In an electrifying match, India narrowly defeated Pakistan by 6 runs in a thrilling encounter that had fans on the edge of their seats. Join us in Episode 6 of Pitch Battle as our experts break down the key moments, strategies, and standout performances that led to this unforgettable victory. Don't miss this in-depth analysis of one of the most intense cricket clashes in recent history!
Watch the new episode of Pitch Battle.
#IndVsPak #CricketThriller #JaspritBumrah #Siraj #naseemShah #NailBitingFinish #IndiaWins #PitchBattle #CricketAnalysis #MatchReview #ExpertDiscussion #CricketFans #SportsDebate #T20Cricket #CricketRivalry #CloseMatch #EpicBattle #CricketHighlights
~HT.178~PR.152~ED.101~GR.124~
Watch the new episode of Pitch Battle.
#IndVsPak #CricketThriller #JaspritBumrah #Siraj #naseemShah #NailBitingFinish #IndiaWins #PitchBattle #CricketAnalysis #MatchReview #ExpertDiscussion #CricketFans #SportsDebate #T20Cricket #CricketRivalry #CloseMatch #EpicBattle #CricketHighlights
~HT.178~PR.152~ED.101~GR.124~
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Hello, everyone. You're watching Pitch Battle. I'm your host, Indranil. Thank God. Thank God we won. We won by six runs.
00:12 My God, thank God we have Jasprit Bumrah in Team India. I mean, just imagine, take Bumrah out of the equation, how the match would have looked.
00:22 We are joined by Avinash, the editor of MyKhel. We are joined by Sourav Dev, correspondent with MyKhel. We are joined by Shakya Mitra, sports marketing expert.
00:33 Avinash, if it was without Bumrah, how the picture would have looked?
00:40 We would have lost it quite easily, Tata. There's no doubt about that. Between the two teams, we can see Bumrah was the only difference.
00:53 I mean, you bowl 24 deliveries, 15 don't balls, just 14 runs, three important wickets. That too, the crucial wicket of Rizwan.
01:04 He was playing the sheet anchors in Inks and could have taken Pakistan across the line.
01:11 But the brilliance of Bumrah, he's a very shrewd tactician. There's no doubt about that.
01:17 And people are discussing, even we were discussing about the Melbourne victory against Pakistan.
01:23 But I think the New York victory is even better because you were down and out at one stage.
01:30 8% was your win predictability and then you're coming back and ending up winning the match.
01:37 Speaks volumes about the mental fortitude of Jasprit Bumrah. Nobody else, I would say.
01:44 Nobody else would have dared to think the way Bumrah thought. And in fact, we were critical of Rohit Sharma's captaincy.
01:52 We'll speak about it later. Even I was speaking about that on Twitter. I was not holding my thoughts to myself last night.
02:02 Because at the start, Rohit Sharma's captaincy just looked mediocre.
02:08 He looked weak, actually. Sauradeep, talking about Bumrah. Everyone talks about the hard length he bowls at the batsman.
02:19 Yesterday, he was mixing it up quite well. The best part of the story was, he was not trying any yorker.
02:27 Because if you pitch it up, probably it will go very close to the bat. That hitting arc.
02:33 So, he was quite intelligent. It's not only that he created 15 deliveries out of nowhere, dot balls out of nowhere.
02:42 He actually worked hard for it. Hitting the right length. And he could utilise the conditions quite smartly, isn't it?
02:50 I think Jasprit Bumrah has a great cricketing brain. I think he is one of the most brilliant players who knows how to implement according to the situations.
03:02 Because we all know that Jasprit Bumrah is a great yorker. But he didn't go to his main weapon.
03:07 He kind of did something different to match up with the conditions.
03:17 I think Jasprit Bumrah is someone who could have saved Titanic as well.
03:23 Because he literally saved India. Because the way we were, 190 in all out.
03:28 And everyone thought that it was gone. But the way he bowled. And I think the credit has to be given to the other bowlers as well.
03:36 Hardik Pandya, the way he bowled. I think Akshav Patel in the middle was getting the crucial wicket.
03:41 Usman Khan, I think it was a combined effort. But Jasprit Bumrah was definitely the captain.
03:47 And the way he executed according to the conditions, it's hats off to him.
03:52 I think the entire country is thankful that he didn't go to Canada. Because he was supposed to go to Canada and thank God he stayed in India.
