India vs Pakistan: Five talking points from India’s six-wicket win at Eden Gardens

Once again, like in Nagpur, the ball spun viciously. Ravichandran Ashwin bowled the second over of the innings and on the second bowl of the innings, it pitched on the middle stump and spun sharply away from Sharjeel Khan’s defensive stroke and beat the outside edge. The third ball and same result. On the fifth delivery, the warning sign was out in full flow and was blaring in capital red. Bowling from around the wicket, Ashwin got the ball to pitch outside off stump and spin enough to go between the right-handed Ahmed Shehzad’s defensive stride forward and his pad. So much so, even MS Dhoni, behind the stumps, wasn’t able to read the spin. At this juncture, it looked like Pakistan team management had read the pitch horribly wrong and dropped Imad Wasim for Mohammad Sami. Ball was once again turning square but unlike Nagpur, India were less disturbed by Pakistan’s reduced spin options. On India’s part, other spinners in Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina picked a wicket apiece. Both got the ball to grip and spin to keep Pakistani batsman in check. To be fair to Shahid Afridi and the Pakistani staff, neither staff expected the ball to spin this much. During India’s batting, Afridi and Shoaib Malik got a little spin too. If Imad Wasim was part of the equation, would things have been different? Guess we’ll never know.

VIEW: India vs Pakistan: It’s that man Virat Kohli, again

Kohli – the saviour, the genius, the new master blaster

Once again, like in Mirpur, Virat Kohli came to India’s rescue. There he couldn’t carry the side over the winning line but on Saturday he did. As he stated in the post match talk, the desire to carry the team to victory is what spurs him on and the numbers don’t. But then again, the numbers don’t lie. His resolve and level headed attitude – primarily in chases – highlights his temperament. In 18 T20I chases that he’s been part of, he’s scored 836 runs with nine fifties involved at a staggering average of 83.40 and strike rate of 130. At 32/3 when others would be under pressure and play a silly shot, Kohli stayed calm and poised in his demeanour. He once again proved why India rely heavily on him. He once again found an equally cool ally in Yuvraj Singh to keep the scoreboard ticking and play the big shots when the opportunity arose. Once he reached his fifty, he bowed towards Sachin Tendulkar in the stands and raised his bat towards him. Some might disagree but can one actually take away the fact that Kohli is the new ‘master blaster’ of Indian cricket?

WATCH: Virat Kohli Special Helps India Makes It 5/5 Against Pakistan In World T20s

India’s opening worries

India’s top order has been faltering of late and that trend continued on the day. Rohit Sharma had hit Mohammad Irfan for two fours on the off side and then the leg side. It looked like he was set. And why wouldn’t he think that? This was his hunting ground. His four previous knocks at this ground were: 50, 98*, 264 and 177. But on the very first delivery of the third over, he skied Mohammad Amir and handed an easy catch to Shoaib Malik. Shikhar Dhawan took his usual time to move along but was soon gone after playing it back on to the stumps and be dismissed for six. Suresh Raina was gone the very next ball in almost identical fashion. With two very important games in Australia and Bangladesh to be played, India need the opening pair to strike as well and make the most of the Power Play.

ALSO READ: In Virat Kohli, a bit of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni

Yuvraj Singh – slow and steady wins the race!

It was almost deja vu like. A fortnight back, India were in a tricky situation in Mirpur. Kohli and Yuvraj were at the crease and Pakistan’s pace attack was in full flow. The ball was moving scarily and it was bouncing to make things worse. But the duo stayed composed and led the charge to see off the danger and move towards safety. On Saturday, at the World T20, the same scenario was on the cards. Three top order batsmen had departed – two of them on consecutive deliveries – and the pace was again thriving even if the pitch wasn’t helping all that much. The ask was higher too but that wasn’t going to change their approach. They again stayed calm and took singles with ease while hitting one off big shots. Soon enough, the big shots continued to rise as the target came nearer and Pakistan’s efforts began to vain. Yuvraj deserves as much credit for the win against Pakistan as does Kohli.

ALSO READ: Chaser Virat Kohli gets campaign on track

Hats off to the ground staff

It had been raining all day in Kolkata. There were signs of sun shining but it was very brief. We were destined towards a wash out and an abandoned match. The expectations and the anticipations were all going to go towards nothing. Eden Gardens was completely sold out and braving the rain, the fans were out in full volume. The toss was delayed and the hopes were fading. But then the rain stopped and the ground staff worked extremely hard to get the game up and running at 2030 hrs IST (an hour behind schedule). The credit to the Eden Gardens staff should be double because the drainage system isn’t the best and also to Cricket Association of Bengal to have the presence of mind to get the useful covers from UK after a match was washed out against South Africa last year.