Pakistan broke their World Cup jinx against
India in emphatic style as skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan’s historic
partnership sealed a 10-wicket win in Dubai on Sunday. In his assessment of the
defeat, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar said it was an “absolute hammering”
for Virat Kohli’s men.

Speaking on the post-match analysis on Star
Sports, the former Indian opener said, “It has absolutely been a hammering, as
far as India is concerned.” The 72-year-old further said that India need to
pick themselves up and put the loss behind them as the tournament just started,
adding they cannot afford to distract themselves from the upcoming fixtures.

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“Hopefully, they will pick themselves up
quickly because it’s important. You’ve you got to forget what has happened in
this game and focus on the next few games that are there,” Gavaskar said.

Pakistan dominated India at the Dubai International
Stadium from the word go, with Shaheen Afridi dismissing openers Rohit Sharma (0)
and KL Rahul (3) in a fiery opening spell. Suryakumar Yadav also failed to help
skipper Kohli rebuild as he was dismissed early by Hasan Ali.

Kohli (57) then stitched a partnership with
Rishabh Pant (39) as India looked to get to a respectable total, before being
dismissed, for the first time in a T20 World Cup match against Pakistan, by Afridi.
The 21-year-old left-arm pacer was adjudged player-of-the-match for his figures
of 3/31 from four overs that set the tone for the match and helped Pakistan restrict
India to 151/7.

Also Read | T20 World Cup: In 10-wicket loss to Pakistan, what went wrong for India

In reply, captain Babar Azam scored 68 from
52 and his opening partner notched a 55-ball 79 to seal Pakistan’s biggest-ever
win in the biggest stage, and inflict India’s heaviest loss in the tournament. Their
152-run stand was also the highest parternship for Pakistan in T20 Internationals,
as the two chased down the target in 17.5 overs.

Both India and Pakistan will face new
Zealand next.