Courtesy: BCCI
On March 21, 2014, India beat Pakistan by seven wickets in the T20 World Cup 2014 game played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. Bowling first after winning the toss, India invited Pakistan to bat first and the Men in Green lost their maiden wicket in the form of Kamran Akmal, who got run out at his score of eight by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the second over of the game. Following the early fall of wicket, Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez stood at the crease but looked defensive. Both stitched a 35-run stand off just 34 deliveries. Ravindra Jadeja got rid of Hafeez, who could accumulate only 15 off 22.
Riding on Umar Akmal’s 33 off 30 and Sohaib Maqsood’s fighting 21 off 11, Pakistan posted 130/7 in their 20 overs. Leg-break bowler Amit Mishra emerged as the most successful bowler for India in the game, registering 2/22 figures in his four-over spell. In pursuit of the target, India openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan looked disciplined with their bats and hoarded 54 runs for the opening wicket in 48 balls.
Umar Gul delivered the first breakthrough to Pakistan in the form of Dhawan on the last delivery of the eighth over, while Saeed Ajmal cleaned up Rohit in the 10th over. Yuvraj Singh fell against Bilawal Bhatti in the high-octane game after scoring only one run from his bat. Virat Kohli along with Suresh Raina stood at the crease and maintained a 66-run partnership off 50 deliveries to take India home convincingly. Mishra got the player of the match (POTM) award for his frugal spell.
Pakistan eventually ended their World Cup jinx against India in 2021
In 2021, Pakistan hammered India by 10 wickets and ended the World Cup hoodoo against India in the T20I format. Under Babar Azam’s captaincy, the Men in Green scripted history with their maiden T20 World Cup triumph versus the near neighbours. The victory came for the Green Shirts after four consecutive losses against their arch-rivals India in the T20 World Cups.
Chasing 152 runs, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam batted magnificently and took their team home with their unbeaten stand. Rizwan notched up an unbeaten 79 off 55, while Babar scored an unbeaten 68 off 52. Shaheen Shah Afridi played the role of a destroyer and picked up 3/31 in his four overs to contain India on an average total despite Virat Kohli's exceptional innings. The lanky pacer received the player of the match award for his stunning bowling in the game.