03:59 Absolutely. You know, the best part of the story is the way the ball is coming out of his palm.
04:05 You know, the landing on the seam. Of course, we are missing Mohamed Chami also.
04:11 But Bumrah is not far behind in terms of landing the ball on the seam.
04:16 Shakya, your thoughts on Bumrah?
04:18 Oh, what a... You know, it's because of him that we were able to defend the total yesterday.
04:28 And when he got the wicket of Rizwan, I think Pakistan Rizwan was holding an end up.
04:34 And that definitely changed the complexion of the match. And you are right.
04:38 I think it was what everyone else is saying that he didn't turn to his yorker yesterday.
04:42 And he was bold very intelligently. And all thanks to him that we were able to get this win.
04:52 But more on that is that when the first thing was going on and I saw the pitch, I kind of felt 125 would have been a winning score on this surface.
05:02 And I was reading comments and people were saying India is short and all that stuff.
05:08 And I was like, 125 would have been a winning score on this... Well, if not a winning score, a winnable score on this surface.
05:14 And it was probably... Unfortunately, I think the last pair, Arshdeep and Siraj, they should have battered the full 20 overs.
05:25 I think that run-out of Arshdeep was quite unnecessary. And I think every run from where that wicket fell would have been crucial.
05:33 So, even if they got about 6-7 runs in the final over by taking singles, that would have been very crucial.
05:39 I think one run is worth two on this surface after a certain point.
05:44 Alright.
05:46 At the end of the first 10 overs, Pakistan were the favourites. And then they kind of messed up the chase.
05:55 No, of course, to no short measure because of Bumrah. Also, Hardik Pandya and I think a great wicket-keeping performance by Rishabh Pant, who was really good behind the stumps.
06:05 You are saying everything in one go. I mean, you are summing up the show in one go. Just hold on. Hold your horses.
06:11 But I want to slowly come... Because you are trying to shield... You can't shield what Rohit Chalma did badly.
06:19 When he got out, Rishabh was on the crease. Probably Akshar Patel was not the right choice. Surya was the right choice.
06:25 He was there as per the batting order we have on the team sheet. Surya is supposed to come at number four.
06:34 All of a sudden, Akshar walks in. I was quite surprised. And then when Hardik was supposed to get in, Shibham Dubey walked in.
06:43 I didn't understand this logic. If you can just tell me, Avinash, how do you feel about this? Rohit Chalma's strange, unique, quite out-of-the-box idea.
06:56 Was he trying to do something out-of-the-box? What was he trying to do?
06:59 Well, he was trying to do something out-of-the-ordinary definitely. But it didn't work the way the team management would have wanted to.
07:09 You think out-of-the-ordinary when things are going out of your way. You should not take an irrational decision just because you are too down in the power plays.
07:25 Akshar, yes, he is a good batter. But you also have better batters, tested batters for those conditions.
07:34 And if not for these conditions and circumstances, then when are your best batters going to perform?
07:42 I mean, you are under pressure. The likes of Suri Kumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and even Shibham Dubey for that matter.
07:51 They should be your go-to batters, your go-to players. Because they should absorb all the pressure and steer the side.
07:57 But there was Rishabh Pant already at the crease. So, the left-hand-right-hand combination could have also worked in your favour.
08:07 The pitch was not easy to bat on. But let's not forget Virat and Rohit. They just threw their wickets away.
08:18 Credit goes to the bowlers for setting them up brilliantly. But players of Virat and Rohit's calibre, they could have definitely played something differently and could have stayed a little longer.
08:31 And when the ball is doing a lot and the pitch is not as friendly as you expect it to be, then why not send your best batter?
08:41 Why are you taking a defensive approach, maybe a negative approach by saving your batters?
08:46 This was the message that went directly from the Indian dressing room. That see, we are on their back foot and we are taking a defensive approach.
08:55 And it was one of the reasons why India ended up scoring just 119 on the board. And they didn't even last full 20 overs.
09:04 It's a shame. Yes, the pitch was at a dual pace. It had the undulated bounce as well. But it was not that bad either.
09:16 Had the batters applied themselves, not just the Indians, even the Pakistanis, they could have easily chased down the total.
09:23 Credit should go to the bowlers for the way they exploited the conditions brilliantly.
09:28 But the batters should be blamed for playing irrational shots, rash shots and not adapting to the conditions.
