World Cup 2019, India v Pakistan: 3 reasons why Pakistan lost against India
The hype around the India-Pakistan clash was massive as the two Asian rivals geared up for an important clash as part of the 2019 World Cup. The unpredictability of Pakistan was the talking point as Sarfaraz Ahmed's team had good enough talent to defeat the Men in Blue.
However, things began to fall apart for Pakistan right from the toss when India was put in to bat on a flat track. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul made the most of the Pakistan bowlers' lack of variation as they put up a 136-run partnership and laid a solid platform to take India to a commendable total of 336/5 from 50 overs.
Pakistan's chase, barring a 104-run partnership between Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam had nothing to speak of as India registered a comfortable 89-run victory. India outclassed Pakistan in a world cup encounter, for a record seventh time.
While there was no sledging, no tight finish and no player battles, this encounter ended up as a lop-sided one as Pakistan failed to arrive on the scene that continued their poor run against India in World Cup encounters.
Here are three reasons why Pakistan lost the plot against India and handed their arch-rivals an easy victory in the end.
#3 Dismal bowling performance
When Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed elected to bowl first after winning the toss, the Pakistan seamers were expected to make the most of the overcast conditions on offer.
Unfortunately for Pakistan, only Mohammad Amir turned up as he cranked up the pace and hit the right lengths but was unable to pick wickets early on. Pakistan's ploy to attack the Indian batsmen with short deliveries failed miserably as they were deposited away easily by the opening duo.
With the pacers unable to make any incision, Sarfaraz turned to some spin but both the tweakers had a day to forget as they were ineffective. Shadab Khan, in particular, was taken for plenty as he leaked 61 runs from his nine overs while Imad Wasim finished with 0/49 from his 10 overs.
Rahul and Rohit Sharma went on to stitch an important 136-run partnership as the Pakistan bowlers looked hapless and bereft of ideas to pick up wickets in the middle overs.
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