IND vs PAK: How Bumrah, Kuldeep bamboozled Pakistan from 155/2 to 191 all-out in World Cup’s collapse of the ages

The Indian bowlers put up a strong show against Pakistan in the World Cup 2023 encounter at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and invited Pakistan to bat, following which the latter got off to a decent start. Despite the start, the Pakistan innings collapsed midway and they could only manage 191/10 on the board.

The opening pair of Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq added 41 runs for the opening wicket, before Mohammed Siraj provided India with a breakthrough. He trapped Shafique LBW for 20 and moments later Imam was caught-behind for 36 against Hardik Pandya.

Pakistan’s most decorated pair Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan then took control and dragged Pakistan beyond 150 with India struggling to find a breakthrough. However, just when it started appearing that Pakistan are headed towards a big total, the team was rocked by a middle-order collapse triggered by Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah.

It started with Siraj cleaning up the Pakistan captain for 50, thus bringing an end to the 82-run stand for the third wicket. The batters, who followed later failed to withstand the Indian attack, which was mixed with a lethal combo of spin and pace.

Kuldeep then dismissed Saud Shakeel and Iftikhar Ahmed for single-digit scores as Pakistan lost half their side with just 166 on the board. The fall of wickets continued as Bumrah joined the party and cleaned up an in form Rizwan for 49. Bumrah added another wicket to his tally as Shadab Khan, Pakistan’s premier all-rounder, was packed for 2.

Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja combined to scalp the final three wickets as the Pakistan innings was wrapped in 42.5 overs.

If we look at the Indian bowlers, all of them barring Shardul Thakur returned with two scalps each. Thakur was only utilised for two overs, in which he conceded 12 runs.

“The wicket was a bit slow. We were focusing on the length. They were not attacking too much so I was just focusing on my pace and my variations,” Kuldeep told the official broadcasters during the mid-innings break.