09:37 Shaluti, we are on the same page. Avinash and I, we are always on the same page.
09:47 Because we share so much of sentiments, we have common things. But what are your thoughts?
09:53 We are talking about Rohit Sharma having a defensive approach. And that has really cost us dear.
09:59 The fact that we are not making a regular spinner play. Akshar and Jadeja, same kind of player.
10:05 Same kind of spinners playing for India, playing 11. We don't have a Kundi, we don't have a Chahal.
10:10 So, this kind of defensive approach. We go in there, our bowlers go in there to block the flow of runs.
10:19 It's a nice thing to see Bumrah going for wickets also. But it's been our tradition to be defensive.
10:26 What are your thoughts on this?
10:28 I think absolutely spot on. India have always been the safe, they have a safe approach in everything.
10:34 They just don't want to be flamboyant. They don't want to take on the challenges.
10:38 They just go for something that will just pacify the situation, if I may say.
10:43 It is very appalling to see why Ravindra Jadeja and Akshar Patel are playing together.
10:49 Because when you have someone like Kuldeep Yadav and Yusuf Yadav, just warming up on the benches,
10:54 there is no point of playing two left-arm spinners. And given the batting, whatever they may say,
11:00 I don't see too much of quality, added quality that either Ravindra Jadeja or Akshar Patel brings in the table.
11:07 So, yeah, this is an approach that has been going on for a long time.
11:11 And perhaps that is why we have not been winning the ICC trophies for these years.
11:15 Because if you see the Australians, they always take the flamboyant and they always take the bold decisions.
11:21 Whatever it may take to win. But it hasn't been the case for India for a long time, to be honest.
11:26 And it has continued. I don't know whether it was Rohit Sharma's decision or whether Rahul Dravid
11:31 and the other team management were behind it. But it was something that really caught the eye.
11:36 Because at the number 4, when you expect someone like Shurya Kumar Yadav, who was the number 1 batter in the T20s,
11:42 should be coming in. Then you suddenly see Akshar Patel. But given toтАж In Rohit's case, I may say,
11:48 you know, because due to the conditions or perhaps they didn't want to lose another wicket so soon.
11:54 Maybe, whatever it is. But it is something of an approach which is, we can say something like
12:01 timid approach from a team that wants to win the World Cup. Although, yeah, we have won. Excellent.
12:06 I am very happy. Over the moon, everybody is excited. But they will have to think about this kind of decisions
12:11 and perhaps try and rectify that in the coming matches.
12:14 Very well said, Souradhipa. And Chakke has been a big fan of Rohit Sharma. I remember when Chakke was in Sports Ministry.
12:22 He was the first one to speak to me about how Rohit Sharma should be given Rajiv Radhnikhel Award
12:28 after the 2019 World Cup performance, 50-over World Cup performance in England where Rohit had 500s.
12:36 So, Rohit Sharma, that time we advocated a lot how Rohit should be given the captaincy.
12:41 But now, Shakya, what are your thoughts? Where do you see Rohit Sharma, the captain, the defensive mindset,
12:48 the way things are moving forward? Do you think it's easy? We can easily accuse him.
12:55 Last time, I remember the way he was shielding Lord Thakur, Shardul Thakur. Hardik went out of injury.
13:03 Shardul never played after that. We have seen how Surya could have walked in place of Akshay Patel yesterday.
13:10 We saw Shivam Dubey was promoted ahead of Hardik Pandya. I mean, how is that possible? How is that?
13:17 Oh, Shakya, your thoughts? Also, not to forget that he opened, that he brought in Bumrah in the third over.
13:25 He started with Siraj and Ashdeep. He should have probably given Bumrah the first over.
13:30 But yesterday, the captaincy, as everybody is saying, is quite baffling. You should have sent Surya at number 4.
13:44 There is no doubt about that. And yeah, I mean, I haven't seen that boldness in Rohit as a T20 captain so far.
13:58 And given that he comes with such a reputation, having won 5 IPL titles with Mumbai Indians, he is not being able to replicate it when he has been doing that for India.
14:08 And I think that's a huge advantage that he had in Mumbai Indians. He could turn to bowlers like Lasat Malinga there. He doesn't have bowlers of that quality here.
14:16 But I think yesterday, two sides had played quite badly. And I think the worst side, the better side of the two bad teams won.
