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Team India continued their trend of annihilating Pakistan in ODI World Cups by inflicting another soul-crushing seven-wicket loss to their arch-rivals with almost 20 overs to spare in the latest installment of the storied rivalry in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
Winning the toss and fielding first, a rampaging Indian side withstood a well-paced batting performance from Pakistan until the 30th over. From a seemingly dominant 155/2, the Men in Green suffered a horrendous collapse to be bowled out for a paltry 191 in the 43rd over.
In reply, India made short work of the target, reaching there in style with skipper Rohit Sharma leading from the front again. The champion batter pounded the Pakistan bowlers for a breathtaking 86 off 63 deliveries to prevent a repeat of the Australia clash.
It was India's eighth consecutive ODI World Cup victory against Pakistan in as many meetings and their fifth straight overall over their arch-rivals in the 50-over format.
The win took India to the top of the 2023 World Cup points table with three wins in as many games, while Pakistan remained in the fourth spot with two wins and a loss. Despite the comprehensive victory, there were areas during the game that the Men in Blue could have done better.
Here is a look at two mistakes and a masterstroke exhibited by Team India in the Pakistan clash of the 2023 World Cup.
Mistake 1 - Not bowling Jasprit Bumrah during the partnership between Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan
The partnership between star batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan was one of the few shining moments in an otherwise sorry performance for Pakistan.
Following the dismissal of Imam-ul-Haq in the 13th over with the score reading 73-2, the duo joined hands with the game hanging in the balance. At that point, ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah had bowled only four overs, and it looked certain that he would be reintroduced to separate the two pillars of Pakistan's batting.
However, the 29-year-old was nowhere to be found despite the pair batting for over 100 deliveries. Fortunately for Rohit Sharma, fellow pacer Mohammed Siraj dislodged a well-set Babar for 50 before Bumrah was finally brought back into the attack in the 34th over for only his fifth over.
The wily pacer immediately removed Rizwan with his sixth delivery, validating the move to bring him on sooner when the third-wicket partnership was blossoming.
While Pakistan's inexplicable collapse ensured the blunder was not costly, Rohit would want to utilize Bumrah against the best batters of the opposition and not allow the game to drift away.
Masterstroke - Continuing with Mohammed Siraj after a rough start and bringing in Hardik Pandya ahead of Shardul Thakur
Coming off a dismal outing against Afghanistan with figures of 0/76 in nine overs, Mohammed Siraj was off to a disastrous start, conceding 12 runs off his opening over against Pakistan. His second over started with another boundary, and the pacer looked off-color again.
Yet, in a show of confidence, skipper Rohit Sharma persisted with Siraj, knowing all too well his wicket-taking ability with the new cherry. The 29-year-old did not disappoint by breaking a prospering opening partnership in the final ball of his fourth over to remove the centurion from the last match, Abdullah Shafique.
Siraj later returned to break the dangerous partnership between Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan to trigger Pakistan's collapse.
Another subtly impressive move by Rohit was the decision to bring in Hardik Pandya as the one-change bowler ahead of Shardul Thakur. While the move seemed baffling, especially when Hardik gave away 18 off his first two overs, Rohit stuck to his guns and gave him a third over on the trot.
Hardik repaid the faith shown by the skipper by dismissing the other opener, Imam-ul-Haq, for 36 at a crucial juncture to reduce Pakistan to 73/2 in the 13th over.
In both instances, Rohit trusting the pace-bowling duo was admirable and instantly rewarded.
Mistake 2 - Indian seamers taking time in identifying the ideal pace to bowl on the Ahmedabad wicket
Despite winning the toss and bowling first, the Indian seamers struggled to identify the right lines and lengths for the Ahmedabad wicket. While Jasprit Bumrah was economical without being penetrative, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya, and Shardul Thakur were each expensive in their opening bursts.
However, the pacers found the ideal pace and lengths to bowl on a slow and two-paced pitch and resorted to bowling several cutters with variations in speed to tremendous effect.
While Siraj castled Babar Azam with a skiddy delivery, Bumrah scalped Mohammad Rizwan with a well-disguised off-cutter.
Bumrah and Hardik removed Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz with off-pace deliveries that bamboozled the timing and movement of the batters.
Although the change of plans happened in the nick of time to dismiss Pakistan cheaply, India cannot rely on similar collapses from better batting lineups and will have to be on the money from the get-go.
