Highlights: Babar, Rizwan guide Pakistan to historic maiden win against India in World Cup contest

Well, that's a wrap for this blog. 

Signing out... 

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Imran Khan

Former cricket captain and current Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan congratulated the team. Taking to his Twitter, he wrote, "Congratulations to the Pakistan Team & esp to Babar Azam who led from the front, as well as to the brilliant performances of Rizwan & Shaheen Afridi. The nation is proud of you all."

 

Pak skipper Babar Azam: "This was the team's effort, and the early wickets were very helpful. It gave us a lot of confidence and our spinners were very good as well. We applied our plans and got the results."

"We will take the confidence, but we're taking it one match at a time, and there's a long way to go in the tournament. We prepared well, and just kept the history out of our mind. We needed quality practice, and warm-up matches, and even our domestic tournament and those games gave us a lot of confidence."

India skipper Virat Kohli: "We didn't execute properly. Credit where it's due and Pakistan outplayed us today. They started brilliantly with the ball, and 3 wickets for 20 runs was not a good start. We needed wickets early but with the bat they gave us absolutely no chances."

"We could make the argument of getting in another slower bowler, but it's important to stay composed and understand our strengths, because with the dew the slower bowlers couldn't be effective either. This is just the first game of the tournament, not the last."

Stay connected with us, as we will bring what the skippers have said. 

 

The match report

Pakistan brought to an end India's near-three-decade domination of them in the world stage in the most convincing fashion, embarrassing their arch-rivals by 10 wickets. 

Intent on breaking their the run of losses, Pakistan restricted India to 151 for seven after electing to field in the T20 showpiece's blockbuster game.

Pakistan then made light work of the target of 152, completing the win with 13 balls to spare.

Skipper Babar Azam stroked his way to 68 while his opening partner, Mohammad Rizwan, smashed 79 as the Indian bowlers struggled to contain the two batters.

Brief scores:

India: 151/7 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 57, Rishabh Pant 39; Shaheen Afridi 3/31) vs Pakistan.

Pakistan: 152 for no loss in 17.5 overs (Babar Azam 68 not out, Mohammad Rizwan 79 not out). 

Pakistan win!

This is the moment... this is THE moment. All the Pakistani fans were waiting for this day. 

Pakistan have defeated India in the ICC T20 World Cup contest by 10 wickets. 

An outstanding opening pair of Mohammad Rizwan (56) and Babar Azam (62) chased down the 152-run target at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. 

Click on the above tweet to WATCH Shaheen's match-defining spell. 

OVER 15

The momentum is with the Pakistan team. The openers are looking comfortable at the moment. 

PAK at 121-0 after 15 overs, Mohammad Rizwan 56(44) and Babar Azam 62(46). 

India couldn't take a single wicket. 

Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan gave a dream start to Pakistan against India. 

After 10 overs, PAK are at 71-0

Indian bowlers are looking for a breakthrough.

Is this the day that Babar Azam will script history? 

 

Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have opened Pakistan's innings. The momentum is currently in Pak's favour.  

As expected, it's just getting interesting with every single ball.

Stay connected with us! 

Innings Break!

Virat Kohli's led from the front with a vital half-century as India recovered from a disastrous start to post a challenging 151 for seven. 

Besides Kohli's 49-ball 57, Rishabh Pant slammed 39 in 30 deliveries.

Sent into bat after the coin landed in favour of Pakistan skipper Babar Azam at the toss, India were off to the worst possible start as they lost both their prolific openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul within three overs with just six runs on the board.

Doing most of the initial damage was the lanky left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi (3/31 in 4 overs), who had Rohit trapped in front of the wicket for a duck and then bowled Rahul after the batsman had run three singes.

Kohli and Pant then joined forces to add 53 runs in quick time before the latter was caught out by leg-spinner Shadab Khan (1/22 in four overs) off his own bowling in the 13th over.

Brief scores:
India: 151/7 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 57, Rishabh Pant 39; Shaheen Afridi 3/31) vs Pakistan.

Now is the time to predict the winner. Who is going to win? 

T20 World Cup in Pics: India's captain Virat Kohli thwarts Pakistan

Pandya out

The big hitter goes back to the pavilion. 

He scored 11 runs off 8 balls before losing his wicket to Haris Rauf. 

Next to come is Mohammed Shami

Kohli took charge and played a very crucial inning. But got outplayed by Shaheen Afridi.

Will Shaheen's spell be decisive?

BIG wicket!

Virat Kohli out. It's Afridi again.

Kohli scored 57 runs off 49 balls.

Next up is Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Another wicket!

Shaheen Afridi strikes to take Jadeja's wicket. 

He scored 13 runs off 13 balls.

Next up is Hardik Pandya

50 up for Virat

Virat Kohli slams half-century as India eye 150-plus

Indeed Pant's wicket was a big one for Pakistan. 

OVER 15

India at 100-4

100 up for the Indian team. Virat is at 37(35) and Ravindra Jadeja at 6(8).

