The most awaited T20 tournament in the world, arguably after IPL, is upon us and we have had quite a few moments already that would definitely go on to make the highlights package of the tournament. The debutants, Scotland and Namibia, stake a majority claim on those moments. Looking forward to seeing more of them during the course of the tournament and afterwards.

India played Pakistan in their opening match last night. After having cruised to victory in both their warm-up games, India started as favorites going into the match. Their arch-rivals, mercurial neighbors, Pakistan, have always been the underdogs, well, atleast since the turn of the century, but even more so in a World Cup match. Having said that, they have always had the knack of causing an upset, but it is never known which Pakistan would turn up on the day. And that makes watching them in action all the more worthwhile. Sadly, India found itself at the receiving end right from the word go, and always seemed to be playing the catch-up game thereafter.

Having won the toss, Babar put India in to bat first. Pakistan were brilliant with the new ball. Shaheen pitched it right up, hit the right areas and allowed the ball to swing, something which the Indian counterparts did not. Three quick wickets early in the game pushed India onto the backfoot, as a result of which they struggled to get any sort of momentum into their innings. Pant, being his maverick self, did bring out his one-handed swipes for sixes and accompanied Kohli to restore some stability. Despite the continuous loss of wickets from one end and an elongated tail, one would feel India did well to post 151 on the board. Pakistan were equally good in the field. Apart from ‘that-one-overthrow’, they were pretty disciplined otherwise.

Indian bowlers werent as effective with the new ball, largely owing to the line and length they bowled. The positive intent showed by the Pakistani openers didnt help their cause either. Rizwan and Babar dispatched the lose ones to the boundary and were able to rotate strike regularly, making sure the scoreboard always kept ticking. It was as clinical a run-chase as any could get, wherein they did not give a single chance to the opposition. The fact that they won by a 10 wicket margin is a testament to India being completely outplayed.

India have a week’s time to get past this and I am sure, they will put up a better performance when they turn up next on the field. They were beaten comprehensively by a team that played better cricket. On a lighter note, I feel we should be relieved that the ‘one-bad-game’ has been done away with early in the tournament rather than having it in the knockouts. And hence, the title of this piece. I know nothing is as good as ending up on the winning side, but as they say, ‘Failure will teach you more than success ever will.’