IND vs PAK: India registered their third consecutive victory in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 as they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in match 12 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
It was a collective effort from the Men in Blue with promising performances in every department to help the team take the top spot in the points table.
After winning the toss, India opted to bowl first in front of the jam-packed crowd in Ahmedabad with around 1,00,000 capacity.
The Men in Blue had a nervy start early in the match with the ball as they struggled with line and length a bit and were hammered for multiple boundaries by openers Abdullah Shafique and Imam ul Haq.
ALSO READ: Ravi Shastri Blasts Pakistani Bowler; Says 'He's Good But Not Great'
Skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan looked good with a promising partnership in the middle after the first two wickets before India executed a perfect collapse to restrict them to 191.
Pakistan were bowled out in 42.5 overs with Babar being the highest scorer with 50, scoring his first half-century in the tournament while Mohammad Rizwan scored 49 runs.
Rohit Sharma led from the front in the run chase as he smashed the bowlers all around the park, continuing his brilliance from the last match.
Despite Shubman Gill's dismissal, Rohit kept going and went on to score another fifty. Virat Kohli was dismissed in between but that didn't stop the star opener from attacking.
He played an amazing knock of 86 runs before felling prey to a soft dismissal off Shaheen Afridi.
Shreyas Iyer was then joined by KL Rahul as the duo went on to take the team home in 30.3 overs with seven wickets in hand with the former scoring a half-century.
While India were clinical in the all-important clash, take a look at the top five performers who contributed heavily to the winning cause.
Rohit Sharma
The captain-courageous continued his consistency as he took the job in his hands and scored the most of the runs while chasing the target of 192 runs.
Rohit scored another half-century and took his team to a dominant position before getting dismissed for 86.
The star player first was spot on with his bowling changes, field placements, and a few DRS decisions as he set an example for other captains in the tournament.
After scoring a marvelous hundred in the last match against Afghanistan, Rohit was almost there once again before he was dismissed by Shaheen Afridi. His remarkable innings included six fours and as many massive sixes.
Jasprit Bumrah
India's lead bowler Jasprit Bumrah is clicking well in the marquee tournament which is a good sign for the team as he emulated the same in the all-important game against Pakistan.
While Mohammed Siraj struggled early from one end, Bumrah kept things a bit tight at the other with his wicket-to-wicket stuff.
Once the deadlock was broken with wickets, Bumrah too joined the party as he dismissed the set batter Rizwan for 49 followed by a peach to get Shadab Khan as well.
Bumrah not only just picked wickets but was very economical on the given day as he always remains, finishing with a stunning figure of 2/19 in his seven overs including a maiden as well.
Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav was on song in the crucial match as he made it a heavy struggle for the Pakistani batters to pick him.
The star spinner put up a stunning effort, picking up two wickets in the match, dismissing Saud Shakeel and Iftikhar Ahmed cheaply who could have been dangerous down the order.
The opponents had no idea to read Kuldeep as he created immense pressure on the batters resulting in the wickets from the other end.
Despite his two wickets, Kuldeep was quite economical as well, giving just 35 runs in his quota of 10 overs.
Mohammed Siraj
After a disappointing start to the tournament with the ball, Siraj redeemed himself when it mattered the most.
Despite struggling with the line and length early in the innings, Siraj opened his account out of nowhere, dismissing Abdullah Shafique in the eighth over.
He then picked up a rhythm and soon was rewarded with the important wicket of Babar Azam.
Even though he gave away runs easily initially, his crucial scalps Shafique who had scored a hundred in the last match, and Babar who just reached his fifty in the match, helped the team take the upper hand in the first half of the match.
Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer remained unbeaten for the second time in the tournament and scored his first fifty as well, finishing the match with a boundary.
After a horrible outing in the first match against Australia, Shreyas has looked promising in the middle order, having been under the pump for a while after returning from the injury beak.
The Men in Blue struggled with the no 4 position in the last edition of the tournament but it looks like Shreyas has found his groove and is ready to make it count to help the team do wonders going forward.