Kohli’s mastery, Amir’s spark and other takeaways from the Indo-Pak T20 battle

Not often does one get an India vs. Pakistan contest on a cricket field. And if that is a T20 match, it arguably

generates more furore than the United States presidential elections. So when India was pitted against Pakistan in the

same group at ICC World T20 spectacle scheduled in March 2016, the Asia Cup contest between the two teams was

supposedly a perfect appetizer for the main course. However, it turned out to be a low-scoring dud on a doctored

pitch with moments of flash, few and far between. India came up trumps with a clinical performance, partly because

of their brilliance on the day and partly because Pakistan failed to show up as a team yet again. Here are our key

takeaways from the big Asia Cup encounter.

1. Virat Kohli is the most complete batsman in the world, period

ABD fans will argue hard on this, but to me, this innings from Kohli overturns all facts and presumptions of this

debate. The sheer calmness he brings to the situation is unimaginable. India was 3 down for 8 runs in 3 overs. Kohli

saw three of his contemporaries, one from the dressing room and two from the non-strikers end, get tamed to the

magic of Mohammed Amir and yet the deliveries he faced upfront were glided down to third man with persona of a

monk. Undeterred, he carried on collecting 1s and 2s until Amir’s fourth over, where he pounced on tad bad

deliveries like a grizzly attacking Hugh Glass, collecting a boundary each from the square leg and cover region. Two

more cover beauties in the 9th over by Wahab Riaz and the game was over for Pakistan. To do what he did on a

green top with swing and bounce and added uncertainty of a subcontinent pitch, is remarkable beyond measure. If

not for his innings, the match would have been too close for India’s liking.

2. Mohammad Amir is lethal, a monument Pakistan should preserve

After 5 years of hibernation post an ugly turn of events during the English summer of 2010, we see a boy turned man

now, new hairstyle, same spring in the stride and eerily similar venom thrown at will, you realize if anything has

changed in him, is not on the outside. First ball of the innings and Rohit Sharma loses a toe. Second ball, he loses

his wicket to a perfectly constructed in-swinger. Two deliveries later, Ajinkya Rahane fractures his toe and possibly

his ambition too of doing well for India in India. Suresh Raina hops and skids for a while before presenting a dolly to

Wahab Riaz at mid on to a supremely disguised slower delivery from Amir. If Amir was not in this playing eleven,

Pakistan would have had to face the humiliating sound of `the most embarrassing defeat against India`. They should

preserve this young, tall and lanky fellow from all sorts of distraction. All sorts of.

3. Indian Fielding is reminiscent of Aussie fielding of yore

I remember the time when Indian in-fielders would raise their index finger towards the fielders in the deep (you know

what I mean). They would dive, tumble, and then tumble more, get up, pretty their shirts (hyperbole) before throwing

the ball -sky high- back in the game. Not anymore, never. Sixth over of the Pakistan innings, Virat Kohli and Shoaib

Malik combine cleverly to con Khurram Manzoor. Malik hits this to cover, sets off for a run, then thinks no, and Kohli

uses only a millisecond to collect, aim and hit the target. A struggling (literally) Manzoor (10 off 18 balls) loses his bat,

his stumps, and his trust in Malik. Two overs later, Ravindra Jadeja sends in a flat, bullet pitch, on top of stumps from

deep square leg to send an aging Afridi packing. The Indian fielding definitely dominated the Pakistan score-line,

from what could have been a 120+ score to a meager 83.

4. Pakistan batting order looks plastic

Pakistan has never boasted of exceptional top 3, unlike India that possesses a factory to produce them. But there

have been batsmen who’ve done the job for Pakistan. The top 3 on display today were uninspiring. Mohammad Hafiz

looked like a pale shadow of his former self, while Sharjeel Khan and Khurram Manzoor don’t seem cut out for

competitive cricket. Misbah ul Haq had been gluing this batting order together but with him gone, there’s very little to

watch out for. Hafeez poked one outside off, so did Malik and Sharjeel. Umar Akmal continues to disappoint with his

inconsistency, mind you, the guy has immense talent but something doesn’t click. Missing a straighter one from

India’s “supposed” fifth bowler, Yuvraj, is a crime. Afridi is more bowler than a batsman these days, to be honest.

With the inaugural PSL concluded recently, one can hope, only hope to see a better crop of batsmen from this camp.

5. The indifferent support cast

Yuvraj (14 off 32 balls) started off with a mesmerizing cover drive off the 7 footer Irfan, bringing back memories of a

Yuvraj minus 5 years. And then he reminded us of the Yuvraj of 2014 ICC Twenty20 Final. The only difference from

that dreaded innings of his and this one was the stake and the match situation. He seemed wounded, but survived

and that’s all that’s important. Hardik Pandya picked up 3 for 8 and tried hard to emulate Brett Lee with the

celebrations. He and Dhoni combined, ever so slyly, to remove Sami with a short ball with a fielder placed at deep

square leg, a field change made only a delivery before. Pakistan’s Amir had absolutely no support from the other

end. Irfan looked tall, Sami seemed friendly (although he picked up two post-match wickets) and Wahab looked

disappointing, a mere 10% of what he was while hurrying Shane Watson not so long ago. The umpiring was not too

sagacious. Khurram’s gloves made a thick sound while he tried to scoop a Nehra delivery to fine leg, but umpire

Sharfuddoula didn’t hear it, courtesy earpiece that had him partially impaired. And Umpire Ruchira failed to see a big

inside edge off Kohli’s bat on 49, denying him a well deserved 50 and 30% of his match fee.