T20 World Cup 2021: Virat Kohli appreciates Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam after Pakistan’s thumping win over India

Pakistan, on Sunday, October 24, defeated India by 10 wickets in the Super 12 match of the 2021 T20 World Cup at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The victory also happened to be Pakistan’s first against India in World Cups irrespective of the format. Virat Kohli and Co didn’t have a lot of chances in the game after being put on the backfoot from the outset.

Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan stitched together an unbeaten partnership of 152 runs for the opening wicket off 17.5 overs as Pakistan chased the target down with relative ease. While Babar stayed unbeaten on 68, Rizwan stayed not out on 79. Following Pakistan’s win, Kohli was seen having a chat with the Pakistan openers and lauding them for their performances.

Virat Kohli appreciating Babar Azam and Rizwan. After all, this is a game. Always nice to see this mutual respect. pic.twitter.com/ouVH9gWISr

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 24, 2021

We didn’t execute properly, says Virat Kohli

In the post-match presentation ceremony, Babar, the Pakistan skipper, said that his team was able to execute its plans. The 27-year-old also reckoned that the pitch got better to bat on in the second half.

“This was the team’s effort, and the early wickets were very helpful. It gave us a lot of confidence and our spinners were very good as well. We applied our plans and got the results. We, the openers, kept it simple and built a partnership and because the wicket was getting better so we just wanted to keep batting till the end, which we did,” Babar was quoted as saying.

Kohli, on the other hand, was clear cut in saying that his team wasn’t able to stick to the plans. The 32-year-old was also of the opinion that early wickets pushed India on the backfoot right from the word go.

“We didn’t execute properly. Credit where it’s due and Pakistan outplayed us today. They started brilliantly with the ball, and 3 wickets for 20 runs was not a good start. We needed wickets early but with the bat they gave us absolutely no chances,” he added.

India’s next match is against New Zealand on Sunday, October 31 in Dubai itself. Pakistan, on the other hand, will lock horns with the Black Caps itself on Tuesday, October 26 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.