What’s the story?
India started their Champions Trophy title defence perfectly as they trampled arch-rivals Pakistan in their opener. The comprehensive win for Kohli and his men will boost their confidence as they are expected to make the next stage after their landslide win which boosted their net-run-rate.
On the other hand, the deflating loss for Pakistan has hurt their fans and these emotions and frustrations were echoed by former Pakistan skipper, Imran Khan on twitter.
In case you didn’t know...
On June 4th, India squared-off against Pakistan at Edgbaston. Pakistan won the toss and put India to bat and in response, Kohli’s side posted a mammoth target of 319. Now since the play was delayed due to rain, Pakistan had to chase a revised target of 288 in 41 overs.
Pakistan fell short by 124 runs as they were bundled out by the Indian bowlers for a scanty total of 164 in 33.4 overs.
The heart of the matter
India taking on Pakistan is always a hyped-up affair and the fact that the two teams play each other only in ICC events just adds to the intensity. But much to everyone’s expectations, the clash turned out to be a complete miss-match as the Men in Blue outplayed their arch-rivals in all aspects of the game.
After the humiliating loss suffered by Pakistan, the 64-year-old expressed his disappointment on twitter and opined it was saddening the Pakistani players were being humbled without putting up a fight.
What’s next?
India have secured two valuable points with a massive net run-rate of 3.02 and are sitting at the top in Group B.
With the loss against India, Pakistan have sunk to the bottom and will face South Africa in their second Champions Trophy encounter in which Pakistan has to secure a win in order to stay alive in the competition.
Author’s take
It was truly a devastating defeat for Pakistan and it is understandable why the veteran is so furious with the team’s effort. The Ind-Pak clash no longer has the spark and competition it once had. India are as of now ahead by quite a few steps and Pakistan need to pull up their socks in order to retain a spot in the top 8 teams of the world.
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