Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi set up the opening burst, and captain Babar Azam (68 not out off 52 balls), along with wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan (79 not out off 55 balls), completed the task to lit up the Dubai International Stadium with splendid victory.
The 10-wicket triumph also ended Team India’s unbeatable 12-0 streak in World Cup fixtures. After the match, Pakistan players were seen celebrating the historic win.
In the middle of all this, some of the players were seen interacting with their Indian counterparts, particularly former India skipper MS Dhoni, who is Team India’s mentor for the multi-team tournament.
Pakistan skipper Babar, all-rounder Imad Wasim and former captain Shoaib Malik, among other members, were spotted having some chat with Dhoni. Many fans from both sides appreciated Dhoni for maintaining the ‘spirit of cricket’ by talking to opponent players.
Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle described the scenes as: “This is the true story of India-Pakistan cricket outside all the hype and posturing. There is a lot of young people coming around talking to MS Dhoni, trying to pick his brain. He is perfectly happy to share the knowledge. Babar Azam comes and shakes hands with him. These are the pictures that I think we need to see much more of.”
Here is the video:
The spritThe sprit of cricket is alive.#INDvPAK #IndvsPak #IndiaVsPak #indiaVsPakistan #T20WorldCup #TeamIndia #TeamPakistan #Dhoni #Mentor pic.twitter.com/a3mI9zy8Al pic.twitter.com/2bXp3fVFKk
—
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After the match, Indian captain Virat Kohli reflected on the embarrassing loss and below-par Indian batting. Kohli reckoned the pitch was much slower in the first half, and scoring runs wasn’t easy as compared to the second phase.
“It played slow in the first half, and hitting through the line was not that easy as it was in the second half, after 10 overs. 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,” said Kohli during the post-match presentation.
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