India fielded a good playing XI and tried to execute their plans against Pakistan. It was just a bad day at the office for the whole team. Plans made pretty much didn’t work against Pakistan’s onslaught.

Pakistan was the better side on match day and they deserved to win this game lets be fair with it. India was never in-game from ball one to the last ball except for a partnership between Virat Kohli and Rishabat Pant.

At toss itself, Pakistan got an early advantage of chasing

Since the dew factor was going to be there it was evident chasing would be easier. Bowlers would find it hard to grip the ball in second innings.

But I wouldn’t say it was the sole reason India lost to Pakistan because as professional cricketers they train to adapt to such conditions by training with wet balls and other stuff

While batting early on India lost 3 crucial wickets in power play. Rohit and Rahul got out cheaply to amazing inswings from Shaheen Afridi. Kohli was the last hope of Team India more on his innings later.

The game was kind of done deal given the traditional reliance of Indian batting on top order.

I sort of never really trusted the middle order of the Indian team since the Last ODI WC. There was always something going on in middle order. Then it was No 4 this time it was not looking good overall concerning form especially at no 6 due to Hardik Pandya being out of form with the bat and fitness issues related to which he cants bowl.

Shreya Iyer hasn’t selected the 15 member squad and his calm and composure were missing in the middle order in the opening match. Pant would have played aggressively if Iyer was there.

1. Surya hit two boundaries and got caught behind off Hassan Ali’s bowling

2. Nevertheless, Pant was looking good played maturely until he got out by playing an aggressive shot. Maybe there was no need for it there.

3. Jadeja came in and played slowly. Maybe Hardik could have come in after pant since he was out of form could have given some more time to get back in form.

4. Ravindra Jadeja, if you remember this year finished some games for CSK in IPL at the back end would have been great to see him in a similar role for India. I dont know why nobody sees him finishing off games for India.

5. Virat Kohli got back in form with a good knock took India to a fighting total of 152 playing anchor role along with good support from the pant. After losing 3 wickets in power-play it was a good recovery from India. It seemed enough given India’s world-class bowling attack.

Well now came the second innings of the match and oh god what was going on!!! You got it right it was some crazy chasing by Pakistan and a disastrous bowling show by India

A lot of Indian cricket fans like me didn’t expect Pakistan to put a brilliant batting show like this ever. Probably the best batting show they have put up after a long time against a quality Indian bowling attack.

All Indian bowlers seemed to have an off day. Not even one bowler bowling lineup seemed threatening enough for Pakistani batsmen.

India was missing the spin web of Yuzi Chalal he used to crucial wickets and the pitch was good for him considering bowling by Ish Sodhi of NZ vs PAK.

1. Bumrah was good enough but not properly used. He should have been used at the start considering the importance of Pakistan openers Babar Azam and Riswan wickets.

2. Shami clearly couldn’t get the right length. He was bowling all over the park. But sad to be seen online abuses against him after the match can’t call them real fans.

3. Don’t need to say anything about Bhuvi, I believe he should be replaced by Shardul next game simply not the right pitch for him or he is informed.

4. Varun was new in the team and clearly showed a lack of experience Pakistan played him so nicely.

5. Jadeja bowled his quota of overs couldn’t do much in terms of impact

The whole Indian bowling unit failed on match day and couldn’t find the right length to bowl or rhythm.

Bowlers were bowling a bit short and considering the dew factor, it came onto bat easily.

The absence of a sixth bowling option was visible without Hardik Pandya’s bowling.

I genuinely felt Virat Kohli’s captaincy can’t be only blamed for the loss. Yes, some of the bowling changes were not so good but Indian bowling wasn’t up to the mark as far as plans go.

What pained me the most as an Indian fan was that our world-class bowling unit couldn’t take a single Pakistani wicket. Lossing wasn’t much problem but such an embarrassing defeat to Pakistan broke a lot of hearts.

With that said I still believe that the Indian cricket team will come back from this single loss and in the past, they have shown the fighting spirit to come back from massive losses.

Positives from the match

1. Virat Kohli Good knock

2. Rishabat pant matured knock

3. A loss early on in the tournament

4. Weakness of team exposed

5. A good test of Middle-order

Future of Indian team

I believe Indian cricket team will come back from this loss. In the past too they have shown the fighting spirit to come back from massive losses.

No one can write off the India team just because of this single loss. We are still favorites for winning the ICC T20 WC. In the past, too teams have come back from losing the first match in the world cup to finally winning the world cup. Let’s be honest it’s just one odd game, Pakistan played outrageously and the India team couldn’t handle it.

I think the Indian cricket team just needs to sit and assess their mistakes and come back for a crucial match against NZ rectifying the mistakes they did and maybe one or two changes in the lineup will be expected.

Probably Shardul will come in for Bhuvi. He can be x factor in the team take some wickets with ball and give balance with the bat

Hardik will be there I believe on his day he can slog the ball to score a much-needed match-winning run or finish off the innings. Contrary to popular notion, I still think the India team believes and backs him especially after hearing he is declared fit and cleared to play the New Zealand game.

Update: Good news Hardik starts bowling in nets