In the end, it was the discipline of the Indian batsmen that spelt the difference between them and Pakistan.
Zaheer Abbas
In the end, it was the discipline of the Indian batsmen that spelt the difference between them and Pakistan.
Needing to chase 240, India may have lost Sachin Tendulkar early, but the calm manner in which the top and middle order went about their job ensured that Pakistan were slowly, but firmly shut out of the match.
On winning the toss, Shoaib Malik did the right thing by opting to bat, but Pakistan were undone by their inability to put together any significant partnership.
It was largely the efforts of Mohammad Yousuf — who has been in supreme form in recent months — that Pakistan were even able to reach 239, a total that was at least 30 to 40 runs less than what they should have put on the board.
After an early loss of Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket, Sourav Ganguly and Gautam Gambhir did well to build the foundation for what turned out to be an easy, but well deserved win for India.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh then took the game away from Pakistan by keeping it straight. It was this 105-run partnership for the fourth wicket that really sealed Pakistan’s fate.
Malik said after the match that they had learnt a lot from the match and I hope he will be talking to his batsmen on the need to keep their cool and build partnerships.
That is the only way they are going to beat this Indian side that is high on confidence. Not to mention the number of quality batsmen in their ranks, the very fact that Rahul Dravid was not even missed today sends out an ominous message for Pakistan.
India was the better team in almost every department. In the morning, they kept the pressure on the Pakistan batsmen almost all the way with the spinners making good use of the conditions.
Not helping matters was the way set batsmen like Salman Butt and the skipper himself got themselves out. It was Yousuf once again who came to the team’s rescue and he must be congratulated on the way he played.
Also helping India’s cause was the inability of the Pakistan captain to put any sort of pressure on the batsmen in the afternoon.
The pitch may have had the odd ball that bounced awkwardly, but Malik gave the Indians too much of room to play themselves in.
After Shoaib Akhtar got the prized cap of Tendulkar, Malik should have kept the pressure on.
A couple of overs from Shoaib and Umar Gul before the new batsmen had settled in could have yielded better results for Pakistan.
Taking Shoaib and Gul off the attack was a defensive strategy. And once Pakistan went on the back foot, there was no way back for them, even though India lost a couple of late wickets. By then, the match was all but sealed.
There is plenty for Malik and his boys to learn from this game ahead of the next and very important encounter at Mohali because if India goes on to win Mohali also Pakistan would have probably lost the script.
I only hope they have learnt their lessons from this match.
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