Who said what - top 5 expert reactions to India's win over Pakistan in 2023 World Cup ft. Shoaib Akhtar
India extended their winning run against Pakistan in ODI World Cups with another win against their arch-rivals on Saturday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. One of the most awaited contests prior to the start of the World Cup, India led 7-0 in the head-to-head between these two sides coming into this match and quite easily made it 8-0.
Rohit Sharma won the toss and put Pakistan into bat, and they were in a good position around the 30-over mark with the score 150/2 and Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan looking comfortable at the crease. However, Siraj castled Babar to trigger a comeback, and Bumrah and Kuldeep wrecked the Pakistan middle and lower order with some tremendous bowling to bowl them out for 191.
In their reply, India was clinical, with the returning Shubman Gill getting out after a useful cameo at the top. Rohit Sharma picked up where he left off against Afghanistan, and by the time he was dismissed in the 22nd over after scoring a 63-ball 86, India was only 35 runs away from the target, and eventually won it with close to 20 overs to spare.
With this being one of the most-talked about games, cricket experts had a lot to say about different aspects of the match. Let's look at the reactions of a few of them.
#1 Aaron Finch
On a talk show with ESPN Cricinfo, Aaron Finch reacted to Jasprit Bumrah's incredible ball to dismiss Mohammad Rizwan, and his stellar run of form that has powered India in this World Cup.
"He's somebody who's amazing. He gets the best players in the world out consistently and sets the tone. I know Mohammed Siraj led the attack in his absence and was the main wicket-taker, now he (Bumrah) is sliding back into the slipstream nicely."
When asked about what was the best way to face Bumrah in his current form, the former Australian captain responded with a humorous quip.
"Retire, like I did."
#2 Shoaib Akhtar
Pakistan's pace ace Shoaib Akhtar minced no words on Twitter (X) in his assessment of Pakistan's bowling in the powerplay when defending the total of 191.
He tweeted about how easy Pakistan was making it for India's batting duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to score runs in the powerplay and said that they'd feel more pressure even when they bat in the nets.
While Pakistan did pull things back towards the end of the powerplay with Kohli's wicket, India was 79/2 at the end of ten overs, and when you're defending a low total, that's Game Over in the first ten itself.
#3 Harsha Bhogle
'The Voice of Cricket' Harsha Bhogle had his say on the POTM choice for India's win against Pakistan with a tweet. The commentator wasn't part of the panel for this match as he's resting and recovering from dengue.
He lauded Bumrah's dismissals of Mohammad Rizwan and Shadab Khan, but felt Rohit Sharma should've gotten the Player of the Match (POTM) award for his blitzkrieg that simply killed off the game in the first few overs.
He also felt that Bumrah should've gotten the POTM award in India's win against Afghanistan, where Rohit won it for his 131, and said that the duo deserved to win a POTM award each, albeit only in different games.
#4 Nasser Hussain
The former England captain Nasser Hussain shared his thoughts on Pakistan's batting collapse in a mid-show analysis for Sky Sports Cricket. He was quoted saying:
"Looking at their (Pakistan's) middle order, they've had a bit of successes in this tournament, I think they set their target too high. That pitch is different from the England - New Zealand pitch, that (IND-PAK) is slow and low."
He commented about Pakistan's recent middle-order success, most likely about Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel's performances, but felt that the reason for their batting collapse was that they set themselves too high a target.
He noted that the pitch for the India-Pakistan clash was different from the opener between England and New Zealand, and that on a slow and low pitch, Pakistan should've batted accordingly to avoid this kind of collapse.
#5 Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri was on air for Star Sports Hindi during the second innings of the match, with India cruising to a win. He talked about Shaheen Afridi and the hype surrounding him as a bowler. Shastri said:
"Shaheen Afridi is no Wasim Akram. He's a good bowler, no doubt, but there's no need to overhype him. He's certainly not an unbelieveable bowler and that needs to be understood."
He was talking about how Pakistan's bowling attack has been struggling so far in this World Cup. He said that with Naseem Shah missing and the spin attack misfiring, there is an overreliance on Shaheen Afridi, and that the left-arm seamer isn't yet up to the level of someone like Wasim Akram, and that he shouldn't be overhyped and pressurized and that this needs to be understood.