14:28 And yesterday, better teams will punish you. This is not the performance of a side which is looking like one of the front-runners to win the World Cup.
14:43 And whether it's catchers being dropped, whether it's Pakistan not taking their catchers, whether it's Rizwan not accelerating with his Imad Wasim getting 4 deliveries outside the off-stump from Aksar Patel.
14:58 And not being able to hit a single one of them. I think all those deliveries, I mean, those 4 dot balls from Aksar Patel were very crucial in the final analysis.
15:07 And other teams may not give you those chances as the tournament moves on. I understand the dynamics of this World Cup is that some of the bigger teams may not qualify for the Super 8s.
15:19 But then, only one team can win. So, it doesn't matter if you qualify for the Super 8. It doesn't matter if you reach the semi-finals. It doesn't matter if you are the runner-up.
15:31 The main thing is that you will go and win. And only the best team wins. And if you are going to go into the final, you are in Australia.
15:42 Australia won't spare you. Won't give you so many openings the way Pakistan gave yesterday.
15:50 Absolutely. You are so right. And that's why it was a close shave. Let's put it that way.
16:00 I mean, Ash, you know, when weтАж Like 4-5 overs before the match ended, I remember, they were giving the percentage of India's chances.
16:10 It was around 8 percent and Pakistan had 92 percent. Something like that happened.
16:16 And of course, the Pakistani commentators were absolutely horrendous when you hear them.
16:21 Waseem Akram, the way he talks aboutтАж They talk like fans. They don't talk like test cricketers. Which is quite a pity.
16:29 But what is really exciting for us, top of the order, isтАж Thankfully, Rishabh Khan's position is not played around.
16:37 He is someone who is bringing in lot of flamboyance, which Shouradeep talked about. Also, you talked about.
16:45 Flamboyance is important. And I can see quite clearly that Rishabh is not scared of getting out. He will play his shots no matter what.
16:55 Definitely. And he showed it. I mean, he was justтАж Every ball looked like that's going to be his last delivery.
17:06 And yet, he ended up the highest run scorer in the match. And he was a difference.
17:13 Just look at his numbers. The way he played. He went for an offensive, back-to-back boundaries, changed the course.
17:22 Almost shifted the pressure from the Indian dressing room to the Pakistani side with his flamboyance.
17:30 That crucial partnership with Surya Kumar Yadav, where he was the aggressor from 58 to 89.
17:37 And that also made a difference. Yes, we were expecting similar kind of flamboyance from Surya Kumar Yadav as well.
17:46 But somewhere, Surya Kumar Yadav also didn't get the confidence that he was expecting from the captain or the team management.
17:54 That he was slotted in his designated batting position. When you are pushing a batter down the order, definitely you are sending a message
18:05 that, "See, look, we don't have that much of faith in you." Somewhere, this is the message that percolates.
18:13 And I think it happened exactly with Surya Kumar Yadav. He was not looking in his elements right from the moment he stepped into the middle.
18:25 He was trying to just buy his time in and then maybe capitalize. But by the time he thought he could, the Pakistani bowlers got the better of him.
18:37 So, not an ideal day or an ideal start for a batter like Surya Kumar Yadav and his calibre.
18:44 Back-to-back failures we have seen from him. But Rishabh Pant definitely, not just from the batting aspect.
18:54 If you look at the way he kept behind the wickets, that catch, the penalty met over.
19:00 That was something which nobody had even thought. Even Imad Wasim was clueless whether he was out or not.
19:08 So, definitely, Rishabh Pant is clearly making the difference, creating the difference.
19:14 But one man will not win you a tournament. He might help you win a match or two.
19:21 But for a team to become a champion side, you need to have that mindset, that mentality.
19:28 And almost every member in the team will have to gel well.
19:33 And as Shakir Raity mentioned, just imagine if this match was against someone like Australia.
19:41 119, they would have, despite there were demons in the pitch, they would have easily chased it down inside 15 overs.
19:49 Because they come up with that kind of a mentality.
19:54 But Pakistan being Pakistan, played like Pakistan.
19:57 But definitely, when you are up against the best teams, the likes of New Zealand and Australia,
20:06 in a crunch game, in a semi-final game or in a final game, they are not going to give you chances or freebies.
20:12 The way Pakistan has gifted you.
20:14 Definitely, there is a lot to learn from this match. And India should not be very much confident.
