Rohit Sharma’s masterclass in Manchester and Mohammad Amir’s fiery spell at Oval: Revisiting the last five matches between India and Pakan | Cricket News
All the recent India vs Pakan clashes have been thrilling encounters. We have witnessed some high-voltage contest in the last couple of years, mostly in the T20 format. On Saturday in Kandy, the arch-rivals will play an ODI after four long years. The last time India and Pakan played in the ODIs was in 2019 ODI World Cup.
Ahead of the much-anticipated clash, let’s take a detour and look at the last five ODIs between these two sides and refresh our memories.
India vs. Pakan: World Cup group stage, Manchester (19 June, 2019)
This is arguably the last game there was a stark difference in the quality between both sides. India brushed Pakan aside in this contest winning 89 runs (D/L method). India batted first in the game and posted a mammoth 336/5 on the board and in the rain-interrupted chase Pakan chasing 302 could only manage 212/6
Memorable moment: Rohit Sharma’s 140 was one of the best ODI innings he has played. He played some sublime shots throughout the innings. This was the inning that gave the batter the momentum and the confidence for the brilliant World Cup campaign with the willow he would go on to later have
India vs Pakan: Asia Cup Super Four, Dubai (23 September 2018)
India outplayed Pakan here once again in all departments. On conditions which were good for batting the Pakani batters never got going scoring only 237. It was quite evident that those runs were never going to be enough and India thrashed the Pakan bowlers and hammered them nine wickets with more than 10 overs remaining.
Memorable moment: Though the wicket was flat given the big occasion Indian batters still had to deliver the goods in the chase. Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan did exactly that with the bat. The 210-run opening stand sucked the life out of the game and burnt any hope Pakan had during the half-way break.
India vs Pakan: Asia Cup Group Stage, Dubai (19 September 2018)
This game took place four days prior to the Super Four game and it was more or less the same tale for the neighbours that is another humiliating defeat. The batting order has once again crumbled when the stakes were high. The fragile batting could only manage 162 on the board. India chased down the total comfortably in 29 overs with eight wickets in hand.
Memorable moment: It was a game that came during Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling was the second wind in his career. He was looking at his best once again after a slight dip in form due to injuries. He troubled the batters with the new ball picked up two early wickets and was the chief architect of the destruction of the Pakan batting order. All in all, he ended up with three wickets and was judged the Man Of the Match.
India vs Pakan: ICC Champions Trophy final, London (18 June 2017)
This was the first time Pakan had defeated India in an ICC event. Pakan was too good for India on that particular day, The Men in Blue had never looked in the game. Putting to bat first Pakan posted a mammoth 338/4 courtesy of a magnificent Fakhar Zaman. As every Indian fan would remember he got out initially but Jasprit Bumrah overstepped the line- The moment which would turn the game on its head. After that, Zaman played some magnificent shots in the rest of his innings and gave no further chances to India until he did the damage with a blering ton. Kohli’s men in response were bundled out for 158 runs.Most Read
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Memorable moment: It is not a game that has fond memories for the Indian players or fans. This might be the game that can be marked as the first one where Indian batters were exposed to left-arm seam bowling. Mohammed Amir on the day decimated the Indian top order with his left-arm angle. This gave a blueprint for many sides in World Cricket on how to deal with this formidable top three of Rohit, Kohli and Dhawan.
India vs Pakan: ICC Champions Trophy Group Stage, Birmingham (4 June 2017)
It was the initial encounter between the sides of the same tournament when India beat Pakan. The Men in Blue made a solid 319/3 runs on the board with the top four all going past half-centuries. In reply, Pakan never looked in the chase and as usual, their batting collapsed under pressure for 164 runs.
Memorable moment: Though the top four of them have scored half-centuries the innings for a large part was going nowhere and the rate was very low. The conditions were damp and the ball was not coming onto the bat. However, Yuvraj Singh in the twilight of his career played a 32-ball 53-run innings which helped India post the mammoth total on the board. The knock reminded everyone of the vintage Yuvraj he once was. His beautiful bat swing while thrashing the bowlers was a joy to watch.
