India showed their mettle with a one-sided win over Pakistan in the league match of the T20 World Cup Cricket Championship on Sunday night.
Another impressive Indian win over Pakistan: India has shown through a one-sided victory over Pakistan in the league match of the T20 World Cup Cricket Championship on Sunday night that it is now far ahead of Pakistan in the field of cricket. The Indian victory in this group-level match being over-hyped does not seem more reasonable than the demands of the game. But despite such a situation, the reality cannot be forgotten that Pakistani players, sports administrators, government and people do not hesitate to call every match with India a 'clash of civilizations'.
They have been raising every Pakistani victory as a confirmation of the correctness of their decision to separate from British India in 1947. It is natural for such thinking to have a strong reaction in India too. The trend of this kind of collusion being openly exploited by the media, especially the commercial media, is continuously increasing instead of decreasing. The drama that Pakistan played based on the Bangladesh-India tension before the start of the current World Cup also played a major role in making Sunday's match at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo more prestigious and sensational than necessary. In such an environment, India's 61-run victory not only soothed the hearts of Indian sports fans, but also brought new embarrassment to Pakistani sports fans and commentators.
Pakistani sports commentators and media channels are pointing out five main reasons for the defeat of their national team. These are: 1. The wrong decision of Pakistani captain Salman Ali Agha to bowl first despite winning the toss; 2. The wrong selection of bowlers during the match, especially not giving the ball to Tariq Usman before the 11th over; 3. The ineffectiveness of Pakistani fast bowlers; 4. The batsmen's lack of determination to stay on the wicket and playing the wrong shots at the wrong times; and 5. The explosive innings of 77 runs in 40 balls by Indian opener Ishan Kishan, which proved to be decisive in the true sense. All these reasons proved wrong and misleading the predictions and claims made before the start of the match that Pakistan would be in a better position to take advantage of the pitch and weather conditions by playing the first two matches at the Premadasa Stadium (Colombo).
Apart from this, the Indian explosive batsmen, generally, have not proved to be very effective against the spinners, which will directly benefit the mysterious bowling of the four Pakistani spinners, especially Tariq Usman. Usman's controversial bowling action has also been highlighted as Pakistan's main asset. Usman himself, in his media interviews, has portrayed the discussion of that action by Indian cricket experts as if the Indian batsmen are afraid of him. Such psychological tricks have proven wrong. The Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Verma's pair have neutralized every threat created by Usman. In fact, during the last overs of the Pakistani innings, if the Indian fielders had not shown a lax attitude towards taking catches instead of being prompt, the entire Pakistani innings would have ended with a score of less than 100 runs.
Wins and losses are not an unexpected phenomenon in sports. The purpose of sports is not only to strengthen physical fitness and strength, but also to instill a sense of competition and to put every player on the path to better performance. They have also been a source of diplomacy since ancient times and also of the breadth and strength of thought. From the standards associated with such feelings, the fact that the players of India and Pakistan do not even shake hands with each other now seems to be an unfortunate trend.
However, the happy side of the match was that the players of both the teams adopted a method of celebrating every occasion of happiness in a civilized manner instead of the provocative and provocative gestures of the matches held a few months ago. This also helped in keeping the enthusiasm of the audience within the realm of consciousness. In the pattern of the championship, the possibility of another match between India and Pakistan in some of the next rounds cannot be ruled out. Even though India has extended its winning streak over Pakistan in T20 Internationals to 8-1, it is still important for the Indian team to keep its focus on the game and perform even more strongly in the upcoming matches. India, not England, is now the Mecca of international cricket. The opportunity to prove itself as the rightful guardian of this status should not be missed under any circumstances.
