India skipper Virat Kohli conceded his team were “outplayed” by Pakistan in a painful defeat in their opening game of the T20 World Cup 2021 on Sunday. Disappointed with his team’s embarrassing 10-wicket loss in Dubay, the captain still opted not to take any credit away from how well Pakistan bowlers and batters performed on the day.
“We didn’t execute properly. Credit where it’s due and Pakistan outplayed us today. They started brilliantly with the ball, and 3 wickets for 20 runs (31) was not a good start.
We needed wickets early but with the bat they gave us absolutely no chances.”
he said at the post-match presentation.
The Men in Blue slipped to 31/3 after losing their openers KL Rahul (3) and Rohit Sharma (0) to Shaheen Afridi’s excellent opening burst, before No.3 Suryakumar Yadav (11) also fell.
The Indian innings was resurrected by Kohli’s measured half-century (57 off 49 balls) and a fine counter-attacking effort from Rishabh Pant (39 off 30).
But then the struggles of lower middle-order aggressors Ravindra Jadeja (13) and Hardik Pandya (11) meant that despite their recovery, the Indians could manage to reach as far as only 151/7 in their 20 overs.
Given the slightly dry nature of the surface, it was felt that India had a competitive score up their sleeves. However, with dew speeding the track up in the second half, Kohli felt his team were eventually “15-20 runs” short.
Kohli said they knew they needed those extra runs to defend a score in Dubai but a poor start, losing both Rohit and Rahul in the first three overs, came back to haunt them. But there again, the Indian skipper gave the credit to Pakistan bowlers, including Shaheen, for their effort.
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In the second half, indifferent spells from senior Indian pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0/25) and Mohammad Shami (0/43) hurt Kohli’s plans badly and triggered a debate whether India picked an extra seamer along with lead quick Jasprit Bumrah.
However, Kohli remained mindful of the dew factor and said it’s important for his team to not make any drastic changes to their side in reaction to a loss.
“This is just the first game of the tournament, not the last,”
he concluded.
India will play their next Super 12 fixture next Sunday against New Zealand in Dubai.
