There’s a moment in the eighth over when one could see helplessness on Shadab Khan’s face. He’d tried four different fields for Ishan Kishan. He’d bowled the googly, the leg-break, the slider. Nothing’s worked. Ishan had just reverse-swept him for four.
Shadab looked at his captain Salman Ali Agha. Babar Azam had no answers either. This is when one knew.
The R Premadasa Stadium was packed for the game. Blue on one side, green on the other. The kind of atmosphere where every dot ball gets a reaction, every boundary shifts the noise from one end to the other. It was India versus Pakistan.
The biggest rivalry in cricket, they say. Except it hasn’t been a rivalry for years now. And Sunday night showed why. Ishan made 77 off 40 balls. That’s a number on the scorecard. But here’s the number that really matters: 14. That’s how many consecutive deliveries Kishan faced in the middle overs while Tilak Varma stood at the other end watching.
In those 14 balls, Kishan added 41 runs. Four different bowlers were tried. Agha, Saim Ayub, Abrar Ahmed and Shadab. Kishan took them all apart. By the ninth over, the game was over. But let’s go back.
The narrative was already ready. Pakistan had been in Sri Lanka for weeks, preparing on slow, turning tracks. India had come from flat T20 pitches where runs came easily. Pakistan’s four spinners were supposed to strangle India’s power-hitters. The build-up asked the question on loop: Can India’s batsmen handle spin in these conditions? The pitch at the Premadasa had been used two days earlier. It was still damp. Still gripping.
Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl. India captain Suryakumar Yadav said later they wanted to bat first anyway. In the Indian dressing room, there was no panic. They’d watched Australia and Zimbabwe win at this venue with the same template: absorb early pressure, use the big boundaries, wait for someone to go. Someone always goes. On Sunday, it was Ishan.
The start was tense. Both sets of fans were on edge. Then Ishan decided that the conditions didn’t apply to him. It’s what India do. Colombo, Melbourne, Dubai – wherever the pitch slows down, someone in that top order refuses to play by the rules.
“The wicket was not that easy. Sometimes, you just have to believe and focus on your strengths,” Ishan said after the game.
His approach and skill set impressed his captain, who had already seen it all before.
“The way Ishan batted, he batted the same way (he has been batting in the last few games and domestic cricket). He thought something out of the box. Someone needed to take responsibility and he did that amazingly,” Suryakumar said.
Nobody spared
Shadab bowled an over. Ishan took him for 17 runs. The leg-spinner tried varying his pace, pushed it wide, dragged it short. Kishan found the boundary each time. Abrar came on with his mystery spin. Kishan swept him, reverse-swept him.
Pakistan kept changing bowlers, kept changing fields. Deep point became long-off, then became deep midwicket. Ishan kept finding gaps. The crowd noise shifted. All blue now.
Here’s what the rest of India’s batting line-up did: they got out of the way. Tilak watched those 14 balls go by. The others came in, played sensibly, used the outfield for ones and twos. Kishan alone hit 10 fours and three sixes.
The rest of the team combined? Nine fours, three sixes.
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But 175 was already too many. For Pakistan to have a chance, Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub had to start fast. Their middle order is inconsistent. The openers are their only hope. Everyone knew it.
Hardik Pandya’s first over: three dots to Farhan, building pressure. Then a short ball outside off. The bait. Farhan went for the big swipe. Skied it. Rinku Singh at mid-on, steady hands.
Jasprit Bumrah’s first over: an in-swinging yorker traps Saim. Two balls later, Agha is walking back too.
Three wickets down. Thirteen runs on the board. Game over, really. Babar Azam tried. He lasted till the 11th over, then missed an ugly heave off Axar Patel. After that, it was just a matter of time. The spinners cleaned up the tail. Eighteen overs. Sixty-one run margin.
In these conditions, that’s not a gap. It’s a chasm.
“As soon as we reached 175, we thought it was 15-20 runs over par. 155, it would have been a very tight game,” the Indian captain said. “Hardik took the new ball, taking charge. Bumrah then showed why he is the best in the world. It was great to see everyone contributing.”
There’s been talk for years now about the gulf between these two teams. Sunday night at the Premadasa, with Pakistan having prepared for weeks and India flying in fresh, it showed again. Preparation didn’t matter. Conditions didn’t matter. What mattered was 14 consecutive deliveries when Ishan faced four different bowlers and made them all look ordinary.
Shadab’s face in the eighth over said everything one needed to know. The green side of the stadium went quiet early. The blue side never stopped roaring.
India vs Pakistan is the biggest rivalry in cricket, they say. Except it hasn't been a rivalry for years now. And Sunday night showed why. (AP Photo) 
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