20:23 Because it's, I mean, more than winning them, it's a gift from Pakistan's side.
20:29 Yeah, a gift to someone you love.
20:32 They have been very, very, what do you call it, generous, Pakistanis.
20:38 Yeah.
20:39 And the fans are always enjoying.
20:40 They have always been that way, Radha.
20:42 They are always waiting for one thing to be another.
20:44 Absolutely. But, Shoudi, you can't kind of undermine what Hardik did.
20:51 Probably, you know, he ran out of partners also.
20:54 If at one point of time, India lost those three wickets quickly in the middle overs.
20:59 In the middle order, from the middle order.
21:02 And then, we saw Hardik ran out of partners.
21:05 And then, he tried playing that ambitious, over-ambitious shot towards the onside.
21:11 Got caught in the mid-wicket.
21:12 Or was it square leg? That area.
21:14 So, yeah, I mean, Hardik Pandya, still nursing whatever.
21:20 I mean, not Hardik. Rohit Sharma.
21:22 The way it happened between them.
21:24 Rohit wanted to captain. Hardik got captaincy.
21:26 You see that sort of difference.
21:29 Because the way Hardik was made to complete his quota of four overs also.
21:32 Hardik could have stayed till the end.
21:34 Because Hardik has one new match, his bowling.
21:36 And yesterday, the way he got that wicket of Fakhar Zaman.
21:39 Surprise bouncer.
21:40 I think Hardik has managed to create a space without support of a captain.
21:47 I mean, he is that kind of a player, isn't he?
21:50 Isn't he? I mean, Sourav Dev.
21:52 Yeah, absolutely. I don't know whether there is any rift between the captain and the vice-captain.
21:57 I hope everything is alright.
21:59 But Hardik Pandya, you have to really appreciate that person.
22:03 Because he has been under the palm for the last couple of months.
22:06 All the majority of the people without knowing any substance have abused him.
22:11 Have criticized him. Have ridiculed him on and off the field.
22:15 And he also had some kind of personal things.
22:20 All these things are coming up in the rumors, in the media.
22:23 It is not a player, an athlete of the elite level.
22:27 You have to be within yourself amid all these adversities.
22:31 And he has done that. And credit has to be given to Hardik.
22:33 Yeah, I do believe that while trying to capitalize the most in the batting, he got out.
22:39 But the way he bowled, it was really commendable.
22:42 He bowled his 4 overs, got 2 wickets.
22:45 And even in the Ireland match, he got 3 wickets.
22:48 So, it is a really good start for him.
22:50 And hopefully, he can cement.
22:51 Because for India to win this T20 World Cup,
22:54 Hardik Pandya is going to be an instrumental figure if they are to win the World Cup.
22:58 So, it is great signs that Hardik Pandya is performing.
23:01 And really very happy to see him performing after the things that happened with him in the past 2 or 3 months.
23:09 Absolutely. I mean, whatever goes down has to come up at some point.
23:14 And Hardik is exactly doing that.
23:16 Shraddha, you know, he has got around 13 wickets from 7 T20 matches against Pakistan, which is phenomenal.
23:23 Yeah, I think he always steps up against Pakistan.
23:28 If you remember the Champions Trophy back in 2017, he played an outstanding knock.
23:32 But it was in the losing cause.
23:34 Again, also in the Pakistan match, in the previous T20 World Cup, when Virat Kohli was the hero.
23:40 But Hardik Pandya also played a crucial role in that.
23:43 Scoring 40 runs and building that partnership, crucial partnership with Virat Kohli.
23:47 So, yeah, it is something.
23:48 Indian-Pakistan match is always, you don't need any motivation to perform.
23:52 And it seems that Hardik Pandya is doing the right things at the moment.
23:56 Shining against Pakistan.
23:58 So, yeah, really happy.
23:59 Very, very stoked with Hardik Pandya.
24:01 Really, I mean, these cricketers are making a lot of difference.
24:05 But the moment Rohit played that cover drive, it was Virat Kohli who played that cover drive.
24:12 I knew it is going to be another Virat Kohli special day.
24:15 But the way he chased that wide-ish delivery and got out to Naseem Shah.
24:20 Shakya, your thoughts, Virat Kohli missing out against Pakistan.
24:25 It's a rare sight, actually.
24:27 Yeah.
