Ex-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin spoke about Pakistan’s performance after their 61-run loss to India in the Group A match at the R. Premadasa Stadium. He even joked that India’s total was big enough to “enforce a follow-on” in a T20 game.
The India-Pakistan match proved to be one sided. Having been requested to bat first, India had a score of 175/7 with Ishan Kishan getting 77 out of 40 balls. The chase never became a reality in Pakistan and they lost three wickets in the first two overs. They eventually took a 114 all in 18 overs providing India with a comfortable win of 61.
In his YouTube video, Ashwin noted that 175 in that pitch was 250. He likened it to the follow-on rule in the Test cricket game, where an individual team that is very far behind may be requested to bat a second time. In his view, this score by India was good enough to exert such pressure even in T20 game.
“175 is like 250 on this pitch. 175 is not less. You can enforce follow-on on this pitch. In a four-day game, follow-on is enforced by 150 runs. In a five-day match, it is 200. In T20Is, this score makes sense. If India would have scored 20 runs more, we could have done it.”
Ravichandran Ashwin
He did mention the toss as the turning point also. According to the veteran, Pakistan lost it when skipper Salman Ali Agha decided to bowl. Earlier matches at the ground had established that it was easier to defend rather than set a total, but Machiavellian Pakistan opted for the chase.
Ashwin also took a swipe at the tactical use of powerplay, including the early entry of Shaheen Shah Afridi in place despite the fact Ishan Kishan has strong track record against left arm pace. He further recommended “more use of match-up stats and new angles” mentioning that Afridi’s two overs went for plenty.
“Where did they win to lose the plot? Pakistan lost the game when they opted to bowl first after winning the toss because we saw the match between Australia and Zimbabwe. Australia struggled to get 170. When we see IPL matches, teams win easily if they need 100 runs off the last 10 overs. But it’s not happening in this World Cup. In Premadasa Stadium, you can’t chase 100 in ten overs. The way Pakistan deals with pressure, India are 100 times better in that aspect. I don’t think Pakistan are there. Honestly, Pakistan have become tactically better under Salman Agha and Mike Hesson. But the way they brought Shaheen Afridi after Agha’s first over was a terrible mistake. You took Abhishek Sharma’s wicket, and he is leaking runs left, right and centre. We noted in the preview how dangerous Ishan Kishan is against left-arm seam. I feel cricketers need to be explained, ‘This is your match-up’. Data tells the truth. When you say Ishan is taking on left-arm seam, he is taking it on. I’m not saying don’t bowl left-arm seam to him, but they must do something different. If Shaheen was getting whacked, I would’ve loved to see him come round the wicket to the left-hander. He didn’t do it, and the second over should have been Saim Ayub.”
Ravichandran Ashwin
