IND vs PAK: Babar Azam in one of the rarest events to have happened, Pakistan won the toss and decided to field first. Babar called heads but Ravi Shastri for some reason referred to it as tails, Shastri's call was considered by the match referee, and just like that Rohit Sharma lost the toss. Injury-plagued Pakistan, who lost Shaheen Afridi before the start of the tournament were now forced to play without Shahnawaz Dahani. They inducted Mohammad Hasnain as Dahani's replacement. What nobody saw coming was Deepak Hooda's call-up into the final playing XI against Pakistan. India lost Ravindra Jadeja to a knee injury and he now remains out of the team for the much-awaited T20I World Cup. Amidst heavy criticism for their batting approach, Rohit Sharma and his deputy KL Rahul walked out to open proceedings for India. As Rahul took the first ball, he showed intent straightway with an elegant defense. Rohit Sharma on the other hand just went for the go from the very first ball. Naseem Shah, Pakistan's hero of their last T20I encounter against India was shown no mercy by the Indian skipper. Virat Kohli says that Rohit Sharma has 0.5 seconds extra compared to other batsmen and he is right, Sharma exactly displayed every bit of it. He scored a quickfire 28 off 16 deliveries at a strike rate of 175. In his innings, Rohit smashed 3 boundaries and 2 sixes. On the other hand, KL Rahul after his dismal outing against Hong Kong showed a lot of intent and smashed a swashbuckling 28 off 20 deliveries with 1 four and two sixes.
But Pakistan, the Babar Azam-led Pakistan refused to stay down. Haris Rauf put an end to Pakistan's miseries and dismissed Rohit as Khushdil claimed one freak of a catch. On the other hand, Rahul too fell prey to Shadab Khan. India's intent was applauded as the openers walked off with India at 62/2. Surya joined hands with former India captain Virat Kohli. SKY was right in the money as he cut Shahdab behind point for a beautiful four. On the other hand who seems to be getting better got his single-double to get going. Shadab tried to sledge Surya for some time, but the Mumbai batsman kept it cool and ensured that the scoreboard keeps on ticking. Suryakumar Yadav who initially showed a lot of promise fell to Mohammad Nawaz. But Kohli kept on going, as determined as he is.
Pant joined Virat and almost run him out. Pant tried to show some intent, but it is an old habit of throwing his wicket away at crucial conditions that left India at 126/4 by the end of 14 overs. Hardik couldn't repeat his heroics either and fell prey to Mohammad Hasnain. Virat carried on, just like in the old days. He was joined in by Deepak Hooda, the man who has had an euphoric rise in Indian cricket. Hooda looked pretty sluggish at the start but later pulled out an unthinkable shot. He cut Mohammad Hasnain over the keeper's end for a six but soon fell prey to Mohammad Hasnain. Hooda scored 16 runs in 14 deliveries On the other hand Kohli raced away to a 44-ball 60. Finally some respite, but was it?
With Bhuvneshwar Kumar on the other end, Virat chose to keep the strike to himself against Haris Rauf. Virat Just could not find the gaps in our boundaries and for the 4th ball, he was run out by Asif Ali in his desperate run for a single. Ravi Bishnoi finished strong as Fakhar Zaman failed to stop two balls that were racing fast into the boundary.
India XI: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh
Pakistan XI: Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Fakhar Zaman, Khushdil Shah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah
