New Delhi: India's record of never losing a match against arch-rivals Pakistan in World Cup is still intact. The spectacular win registered by Team India sparked a series of late night celebrations like India have already won the World Cup. The Indian newspapers were all praise about the cricket team's performance in the match.
Major English newspapers such as Indian Express, Times of India, and Hindustan Times hailed the Indian win with a front page story. Hindi newspapers like Hindustan, Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujala, Navbharat Times gave equal importance to the news.
However, the loss of the national team has not been received well across the border. Some news of broken TV sets and protests are also coming from Pakistan where fans could not digest defeat against India.
The Pakistan media played down the news with almost all of them published the news on 9th, 10th pages of sports section. Some newspapers only reported the defeat with a casual news report and concluded it with a score card, others went on to tear off the team's performance.
Business Recorder published the news of defeat on the 9th page with a headline, “India extend world cup hold over Pakistan”. The newspaper also mentioned Kohli breaking Sachin's record of highest World Cup score against Pakistan.
It also published excerpts from Dhoni and Misbah's post match address with a headline, “Dhoni hails ‘complete game', Misbah seeks to forget”.
Leading Pakistani newspaper Dawn was more extensive in covering the loss with a front page piece by former Australian pacer Glenn McGrath. With a headline, “India preserve flawless World Cup record against Pakistan”, McGrath hailed Kohli and Raina's innings that set a target of more than 300 runs. He adds that Umesh Yadav's over that yielded two wickets was the deathblow for Pakistan in the match.
In the sports page of the newspaper, Dawn discusses the match in detail. The paper criticizes the team with a headline, “Pakistan's woeful record against India continues”. Though, the paper takes something positive in Sohail Khan's impressive haul of 5-55.
In a piece in the newspaper, cricket columnist Ajaz Memon is full of praises of Kohli and his teammates. For Pakistan team he said, “The bowling lacked sting, the fielding was atrocious, the batting thoughtless: marked not just by reckless strokes but also appalling running between the wickets. Only a hapless Misbah-ul-Haq showed the gumption to wage battle,” tearing off the miserable performance of the team in the match.
Another newspaper The Frontier Post reported the anger of Pakistani fans in the country with a headline, “Fury in Pakistan after sixth World Cup defeat to India”. The newspaper leads the news of Pak defeat with a headline, “Kohli ton lifts India to opening win”.
The Nation was full of criticism of Pakistan's performance with a title, “Pakistan continue losing World Cup matches against India”.
