ICC World Cup 2023, IND vs PAK: They planned and it showed

A bowling masterclass of both spin and pace saw Team India annihilate archrivals Pakistan in their World Cup league match at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on SaturdayGiven the sheer effectiveness and accurate manner in which Team Indiarsquos bowlers operated it wouldnrsquot have been wrong to move away from the traditional Man of the Match award for once and hand over a Men of the Match prize to the five Indian bowlers who made the ball talk on demand leaving Pakistanrsquos batsmen speechless for most part of the first inningsTo reduce Pakistan from 1522 at to 191 all out required some shrewd execution and thatrsquos exactly what the Indian bowlers did Pacers Jasprit Bumrah 219 Mohammad Siraj 250 along with Hardik Pandya 234 and spinners Kuldeep Yadav 235 and Ravindra Jadeja 238 shared the Pakistan wickets equally but only after some meticulous planningAlso ReadFans learn bitter lesson with fake ticketsSiraj sets Babar upSiraj revealed how he dismissed Pakistan skipper Babar who was on a wellmade 50 off 58 balls including seven fours with a smart ploy ldquoI set him Babar up for that wicket I first bowled a bouncer to him and he got stuck a bit Then I took some time and began chatting with Rohit bhai Sharma and Babar thought that another bouncer would be coming his way but I bowled it a little further up He stayed back and was beatenrdquo Siraj said at the postmatch press conference It was this dismissal that put the Indian bowlers on top and initiated the Pakistani collapseIndiarsquos Kuldeep Yadav celebrates the wicket of Pakistanrsquos Iftikhar Ahmed on Saturday PicAFPWrist spinner Kuldeep also spoke of how he shrewdly worked his way to trapping Saud Shakeel six legbefore ldquoI was watching Saud in the last couple of games and he had been trying to use the sweep shot a lot He thought that particular ball was slow but it skidded onrdquo said Kuldeep who also clean bowled Iftikar Ahmed fourBumrah shines againAppreciating the Indian bowling lineup would obviously be incomplete without mentioning pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah who clean bowled the dangerous Mohammad Rizwan when he was one run short of a halfcenturyldquoWhenever Jassi bhai Bumrah bowls from the other end I watch him closely from fineleg or third man and get information about what line and length is effective on the wicket So he always makes it easy for usrdquo said SirajThe Pakistan camp meanwhile were understandably disappointed with their poor show Team Director Mickey Arthur called it a timid performance ldquoWe were a bit timid tonight I would have liked us to really take the game on just a bit more probably take on the Indian spinners a bit more We set ourselves up as a 330 team That was our message Itrsquos a massive occasion we know but we just went into our shells to go from 155 for two to 190odd all out but credit to India They bowled really well Wersquove had success by taking it deep and then cashing in at the back end thatrsquos been our style thatrsquos been our brand but we just didnrsquot play the Pakistan way tonightrdquo he explained