T20 World Cup 2021: “Everything Pakistan touched turned gold” - Salman Butt reflects on historic triumph over India

Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt described the team’s victory over India in the T20 World Cup encounter on Sunday as a perfect performance. According to Butt, everything went right for Pakistan against India in Dubai.

Pakistan ended India’s unbeaten streak against them in the World Cup on Sunday, thumping their arch-rivals by 10 wickets. Bowling first after winning the toss, Pakistan restricted India to 151 for 7.

Openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan then smashed unbeaten fifties to guide Pakistan to an emphatic win.

Reacting to Pakistan’s victory, Butt said on his YouTube channel:

"Everything Pakistan touched turned gold. It was Pakistan’s day out. Everything they planned was executed precisely. The intent and aggression in the planning was outstanding."

Butt credited pacer Shaheen Afridi for setting the tone with the early wickets of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. Hailing Afridi for his outstanding bowling, Butt said:

“India’s top 3 are among the best in the world so Pakistan needed to get those early wickets. The decision to bowl first after winning the toss was the correct one. And when the ball swung for Shaheen, he bowled outstanding full-length deliveries.”

Dissecting the dismissals of Indian openers, the former Pakistan captain added:

“Rohit Sharma has been troubled by Mohammad Amir before. When the ball comes in, any right-hander can get into difficulty. And Rohit, even though a world-class player, has had issues with the in-coming ball from left-arm pacers. Also, the way a length ball breached KL Rahul’s defence and crashed into the stumps, Pakistan could not have imagined a better start. After that Virat Kohli had to anchor the innings otherwise India could not have reached 150.”

Kohli top-scored for India with 57 off 49 before becoming Afridi’s third victim in the match.

“The life of India’s batting is in the top three” - Salman Butt explain how Pakistan got the edge

Although India recovered reasonably well after the early damage inflicted by Afridi, they could never dominate Pakistan.

Analyzing what went wrong for India, Butt reckoned that the team’s inexperience on the big day came to the fore. He explained:

“The life of India’s batting is in the top three. The likes of Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan are very talented but they aren’t experienced. They haven’t seen anything of the kind of pressure that comes with an India-Pakistan match. This was a World Cup match and there was so much hype.”

Butt concluded:

“Against India, it is always going to be about wickets. Most teams find it difficult when they lose 3-4 early. But the lack of experience in India’s middle-order and the fact that they do not have depth in the all-round department hurt them.”

Pakistan next face New Zealand in Sharjah on Tuesday, October 26. India will also take on the Kiwis in their second Super 12 match in Dubai on October 31.