"All's well that ends well" - Aakash Chopra on India's win against Pakistan in the Women's T20 World Cup 2023
Aakash Chopra has praised Team India for beating Pakistan after being in a spot of bother at one stage in their Women's T20 World Cup 2023 opener.
Bismah Maroof and Co. set the Women in Blue a 150-run target after opting to bat first after winning the toss on Sunday, February 12. Harmanpreet Kaur's side chased down the target with seven wickets and an over to spare to start their campaign on a winning note.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra was elated that India managed to win from a slightly troublesome situation, saying:
"We won, we were in trouble for some time, but what difference does it make? What happened in the end - all's well that ends well. Well done Jemimah (Rodrigues), well done Richa Ghosh. The announcement she made of her arrival, she did an amazing job."
The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that big-ticket matches like India-Pakistan games mostly turn out to be mundane affairs:
"You might have an India-Pakistan match on the moon or Mars, a game between kids - girls or boys, it does not make a difference. An India-Pakistan match is an India-Pakistan match. It is a huge match and such matches are damp squibs 90% of the time."
Chopra praised Pakistan skipper Bismah Maroof for playing a responsible knock and helping her side set a challenging target for India, stating:
"That was not the case. This match was very good. Batting first after winning the toss on a used surface was the right decision to make. Then Bismah Maroof came, played well and scored good runs. Plenty of runs were scored in the last five overs."
Maroof scored an unbeaten 68 off 55 deliveries. She strung together an unbroken 81-run fifth-wicket partnership with Ayesha Naseem, who smashed a 25-ball 43.
"When Harmanpreet Kaur got out, I questioned if we would get stuck" - Aakash Chopra
Chopra lauded Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh for taking India to a win in Smriti Mandhana's absence and without a significant contribution from Harmanpreet Kaur, elaborating:
"Smriti Mandhana was not playing and these many runs are a lot in women's cricket. Shafali (Verma) gave a good start and then Yastika (Bhatia) and Shafali got out. When Harmanpreet Kaur got out, I questioned if we would get stuck. But Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh with her and the Indian team won the match."
Chak De Fatte !
Super excited as always to see India beat Pakistan in a World Cup.
And the Girls doing it in style is icing on the cake.
Richa Ghosh turned it around in style and Jemimah was brilliant. Great win girls @BCCIWomen #INDvsPAK https://t.co/hLhzJRxKZH
Jemimah and Richa strung together an unbroken 58-run fourth-wicket partnership in just 5.3 overs. While the former scored 53 runs off 38 deliveries, the wicketkeeper-batter changed the course of the game with an attacking 20-ball 31.