Pant out! 39(30)

Shadab Khan strikes as he took Rishabh Pant's wicket. 

Pant was going for a big hit, but instead, the ball went high and landed in the hands of Shadab himself. 

Left-handed batter Ravindra Jadeja is next 

OVER 12

A big one and much-needed over for India. 

T20 sixers from Pant's bat gave India 15 runs in this Hasan Ali's over. 

Here's how SKY lost his wicket!

Drinks break!

India are currently at 60-3 after 10 overs

Excited much? Share your experiences with us...

India 52-3 after 9 overs

Virat and Pant are looking to build a partnership. Virat is playing at 24(22) Rishabh Pant 13(15).

India 43-3 after 8 overs

Although, the situation is inclining towards the Men in Green, still, it's extremely difficult to predict anything. 

As both, the teams have plenty of match-winners. 

Here's goes the third wicket!

Hasan Ali strikes as Suryakumar Yadav lost his wicket after scoring just 11 runs. 

India in a difficult phase right now as they are 39-3 after 7 overs. 

Shaheen Afridi has provided a flying start to his side as he took two crucial wickets. Rohit was out on a golden duck and KL Rahul just scored three runs. 

India need to be calm with Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav on the pitch, however, Pakistan are currently ruling the first powerplay. 

It's Afridi again! What a ball...

Afridi gets the other opener. KL Rahul out after scoring just three runs. 

Shaheen Afridi strikes as Rohit Sharma out for duck, India 1/1 at 0.4

The stage is set...national anthems are sung...both the teams are ready..

Let the contest begin!

Here's what Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said:

"We are going to bowl first. We'll look to take early wickets and put pressure. Dew is also a factor."

"We have had good practice sessions and am confident about our preparations."

"Pakistan's bowlers are known to trouble other teams but I am confident about our batting too."

Here's Indian skipper Virat Kohli said: 

"We are pretty happy with setting the target. We would have bowled first too, but the toss is not in your control. We are pretty balanced with our squad and you need to be prepared for it."

"We need to stay as professional as possible. We need to stay focussed on the processes. Everyone watches it closely all over the world. We can use that as a motivation, but we need to ensure we don't get too emotional and need to just stay professional."

"The pitch looks very different. Evenly rolled and there is no grass at all which was the case during the IPL, and I'm sure that was done to hold it together well for the World Cup. We expect the pitch to stay good all through and set a good total."

TOSS!

Pakistan's Babar Azam has won the toss and opted to bowl fist against Virat Kohli-led Team India.

Playing XI:

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli(c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah

Pakistan: Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi

Players are getting ready!

Next up will be the toss!

Stay connected with us...

Buchanan predicts result!

"I'll stick with India they have too many strengths all around the park. Pakistan lack quality spin and there are many challenges around their batting." - Buchanan's prediction for tonight's game"

Buchanan on MS Dhoni as mentor:

Dhoni is just an incredible player and an incredible leader. His presence is really important. He is a calming influence, he is good at summing out situations and pretty clear at what needs to be done. It's nice to have that sort of presence around the dressing room when things are not going the right way. If Dhoni's play that kind of a role, which he would, he will help the team.

John Buchanan on key battles in Indo-Pak tie: 

Key battle is always upfront. Powerplays will be important. From India, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli will be up against Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi. Pakistan are really missing a fourth option. They don't have a quality spinner as well.

John Buchanan on India vs Pakistan rivalry

"Nothing bigger than emotion, feeling, the noise... absolute passion for the game in both the nations"

Watch the show live here!

Watch: John Buchanan in WION's special show 'Desert Storm' with WION's Digvijay Singh Deo

The much-awaited India-Pakistan encounter is now just around the corner. Virat Kohli's men have left the hotel and are ready to enter the arena to take on Pakistan.

Buchanan also predicted India's batting order: 

1 KL Rahul 

2 Rohit Sharma 

3 Virat Kohli (capt) 

4 Suryakumar Yadav 

5 Rishabh Pant (wk) 

6 Hardik Pandya 

7 Ravindra Jadeja 

8 Shardul Thakur 

9 Varun Chakravarthy 

10 Mohammed Shami 

11 Jasprit Bumrah 

What you have to say? 

Akhtar came up with some hilarious suggestions for Babar Azam & Co. when asked how should they plan to stop Team India. Read it!

The two-time World Cup-winning coach John Buchanan has shared his Playing XI exclusively with for the Indo-Pak match.  

Buchanan's Playing XI

Pakistan: Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Haider Ali

India: Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

The two-time World Cup-winning coach John Buchanan in WION's special show 'Desert Storm' at 6:30pm IST only on WION. 

Watch John Buchanan LIVE on WION's social media platforms to get valuable insight on match preview, Playing XI, his thoughts on the epic Indo-Pak rivalry.

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England's former captain Michael Vaughan says, "India should be too strong for Pakistan today, but then adds that, "Pakistan team in these conditions could beat anyone".

Do you agree?

 

 

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