‘Fear’ Inzamam-ul-Haq makes big claim on why India lost to Pakistan in T20 World Cup
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Inzamam-ul-Haq opens up on Inda vs Pakistan match in Dubai
The El Clasico of the cricket saw India and Pakistan squaring off against each other in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Dubai. Former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq has come up with a big remark on the historical game. India started the match as favourites but it was the Men in Green who turned the tables and ended up winning the game comprehensibly by ten wickets.
The ten-wicket defeat was India’s first against Pakistan in the history of the World Cup. Skipper Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan were phenomenal as they chased down 152. While many expected Pakistan to win the game, the margin of victory and the way they outclassed a strong Indian side, stunned the cricketing fraternity.
Inzamam-ul-Haq feels that the Indian players were ‘scared’ and ‘under pressure’ even before the match went underway. “I feel the Indians were scared even before the match started. Their body language, if you see Virat Kohli and Babar Azam’s interview at the toss, you could sense who was under pressure,” Inzamam said on ARY News.
“The poor guys couldn’t even play Santner and Sodhi,” Inzamam-ul-Haq
The first two games of India’s campaign saw its top order crumble away leaving the middle order to do all the heavy lifting. While Rohit Sharma secured a duck against the arch-rivals, KL Rahul managed just three runs as Shaheen Afridi produced a brilliant opening spell. If not for Virat Kohli’s gritty half-century and Rishabh Pant’s handy contribution, India couldn’t have managed anywhere close to 150 runs.
While many opined that the top order collapse led to India’s subdued batting performance against Pakistan, Inzamam-ul-Haq differs. The former skipper asserts that it was the pressure that saw the top order give away easily.
“Our team’s body language was much better than theirs. It wasn’t that India were under pressure after Rohit Sharma’s dismissal. Sharma himself was under pressure. It was evident that they all were under pressure even before the match began,” Inzamam said.
The 10 wicket mauling in the opening encounter dented India’s morale and it showed in their second game against New Zealand. Yet another poor batting performance saw India put a full stop on their hopes of making it to the knockouts. Inzamam hailed India for their performance over the last couple of years but reiterated that it was the pressure that saw them falter on the big stage.
“Indian team never plays the way they did. They are a good T20 team, there is no doubt about it. If you look at their performance in the last 2-3 years, they were the favourites. But that India-Pakistan match put so much pressure on them that there was no looking back,” said Inzamam.
“Their feet weren’t moving at all. After losing to Pakistan, they were handed so much criticism and there was a 3-4 day break. The poor guys couldn’t even play Santner and Sodhi. They are such good players of spin. That pressure mounted on them.” he added.
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Anshuman Mahapatra
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