Former England cricketer Graeme Swann is of the opinion that the 10-wicket loss to Pakistan in their opening T20 World Cup encounter could prove to be a blessing in disguise for Team India. Prior to October 24, India had never lost to Pakistan in a World Cup fixture before and had a 12-match unbeaten streak going into the opening game.
The feelings were extremely positive that India would extend their winning streak over Pakistan and mark an excellent start to the Super 12 stage but it turned out to be anything but. Shaheen Afridi rocked the opening order with his mind-boggling spell and Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were flawless during the run-chase.
Graeme Swann feels that this defeat will shake the Indian team up. The men in blue have played plenty of cricket over the last couple of months, including the tour of England as well as IPL 2021. The 10-wicket defeat to Pakistan might help them to get rid of any lethargy that may have crept in.
“Sometimes it’s good to get hammered at the start of the tournament because it feels like a real kick at the backside. The IPL being played just now, everyone saying India are the favourites, a bit of lethargy can creep into a team. Maybe India will find their edge because of this defeat,” Graeme Swann told Cricket.com.
Although Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul got undone by two magical in-swinging deliveries from Shaheen Afridi, India recovered from the rocky start and did well to post a total above 150 which was being regarded as par on that wicket. Virat Kohli played a captain’s innings and brought up yet another half-century against Pakistan.
However, in the end, it ended up being 20-25 runs short of the required total as the opening duo of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam made mincemeat of the Indian bowling. Rizwan remained unbeaten on 79 off 55 while the Pakistan captain scored 68 in just 52 deliveries.
“When you chase a total in T20s, it’s five times easier. You know when to take risks and you can pace your innings accordingly. They didn’t have to take any risk. Those two early wickets of Rohit and Rahul, let’s just face it, those two were unbelievable deliveries. Swinging in at more than 90 mph, pitching on off stump and hitting the top of the middle. That was almost an unplayable delivery and then Rohit to face that yorker on the first delivery. That won the game for Pakistan,” added Graeme Swann.
