'Not a big loss, it's an absolute hammering' - Sunil Gavaskar after India slips to 10-wicket defeat against Pakistan

Former Indian skipper and legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar did not mince any words while describing India’s massive loss against Pakistan on October 24 in Dubai. Pakistan brought to halt their 12-match losing streak against India in T20 and ODI World Cups combined with a massive 10-wicket win to start their T20 World Cup campaign in a dominating fashion.

Gavaskar termed the defeat as an “absolute hammering” during an interaction with Star Sports after the game was concluded. “It’s not a big loss. The loss is an absolute hammering as far as India is concerned.”

Having said that, he backed India to bounce back and come stronger in the tournament ahead. India will play New Zealand on October 31. “Hopefully, India will pick themselves up quickly because that’s important. You’ve got to forget what has happened in this game and focus on the next few matches,” he added.

On October 24, India were restricted to 151/7 after being put in. They were rocked early by a spirited Shaheen Afridi spell before Rishabh Pant (39 off 30) and Virat Kohli’s (57 off 49) half-century stand restored sanity.

However, Pakistan forged a comeback again to restrict them in the middle-overs before their openers hunted the target all by themselves. Mohammad Rizwan scored an unbeaten 79 off 55, while his partner Babar Azam stood unbeatedn on 68 off 52 to chase the target with 2.1 overs to spare and break their India jinx in the ICC World Cup. Notably, this was the first instance when India lost a T20I encounter by a 10-wicket margin.

Pakistan have forced everyone to take notice of them: Ashish Nehra

Former India pacer Ashish Nehra reckoned that Pakistan’s ruthless victory has forced people who did not count them to take their notice.

“Those who weren’t already considering them favourites to reach the semi-finals were underestimating Pakistan. And you are talking about T20s. In their pool, there are three strong teams India, Pakistan, and New Zealand. But in the T20s, anyone can beat anyone. The manner in which Pakistan won, people will stand up and take notice,” Ashish Nehra said while speaking on Cricbuzz. Meanwhile, Pakistan next faces New Zealand on October 26.