Rohit Sharma’s India posted a thrilling six-run victory on an interesting day of cricket, conflicting culture and a nervy dance between the sun and the rain.
New York: This whole India-Pakistan rivalry business hasn’t been much of that of late with one-sided victories, rather bland plot lines and no real hero to speak of.
Despite the lack of recent thrill, the International Cricket Council pegged this game to be the one to watch out for, the one to spend all your money on, the one which could give the American audience a slice of a sport they have refused to understand for ages.
They probably still don’t get it, but they would’ve sensed it. Probably even felt confusingly enveloped by the emotions of two nations and their players willing to put their bodies on the line for a piece of history.
Those at the stadium, mostly those backing the Indians, didn’t need a lesson in cricket. They just wanted to see their representatives put one past Pakistan, and they manifested it so.
It was not as easy as people made it out to be after Pakistan lost their opener against the United States three days ago, but it was enough to put India on top of the Group A table.
Rohit Sharma’s India posted a thrilling six-run victory on an interesting day of cricket, conflicting culture and a nervy dance between the sun and the rain.
After being bowled out for a less-than-impressive 119 after a rather positive start, a majority of the 34,028 people wore a look of mourning during the innings break.
They had seen Naseem Shah (3/21), Mohammad Amir (2/23 and Harris Rauf (3/21) reduce, arguably, the best batting unit in this World Cup to a sub-par total, or at least what sub-par felt like at the time because the pitch was not as ill-behaved as it was expected to be.