Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh reckons Pakistan would have struggled to even chase 130 against India at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Sunday. India posted an above par total of 175 runs on the board after they were put into bat by Salman Ali Agha.
Ishan Kishan was the star of the show as he scored a blistering knock of 77 runs off just 40 balls. On the other hand, Pakistan was dismissed for 114 runs after none of their batters, barring Usman Khan, could show any resistance. Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy bagged two wickets apiece.
“I had a lot of fun. People were saying that Pakistan will fight this time, they have a better team now, they know these conditions and all. The truth is that there is a massive difference between these two teams. Pakistan thought that they would be in the game after restricting India to 175. But 175 is a lot of runs on that pitch. People were saying this will happen, that will happen. In the end, what happened was something that always happens,” Harbhajan Singh said on his YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah was given the ball after the Powerplay overs against Namibia. However, against Pakistan, he was given the second over and he bagged two wickets, dismissing Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha. The Turbanator said Bumrah should be given the new ball by SKY.
“Bumrah should be bowling with the new ball. When you have a bowler like Bumrah, the opposition is afraid. If you are bringing him in the fifth over, by then the batter is settled. The way he bowled today, he finished the match off in 2 overs. Even if Pakistan had to chase 130 on this pitch, they would have struggled. Hardik Pandya getting that first wicket was very crucial,” Harbhajan added.
The former Punjab spinner said Pakistan have come only to participate in the T20I showpiece and not to compete.
“Pakistan, once again, only came here to participate. They had not come to win the match. They don’t have the team that can win. There was once a time where they used to compete, but now they don’t have players who can do that. Even their legends are saying that the planning is wrong. The player is who should be batting at No.5 is opening the innings,” Harbhajan said.
India will next take on the Netherlands at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Wednesday.
