India succumbed to a ten-wicket defeat to Pakistan in the Super 12s of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. Virat Kohli was the top scorer for India, scoring 57, while Sunil Gavaskar has applauded his innings.
Former champion India suffered a hard fate as it succumbed to a ten-wicket loss to arch-rival and fellow former champion Pakistan in Group 2's Super 12 clash of the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. Pakistan notched up its maiden win over the side in the tournament to date and across World Cups.
For India, skipper Virat Kohli was the top scorer, with 57 runs, as his glorious run against Pakistan continued. Meanwhile, his innings was applauded by legendary former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar, who feels that the captain took a great sense of responsibility for anchoring the innings after the openers had departed for cheap.
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"It was a terrific innings because India had lost their openers in the powerplay itself. So, there was a greater sense of responsibility on Kohli's shoulders because he now had to pace the innings. He thought to repair the innings and get India to a total that they could hope to defend. So, the way he paced his innings, the way he chose the shots to break free at times and the six that he hit off Shaheen Afridi. Amazing talent," he said on Star Sports.
He also credited Pakistan spinner Shaheen Afridi for bowling in a terrific manner, while he feels that it was Kohli's responsibility to neutralise the former's attack. "The way Shaheen Afridi was bowling, he was mixing it up quite well, he was angling the ball across the right hand, and he was getting the ball to turn back in after pitching, not so much in the air because you don't get that much help in the UAE. That's why it was important for Kohli to try and step out so that he would be able to negate then the amount of swing that Shaheen Afridi was getting, and that's how he was able to negotiate that and score runs off Shaheen Afridi," he added.