24:30 I mean, it looked like the pitch, we could see that it was going to play slowly.
24:38 Because the wicket, the way he got out, the ball stuck a bit on the pitch.
24:42 And even Rohit, I mean, Rohit was dismissive to Shaheen Afridi.
24:47 Shaheen Afridi built up some pressure.
24:49 But then, you know, the ball didn't travel as far as Rohit was expecting it to travel.
24:54 But yeah, I mean, unusual.
24:56 Unusual that these two men would fail together in the same match.
24:59 And whenever it has happened, it's always not gone in India's favour.
25:03 But at the end, I think the result is what matters.
25:08 And I think India will be very happy because their next game is also in New York against USA.
25:14 And USA has already got two wins on the board.
25:16 And if India had lost this match, they would have been very nervous playing USA even though they are debutants.
25:22 Because imagine, you know, on this New York wicket, India will just be very happy to get out of New York, to be honest.
25:30 Because this wicket is not suited to their game.
25:36 But you know, one more point I want to make is that Shivam Dubey, he has come under a little bit of criticism right now.
25:46 And even if he doesn't perform, those criticisms will become louder because he didn't actually play a lot of games in the last one year.
25:56 Rinku Singh played more games than him.
25:58 And you know, he is obviously being brought into the team for a reason because of his ability to hit spin.
26:05 But he hasn't really done well in the last two games.
26:08 And he is also from Mumbai.
26:10 Also from Mumbai. And you know, Rinku Singh, he played more games.
26:18 He is in the sample size of games that both these players have played.
26:23 Rinku Singh has got better numbers.
26:25 Rinku Singh has got that ability to finish.
26:27 So, if this doesn't work out well for Shivam Dubey, then it's a major question that we ask as to why Rinku Singh was not taken.
26:36 But you know, going forward, I do see that they may play Aksar up the order at number 6 or Jadeja at number 6 and play an extra specialist spinner if Shivam Dubey's form continues the way it's been going.
26:51 Alright, we will see that, what happens.
26:54 But end of the road for Pakistan.
26:56 Avinash, how do you see Pakistan coming up and qualifying for the Super 8?
27:02 It's a Himalayan task.
27:04 Definitely.
27:07 Yeah, it is.
27:08 Once again, the Kudrat ka Nizam narrative, they keep on building every World Cup, whether it's a T20 or the ODIs.
27:23 Last year also, we were hearing a lot of this Kudrat ka Nizam.
27:27 The comparisons with the 99 World Cups, the 92 World Cups and stuff like that.
27:34 So, once again, the Pakistani media, the fans, they'll start building that narrative.
27:39 Even the former players, the so-called experts, they will also start building the same narrative that this thing happened in that World Cup and we ended up winning it, lifting the trophy and XYZ.
27:57 But let's be realistic.
27:59 Pakistan, once again, have gifted two matches to the opposition and the fate now hangs on the result of the other team.
28:12 So, of course, even if they end up winning the next two matches, they'll have four points.
28:16 And if US win at least one of their coming two games, they are through to the next stage.
28:24 So, I think Pakistan are staring at an early exit.
28:28 I mean, it is not worthy because the team looked pretty good.
28:34 It's a balanced side.
28:35 But yes, they didn't perform collectively.
28:39 And now, we also are already hearing about the post-mortem of the defeat.
28:45 Harsh steps will be taken XYZ.
28:50 The surgery, I mean, there's something floating in the social media about the Pakistan cricket board chief's comments as well.
28:58 So, I mean, let's see what happens.
29:02 But I think Pakistan face a very uphill task now.
29:08 They will have to win by big margins and hope the remaining matches of the opponents who are going to play, whether it's India or USA, their games also help them.
29:19 In a way, they end up qualifying for the Super 8s.
29:23 But these are not good signs.
29:24 And once again, what I saw is, the team is not gelling up well under Babar Azam's captaincy.
29:32 Let's be very frank about it.
29:34 Players are not performing the way everybody was expecting them.
29:39 Just look at their performance against England.
29:42 They were, I mean, more often than not, they were looking clueless.
29:46 Players were not living up to the expectations, not performing what the team management has expected from them.
29:57 So, things are not going the way Pakistan would have hoped for.
30:00 Alright, alright.
30:03 But this is what the magic of having so many teams in a competition.
30:07 It really throws open a lot of challenges, actually.
