Against Pakistan into one-sided affair in half-an-hour

• Around 4 pm, Pakistan was cruising but India’s bowlers struck back; it was a throwback to the ’90s when the Pakistan bowling department had such deadly variety.

There was hardly any cheer for the bowlers when the slides of the Indian playing XI for the Pakistan game rolled on the giant screen at the Narendra Modi Stadium here after the toss. The six-digit crowd that turned up early for the “one game that matters so much to so many” screamed their lungs out for the batting superstars, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and K L Rahul. But they offered some gentle, polite applause when it came to Mohammad Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, and even local star Jasprit Bumrah.

The script of the India-Pakistan game at Ahmedabad saw a small, but significant, tweak. The first half of Saturday’s game was dominated by a pair of new-ball pacers bowling at breakneck speed, with the ability to make the ball talk, and a wily wrist-spinner – it was a throwback to the ’90s when the Pakistan bowling department had such deadly variety. They would join hands to dismiss Pakistan for 191, a modest target by the tournament’s standards.