T20 World Cup 2021, Match 16: India vs Pakistan, Stats Review: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan script history as Pakistan end jinx after ages

The curse has finally been broken after ages as Pakistan DEFEATED India in a World Cup match. Contrary to the expectations, the Babar Azam-led side outplayed the Men in Blue and recorded a comprehensive 10-wicket win. They wouldn’t have hoped for a better start in the T20 World Cup 2021. On the other hand, India did put up a decent fight but their bowlers let them down in the mother of all clashes.

Speaking of how the game panned out, Pakistan won the all-important toss and elected to bowl at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Shaheen Afridi justified his team’s decision and dismissed both openers cheaply. Suryakumar Yadav also couldn’t contribute much. However, India’s fightback was led by Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant. The former scored a half-century as India posted a respectable 151/7 in their allotted 20 overs.

With the track being challenging, many believed India can extend their winning streak. However, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan didn’t even allow Indian bowlers to make any sort of impact. The duo played sensible cricket as none of the Indian bowlers could take the wicket. Both openers scored half-centuries as the Men in Green crossed the line with as many as 13 balls to spare.

Meanwhile, here are the important stats and numbers from India vs Pakistan clash in T20 World Cup 2021:

200 – This was the 200th match between India and Pakistan in international cricket.

1 – Pakistan recorded their first victory against India in World Cup events. Before this game, India defeated the Men in Green seven times in ODI World Cups and five times in the T20I World Cups.

10 – This was the first occasion of India losing a T20I game by 10 wickets.

10 – Pakistan also registered a 10-wicket victory for the very first time in T20Is.

152 – Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam recorded the highest opening partnership against India in T20Is. They went past Australia’s David Warner and Shane Watson who added 133 runs in 2012.

2 – Azam and Rizwan also recorded the second-highest partnership in T20 World Cups. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, having scored 166 against West Indies in 2010, top the list.

783 – Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have now added 783 runs in partnership in 2021, most by any pair.

7 – This was the seventh occasion of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan adding 50 more runs in a T20I match.

831 – Mohammad Rizwan became the first player to score over 800 T20I runs in a calendar year. Overall, he has scored 831 T20I runs in 2021 so far.

1 – Virat Kohli became the first captain to smash a T20I half-century against Pakistan.

12 – Babar Azam now has 12 T20I half-centuries as captain, second-most for any player. Virat Kohli (13) tops the list.

10 – Virat Kohli now has most half-centuries in T20 World Cups (10).

2 – Rohit Sharma recorded his second duck against Pakistan in T20Is. Gautam Gambhir is the only other Indian player to be holding the unfortunate feat.

50 – India suffered their 50th defeat in T20Is.