Journalism of Courage
Electing to field, India were off to an ideal start as the seamers made early inroads to put the opposition under the pump early in the contest. Ashish Nehra led the show early on as he removed the experienced Pakistan opener Mohammad Hafeez cheaply.
From the other end, Jasprit Bumrah didn't release any pressure. The seamer, playing his first India-Pakistan game, started with a maiden and removed the dangerous Sharjeel Khan in his second over.
There was one more player who was playing his first India-Pakistan game and he certainly made most of it. Hardik Pandya had shown his skills with the bat in the past but on Saturday it was his bowling which was the talking point. Pandya sustained pressure in the middle overs to return with his career-best T20I figures of 3/8.
Supporting him from the other end was Ravindra Jadeja. After his electric show in the field, Jadeja bowled a tight spell to return with figures of 2/11 and help India bundle out Pakistan for only 83.
Defending a modest total, Pakistan needed wickets up front to make a contest out of it and Mohammad Amir did what they required. The seamer bowled a lively spell to get rid of India's openers cheaply. First to depart was Rohit Sharma, Rahane soon followed.
Amir was bowling in the higher 140s and consistently hit the right areas. His ability to swing the ball at such pace made him very difficult to deal with.
Virat Kohli, however, dropped anchor and weathered the Amir storm. The Delhi dasher was watchful to start with and rescued the Indian innings with Yuvraj Singh.
India's no.3 fell one short of 50 when he was adjudged LBW but he did the job for India. His 49 ensured that India remain unbeaten in the tournament and improved their head-to-head Asia Cup count against Pakistan to 6-5.
MS Dhoni, who came out to bat with only four required, finished things off in style by smoking one to the ropes. Yuvraj remained unbeaten on 14 and India crossed the line with little over four overs to spare.
