Though he managed to survive, he never looked comfortable out in the middle and fell to Raina after a brilliant catch by Hardik Pandya.
Ahmed Shehzad – 7/10
He did have a few troublesome moments against the spinners but played well considering the situation and managed to give Pakistan a good start with a few boundaries that helped break the shackles. However, he couldn’t convert the start into a meaningful score after he perished for 25 trying to go for the big shots.
Shahid Afridi – 5/10
Came up the order yet again but there was no repeat of his heroics against Bangladesh as Jadeja’s big turners kept him in check before holding out at the long-on boundary off a well disguised slower one by Hardik Pandya. Certainly missed a trick or two with his captaincy as well as he failed to put that extra pressure on the Indian batsmen despite the loss of three early wickets.
Umar Akmal – 7/10
Struggled whenever he came up against Jadeja, but managed to get a few boundaries before he fell to the left-arm spinner. The 41-run stand he shared with Malik was crucial in getting Pakistan to a decent total.
Shoaib Malik – 8/10
Kickstarted Pakistan’s late onslaught with a huge six off Hardik Pandya before smashing three boundaries. Malik’s 16-ball 26 proved to be the little cameo that Pakistan was hoping for though he would be miffed with himself for not carrying his bat through to the end of the innings after looking in fine touch.
Sarfraz Ahmed – 6/10
The usually big-hitting Sarfraz couldn’t get the balls away to the boundary, but to be fair to the wicketkeeper-batsman he was left with too little time to get used to the nature of the pitch. Facing a superb death bowler in Bumrah certainly didn’t help matters either.
Mohammad Hafeez – 5/10
Like Sarfraz, Hafeez came out to the middle too late on to have a meaningful impact on the match. With his inability to bowl due to the ICC enforced suspension, may be the Pakistan team management should reconsider where to bat Hafeez.
Wahab Riaz – 6/10
Did pick up the wicket of Yuvraj Singh, but the damage was pretty much done by then. Riaz would have perhaps liked to have come on a little bit earlier considering his experience and he ended up bowling only two overs as India won comfortably in the end.
Mohammad Irfan – 6/10
Bowled way too short in his opening over, gifting two boundaries to Rohit Sharma before redeeming himself in the following over, conceding just two runs. Was yet another victim of Afridi’s baffling tactics as he was brought back late on after the damage had already been done.
Mohammad Amir – 7/10
The 23-year-old continues to prove what a great threat he is as he picked up the wicket of Rohit Sharma to give Pakistan the early breakthrough. But Pakistan needed more wickets from Amir and perhaps Afridi should have given the youngster one more over at the start as, by the time he came on, later on, Kohli had pretty much sealed the match for India.
Mohammad Sami – 7/10
Was put under pressure right away by Dhawan who smashed his first ball for a boundary. A front-foot no ball followed leading many of his teammates to come up to him as he looked under pressure. However, the veteran came back strongly to pick up the wickets of Dhawan and Sami to put Pakistan firmly on top during the Indian run chase.
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