Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has opined that Pakistan feel nervous when they take on India in a World Cup game. Pakistan suffered a crushing 61-run loss against India at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Sunday.
India posted an above-par score of 175 runs on the board after Ishan Kishan scored a match-winning knock of 77 runs off just 40 balls. On the other hand, Pakistan was bowled out for 114 as they could not show any resistance with the bat.
Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Varun Chakvarthy and Hardik Pandya bagged two wickets each to play a key role in India’s comprehensive win.
With this win, India improved their win-loss record against Pakistan to 8-1 in T20 World Cup.
Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube Channel, “Now it has clearly become evident after yesterday’s match that no matter how much Pakistan may defeat Australia, England, or New Zealand, no matter how good their form is, when they play against India, their hands and feet start shaking. There is a different kind of pressure on them when they face India, on their players, their coaches, and their management. And when they panic like that, when their hands and legs tremble, they fail to make the right calls.”
“Just look at how many mistakes Pakistan made in yesterday’s match, from tactical moves to the toss. Pakistan usually don’t prefer chasing, but they said they would field first and then chase against Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Kuldeep, believing they could manage it. That’s where you could see it. The wrong decisions started right there,” he added.
The former UP batter added that India vs Pakistan match felt like a club match as there was no competitiveness and it was a one-sided affair.
“It felt like a club match. Compared to this, even teams like the USA or Namibia had put up a better fight in other games. Against the USA, we were 77/6, there was some tension in the Indian camp. Against Namibia too, Erasmus created a bit of chaos with a few wickets in the middle. There was some nervousness in the Indian dugout in those matches, and players like Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya had to fight it out.”
“But against Pakistan, there was no fight. They almost handed over the two points comfortably. India even gave part-timers like Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh a chance to bowl and enjoy themselves. Tilak even picked up a wicket. That shows there was never any real pressure on India at any stage of the game,” he added.
India will next take on the Netherlands at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Wednesday.
