The Biggest Battle Of The Super-4!! And just like that, Pakistan strike back. In a game full of peaks and troughs, it was the men in green who held their nerve just that little bit better, beating India in another tense encounter that went through a gamut of emotions. Pakistan beat India by 5 wickets with one ball to spare.
This will now benefit Pakistan and for Rohit Sharma and co., it means back to the drawing board. That is, now that they have lost a game that should have been theirs for the taking. It was a more crucial match than the opening day fixture and the Indian side failed to capitalize, using the momentum that they already had.
Here are the 5 key reasons why team India lost the game in their first super-4 match-
1. Middle order fails to capitalize on the positive start from the openers
After a blistering start to the powerplay while batting, Team India were going all-guns blazing at 62-1. The Pundits and most fans in the stadium felt that a score above 200 was a foregone conclusion, with the start that had been given to the team by skipper Rohit Sharma and opener KL Rahul.
However, things were not meant to be so easy. It was Pakistan that then began to tighten things up. They bowled admirably, but were also helped by some rather silly shot-selection by the Indian middle order batsmen.
The hero for India with the bat in recent times, Suryakumar Yadav tried to hit one sweep too many. To add to that, Rishabh Pant played a reverse sweep which was an absolutely needless shot at that point of the match. Further, the Mr. Dependable Hardik Pandya could not get over the bounce of the ball. He ended up spooning a straightforward catch at silly mid-on. On a track where a score of 195-200 was considered par, the lax approach by the middle order meant that India fell 15-20 runs short, and that hurt the side big time.
2. Hardik Pandya has an off day in the 1st Super-4 match
The skipper of the Gujarat Titans was the hero the last time these sides met. The fans would have been hoping that he would be able to continue his rich vein of form with both bat and ball today as well. However, it was just not meant to be.
Pandya was dismissed for a second ball duck and then was taken to the cleaners by Mohammad Nawaz and Rizwan. He kept pushing the short ball even though he knew that it was not the ideal approach. Both set batsmen were easily picking him for runs and the magic did not work this time around. Even though he did get the key wicket of Rizwan on the last ball of his spell, the damage had already been done by then. All in all, it was a day to forget for the all-rounder.
3. Absence of Jadeja felt in the field and in the team
Ravindra Jadeja is tagged the best fielder in the world at present and there is no arguing that. Whenever he is on the field, he can make things happen from nothing. The rest of the fielders and team also takes inspiration from this and step their game up from time to time.
With Jadeja missing and having to leave the team due to his injury, Team India lost their lynchpin. And his absence was dearly felt on the field in this fixture. The Pakistan batsmen were easily able to convert ones into twos in his absence. This ensured that the scoreboard kept on ticking.
An ordinary performance in the field would have made Rohit Sharma really unhappy too. Even boundaries that could have been easily saved went past fielders. Fielding like this ensured that Pakistan were always in control of the asking rate, and were able to get the runs with minimum risk.
4. Bhuvenshwar Kumar and Chahal go for plenty
Both Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal are two of the top and most experienced bowlers in this relatively inexperienced Indian bowling line-up. The duo had games they’d like to forget and fast. Chahal was unusually off-colour and bowled a lot of freebies which helped Pakistan chase down the target rather easily.
On the other hand, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar had an absolute stinker of a penultimate over, conceding a whopping 19 runs. This included a six, a four, along with 3 wides. It totally turned the tide in Pakistan’s favour as the game was very delicately poised at that point. A single expensive over was enough for India’s fiercest rivals in world cricket to have an edge at the final over.
5. THAT Dropped catch turned the Super-4 fixture around
While Chahal continued to struggle, Ravi Bishnoi bowled an absolutely brilliant 17th over until this point in the match. His spell had given Team India some hope of winning the game. However, this was one of the major turning points of the match.
Asif Ali had just survived a close call for a caught behind. The pressure of the scoreboard was getting to him and he knew he had to react and fast. A big shot was the need of the hour for Pakistan and Bishnoi sensed that. He shortened his length a bit outside off. Ali swung wildly mustering a top edge. The ball went in the air, only as far as short-third man, where Arshdeep Singh was waiting to gleefully accept that offering.
The catch would have turned the tide in India’s favour in the Super 4. Except, Arshdeep had other plans. He managed to drop that sitter, giving Asif Ali a reprieve. This gave Pakistan the confidence to further attack and grab a foothold into the game.
The whole team in green could not believe his luck, because he had already started walking. Agreed it was a high pressure situation, but catches don’t come easier than this. There is a reason why they say catches win matches, and Arshdeep’s dropped catch literally was the one that cost India the match. Asif Ali went on to make the most of that reprieve by carting Bhuvaneshwar Kumar in the next over. This ensured that Pakistan won the game and the Indian players and fans were just not happy with what they had seen.
