India should’ve gone with trump card – Zaheer points out Virat’s mistake against Pak

The post mortem of India’s defeat against Pakistan is not going to end easily. India were thumped by arch-rivals for the first time in the ICC T20 World Cup having won five matches in the past. After Shaheen Afridi’s bowling masterclass, Mohammad Rizwan (79 not out) and Babar Azam (68 not out) led Pakistan to a sensational win by 10 wickets.

Despite Afridi’s three wickets, India managed to score 151 for 7 in 20 overs. Virat Kohli scored 57 runs for his team.

Former India fast bowler Zaheer Khan pointed out a major flaw in India captain Virat Kohli’s planning.

“You have your plans before the game, but once you are in the game, you’ve just got to go with it – maybe change certain things that you had planned. Maybe you could have used Bumrah differently. By the time the game finished, you had under-utilised Bumrah,” Zaheer said. Bumrah bowled three overs and conceded 22 runs.

“They could have gone for their trump card right up front rather than getting him into the game in the third over. Starting with him might have turned things around a bit,” he added.

“But these are things in hindsight. At times, you stick to the strategy which you have made. I am sure the think-tank in the innings break would have thought about it and chosen otherwise. But who would have expected that the two openers would just carry the innings through, “he further said.