30:11 And we talk about England, Australia, the West Indies, the host, co-host of the event.
30:17 Big teams.
30:18 We can't discount South Africa as well.
30:21 South Africa never won a nice event.
30:24 But South Africa, Sourav Deep, they are taking on Bangladesh tonight.
30:28 And we can expect some sort of excitement.
30:32 Because this low-scoring thing, at least I am happy that bowlers are coming into play.
30:39 Because otherwise, if you see IPL matches, we are so used to seeing bowlers being hammered, sent on a leather hunt so often.
30:46 So, it's nice to see bowlers also coming.
30:48 And for instance, Bumrah getting two back-to-back Man of the Match awards.
30:52 And how confident, how happy he would be inside.
30:55 And looking at the way things have happened in IPL at home, in India, kids don't want to become bowlers.
31:04 Because they know that they will be hammered.
31:07 Why would I become a bowler? I would rather bat.
31:09 So, at least, Jasprit Bumrah kind of players are lifting the spirit.
31:13 And how do you see this challenge, South Africa-Bangladesh, panning out tonight?
31:17 I think, first of all, we have been too much pampered with this IPL's batting demolitions.
31:24 That we always expect teams to get 200+ scores.
31:27 So, what's happening in this T20 World Cup is something like, 'No'.
31:31 But it seems alien to us because we have been so used to seeing 250-260 score in the IPL.
31:38 So, it's a good thing for cricket that the bowlers are also having a say.
31:42 And Jasprit Bumrah, like the elite bowler that he is, we could at least assume that he is certain to thrive in this kind of situations.
31:52 Talking about South Africa and Bangladesh, I think it is going to be an exciting encounter.
31:56 Bangladesh being another team who are very inconsistent.
31:59 They always do the unthinkable at one time and then they fall down and just go down like house of cards in the very next match.
32:08 And South Africa, on the other hand, yeah, they have started well.
32:10 Two victories out of two matches. Also, the team, yeah, there were a bit hiccups in the match against Netherlands.
32:18 But they have crossed the line and they have four points. They are on top of the table.
32:23 And if they win this match, they will be through to the Super 8.
32:27 I think they will qualify for Super 8 if they win.
32:29 So, I really expect this to be an exciting encounter.
32:32 I really hope that Bangladesh will put up some fight.
32:35 But I still believe and expect South Africa to get the two points.
32:40 Alright. But seeing the way Indian team has played in last two games, Shakya.
32:50 And seeing the form of some of the other teams like England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies.
32:56 I mean, the kind of mental state they are in.
33:00 What sort of challenge awaits us in days to come?
33:04 Quickly, roll it up the show.
33:06 The Super 8, we are likely to face Australia.
33:10 And if New Zealand and Sri Lanka don't go through, we might get Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
33:17 So, that, also the Super 8, none of these teams should be underestimated.
33:23 But I think we should go into the semi-finals on the basis of how the draw is shaping up.
33:31 But if New Zealand doesn't qualify.
33:35 But yes, I think going beyond the semi-finals will be the big challenge.
33:42 And I think it's expected from India that semi-finals is the minimum that is expected from India.
33:50 With the resources they have, with the players they have, with being the super-profit cricket.
33:55 But I think it's about winning.
33:57 You don't win. Nobody cares about semi-finals and runners-up.
34:00 It's about winning. And we haven't won a title since 2013.
34:04 And we need to take that final step.
34:08 So, even if getting into the semi-finals or the finals is not enough, we need to take that final step and win the tournament.
34:14 Alright. And people are already talking about after seeing the Indian batting collapse the way they did.
34:20 Like, pack of cards. They are talking why we didn't give opportunity to Jaiswal and Rinku Singh.
34:25 What has rightly been pointed out by our experts is already getting louder and louder.
34:31 And hopefully, it will not reach that high point, high decibel.
34:35 Because we don't want any controversy.
34:38 We want cricket to happen. That step to win the tournament is very important.
34:42 Not these league matches.
34:43 Thank you, Avinash, Shakya and Saurabh for coming and throwing light on this great football pitch battle.
34:48 We are also going from strength to strength.
34:51 Like, all league matches. Every day is a league match for us.
34:53 And till we play the final.
34:55 Take care. Enjoy cricket and enjoy tonight's game also.
34:58 And see you around. Take care. Bye.
35:00 Thanks for watching.
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