Arya News - Pakistan cricket has a habit of clinging to narratives. The “eagle” narrative once fit. Right now, the numbers don’t.
ISLAMABAD – There are nights when Pakistan versus India feels like theatre: breathless, chaotic, hanging by a thread. And then there are nights like the one in Colombo.
At the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, this was not a last-over classic or a heart-stopping choke. It was clinical. India posted 175, Pakistan were rolled for 114. A 61-run defeat . No controversy to dissect, no umpiring debate to hide behind, no “if only” moments to cling to.
Just a gulf.
Here are five takeaways from a game that was disappointingly straightforward.
Agha’s captaincy: bold or baffling?
Salman Ali Agha did not hide behind convention and that alone deserves akcnowledgement.
He decided to chase on a slow Colombo surface that was expected to grip more under lights. Bold. He opened the bowling himself and dismissed Abhishek Sharma for a duck – poetic, especially after publicly stating he wanted the Indian opener to play. He even promoted himself to bat at no.3 earlier in the tournament, leading by example.
But bold decisions are a double-edged sword. On a wicket likely to slow further, bowling first was always going to be a gamble. When India reached 175, that decision loomed large. Tactically, there were lapses in his usage of bowlers like introducing Usman Tariq later than ideal, despite his mystery element and control, and repeatedly feeding leg-spin – Abrar, Shadab and Saim – to left-handers Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma.
Then came Agha the batter. After Pakistan collected 13 runs off a Jasprit Bumrah over, including a boundary that briefly unsettled India’s premier pacer, he gifted his wicket away. That was reckless. If you take on Bumrah and win the round, you don’t throw the next punch blindfolded.
Shaheen Afridi: Living on past headlines
There was a time when Shaheen Shah Afridi against India felt like an event within the event. Headlines once screamed, “They cannot play him”. Now, they comfortably do.
Since returning from injury, Shaheen has looked diminished; lower pace, inconsistent lengths, and less bite. In seven T20Is against India, he now has six wickets at an average that hardly intimidates. In Colombo, he conceded 31 runs in just two overs before collecting a consolation wicket.
Ishan Kishan took 15 off his first over and flipped momentum instantly. Meanwhile, Salman Mirza – 22 wickets in 14 T20Is and three in Pakistan’s opening World Cup game watched from the sidelines. Naseem Shah’s record against India is statistically superior. Yet reputation trumped form.
Pakistan cricket has a habit of clinging to narratives. The “eagle” narrative once fit. Right now, the numbers don’t.
The Ishan Kishan gulf
Pakistan’s batting and Ishan Kishan existed in parallel universes tonight.
Kishan’s 77 off 40 balls was not just an innings; it was a statement. A fifty off 27 deliveries. Authority against pace and spin alike. He dismantled Abrar’s mystery with 11 in his first over and treated Shadab’s leg-spin as a warm-up drill, plundering 17 in one. By the time Saim Ayub removed him, India were 88/2 in 8.4 overs, scoring at over ten an over. The game was effectively sealed.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s top order evaporated inside two overs. No scoreboard pressure. No scoreboard at all.
Usman Khan’s 44 off 34 offered some resistance, but in the context of 175, it was insufficient. When your second-highest scorer is your No. 10, the problem is not tempo, it is structure. Babar Azam had the perfect chance to anchor and remind the world why he’s elite but he faded quietly despite earlier form in the tournament.
Pakistan, at one time, was struggling to reach 100, let alone threaten 175. Embarrassing, particularly given they had no travel fatigue and were arguably more familiar with Colombo conditions than India, something Agha himself highlighted during the toss.
India bowled in units, Pakistan bowled in episodes
India’s bowling card tells a story of balance: Hardik’s variations, Axar’s control, Bumrah’s precision and Varun’s mystery, all getting two wickets apiece. No overindulgence, no panic, just pressure applied in layers.
Pakistan’s bowling, by contrast, operated in fragments. Saim Ayub and Nawaz built pressure in spells while Usman Tariq provided control but the expensive overs in the first half of the innings allowed India to surge. The trio in particular, Shaheen, Abrar and Shadab, leaked 86 runs in six overs; nearly half of India’s 175.
T20 cricket thrives on partnerships, both with bat and ball. India functioned as a unit. Pakistan swung between moments of discipline and stretches of leakage.
When one bowler tightened, the next released. When one batter resisted, the rest retreated.
Spirit of Cricket – 404 Error
India once again avoided the toss and post-match handshake with their Pakistani counterparts. In a fixture marketed as cricket’s grandest rivalry, the absence of basic sportsmanship is jarring. You can compete fiercely, you can carry political baggage, but refusing a handshake after sharing a field for three hours feels petty, not powerful.
Cricket loves preaching the “spirit of game” yet, when it comes to this clash, that spirit has gone missing for a while now. Players are not policymakers; they are professionals. And professionals acknowledge each other.
The irony remains that this contest is the financial engine of the International Cricket Council ecosystem as broadcast numbers soar, sponsorships inflate, and global attention spikes. So, if the sport can monetise the rivalry so comfortably, surely it can insist on preserving its dignity too.
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