India captain Virat Kohli tipped his hat to the Pakistan team after falling to a crushing 10-wicket defeat in a T20 World Cup Super 12 match at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. Despite India’s big loss, Virat Kohli said there was no need to press the panic button. This was the first time in history that Pakistan beat India in a World Cup encounter. India had gone into match on the back of five consecutive wins over Pakistan in T20 World Cups but were completely blown away in Dubai by a ruthless Pakistan side.
“We’re certainly not a team that presses the panic button, it’s the start of the tournament, not the end,” said Virat Kohli during the post-match presentation ceremony.
Kohli admitted that Pakistan “outplayed” India on Sunday night in Dubai.
“We did not execute the things that we wanted to but credit is certainly due – they outplayed us today. When you lose three early it’s very difficult to come back, especially when you know the dew is coming,” said the India captain.
The Indian skipper spoke about the dew in the second half of the match. Kohli said that batting became a bit easier during Pakistan’s innings.
“They were very professional with the bat as well. Hitting through the line was not as easy in the first half as it seemed in the Pakistan innings, so when you know the conditions can change, you need 10-20 extra runs. But some quality bowling from Pakistan didn’t let us get off the blocks,” he added.
Shaheen Shah Afridi started India’s downfall by removing Rohit Sharma in the first over and then accounted for KL Rahul as India found themselves in a spot of bother early. Suryakumar Yadav showed flashes of his potential but was sent packing by Hasan Ali.
Kohli and Pant forged a 53-run partnership for the fourth wicket to bring India back in the game but the latter fell just as he was beginning to pepper the boundary.
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The Indian captain reached his 29th T20I half-century as India battled to 151 for seven.
In reply, Pakistan coasted from start to finish. Openers Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam remained unbeaten on 79 and 68, respectively as Pakistan made a mockery of the target, reaching it with all 10 wickets in hand and 13 balls to spare.
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