DUBAI, (Reuters) – India captain Virat Kohli denied his team underestimated Pakistan in yesterday’s high-profile Twenty20 World Cup contest and said they know what went wrong in their 10-wicket thumping by the arch-rivals.
India went into the match with a 12-0 record in World Cups against their neighbours but Pakistan snapped that streak with a 10-wicket romp at the Dubai International Stadium.
Kohli reacted with incredulity when asked if their unblemished track record made them complacent against the arch-rivals ahead of the Group Two blockbuster.
“You don’t go out there to take anything lightly, especially a team like Pakistan who on their day can beat anyone in the world,” Kohli, who will relinquish India’s Twenty20 captaincy after the tournament told reporters.
“This is a game that has to be respected, and we are a team that definitely respects the game…
“We never take any opposition lightly. Neither do we differentiate between oppositions, that’s how we play our cricket.”
Put into bat, India could not really recover after Shaheen Afridi wreck-ed their top order.
With Pakistan captain Babar Azam and opening partner Mohammad Rizwan smashing unbeaten half-century, the chase was a cakewalk for Pakistan who triumphed with 13 balls to spare.
“They definitely outplayed us, there’s no doubt about that,” Kohli said.
“You don’t win by 10 wickets if you don’t outplay the opposition. We did not even get any chances. They were very professional and you definitely have to give them credit.
“We tried our best to create enough pressure on them but they had the answers. There’s no shame in accepting that a team played better than you.”
India play their next match against New Zealand on Sunday and Kohli felt the break would do a world of good to his side, who had a fair idea about the grey areas they needed to work on.
“We know exactly how the game went, and where it went wrong. We have absolute clarity of that,” the 32-year-old said.
“That’s a good thing to know where you went wrong as a team, so that we can work on it and try and correct it and move forward.
“We still have a lot of matches in this tournament and if we stick to the process we follow, we definitely feel like we can overcome these mistakes.”
