By Admin 
Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav said after qualifying for the Super Eight stage with a massive 61-run win against Pakistan in the Group A match of the ICC T20 World Cup, batting first on this pitch was a better option. By scoring 175 runs we eliminated the opposing team from the match.
Chasing India’s target of 176 runs, Pakistan team was reduced to 114 runs in 18 overs in front of the sharp bowling of Hardik Pandya (two wickets for 16 runs), Varun Chakraborty (two wickets for 17 runs), Jasprit Bumrah (two wickets for 17 runs) and Axar Patel (two wickets for 29 runs).
Earlier, India scored 175 runs for seven wickets with Ishan’s inning of 77 runs in 40 balls with 10 fours and three sixes and his 87-run partnership for the second wicket with Tilak Verma (25).
Suryakumar said that 155 runs would have been a competitive score on this pitch and he managed to score 15 to 20 runs more.
Suryakumar said after the match, “Batting first on this pitch was a better option. While batting first, it was difficult to say what a competitive score would have been, but as soon as we reached 175, we felt that we had scored 15-20 runs more than the competitive score. It would have been a very close match at 155 runs.
The Indian captain praised both his batsmen and bowlers and said that they played the kind of cricket they wanted to play.
Suryakumar said, “We played the kind of cricket we wanted to play. Ishan also batted like him (as he was doing in the last few matches and domestic cricket). Ishan thought something different. After losing the first wicket for one run, someone needed to take responsibility and he did a wonderful job.
He said, “The way they (Tilak Verma, Shivam Dubey and Rinku Singh) batted is commendable. Hardik hit with the new ball and then Bumrah showed why he is the best in the world. It was great to see everyone contributing.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Aga said that after losing three-four wickets in the power play, you keep chasing in the match.
Salman said, “We went with four spinners but they were not having a good day. In some parts the schemes could not be implemented properly. We did not make a good start with the bat. If you lose three-four wickets in the powerplay, you are always chasing in the match.
Salman admitted that the pitch was better for batting in the second innings but his players could not play as per expectations.
He said, “Batting was a bit difficult in the first innings and the ball was also gripping. The pitch played better in the second innings but we did not bowl as per the conditions and we also did not play as expected with the bat.
The Pakistan captain said, “We have a match in a few days and we are looking forward to it.” We have to qualify by winning it.” Pakistan has to play its last match against Namibia and it will have to win this match to make it to the Super Eight.