12-0, that was the Indian teams record against Pakistan in World Cup games, the most recent victory coming in 2019, but when the teams met this time, there was a fire in the heart of the Pakistan cricket team.
Shaheen Afridi, wearing the legendary number 10 shirt, wore by his namesake, struck gold immediately, dismissing Rohit Sharma, and then KL Rahul with deliveries that would dismiss any batter to have ever played, or will ever play the game. Then, just to rub salt in their wounds, Babar Azam and Rizwan took their nation home to a 10 wicket win against their bitter rivals in one of, if not the biggest sporting event on the planet Earth.
A loss like that doesn’t just sting, it rocks a team, and it’s fans to their very core. The loss will hurt, and it should, because such a performance is not expected from the Indian team at all, let alone against their biggest rivals Pakistan, there are no excuses. Shaheen with the ball and Babar and Rizwan with the bat broke a curse that had haunted Pakistan since the very first World Cup, and the question now is can the momentum continue to take Pakistan to the promise-land, in a country that their cricket team have called home for so long.
The Indian team and fans will definitely be disappointed, as they should be, It’s supposed to keep you awake at night with tears in your eyes, because when the hopes of a nation are on 11 men playing a game miles away, the world stands still, hearts stop beating, the wind stops blowing, and all eyes are glued on the screen.
Revenge doesn’t always leave the best taste in one’s mouth, but on Sunday, Pakistan tasted revenge, and it surely tasted sweeter than sugar.
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