In a clash of titans, the Indian cricket team was completely outwitted by a superior Pakistan cricket team in a Super 12 Stage Group 2 match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on October 24. The Virat Kohli-led team was handed down a 10-wicket defeat by arch-rivals as they maintained a stronghold in Dubai.

While Pakistan’s plan execution was on point, there were certain things that might have not gone India’s way in the mega-clash.

Losing the toss

Virat Kohli’s team was dealt a heavy blow when they lost the toss. Pakistan’s familiarity with Dubai’s conditions meant that they knew their game plan. Also, there was this dew factor. “We are pretty happy with setting the target. We would have bowled first too, but the toss is not in your control,” Kohli said after losing the toss.

Top-order batting collapse

Well, this is a no-brainer. Losing your openers inside the first two overs never does any good to any team. For India, losing Rohit Sharma (0) and KL Rahul (3) early in the match was a big disadvantage. In the first six overs, India not only lost their explosive batsmen but also lost 3 wickets, including Suryakumar Yadav (11).

Failure to rotate strike and score in middle overs

The batting performance against Pakistan was a little uncharacteristic for the Indian batting line-up. They were put on the mat by the Pakistan bowling unit, failing to not only rotate strikes but also score runs easily. Even though Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli stitched together a 50+ run partnership, it wasn’t enough.

Scoring in the middle overs (7-15) was abysmally low. Kudos to the Pakistan bowling unit. And when India tried to accelerate in the last four overs, they could not as freely.

Did pace for spin hurt India?

If Pakistan’s bowling unit is to be compared, they played three spinners as compared to India, who fielded two (Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy). The Pakistani spinners got help from the pitch even though the ball was coming onto the bat quite comfortably. Would things be different for India had Ashwin been included in the playing XI? Bhuvneshwar’s inclusion was tricky, too, keeping in mind his poor form with the ball in recent times. On air, Sunil Gavaskar said that it seemed India went for experience and thus that decision was taken.

A rare failure of the Indian bowling unit

The likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah will pick up wickets any day for you. For that matter, Ravindra Jadeja, too. However, the batting duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan was too hot to handle for the bowling unit. A comfortable 10-wicket win is self-explanatory.