After a nail-biting match, the Indian cricket team managed to defeat Pakistan by four wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
A crucial partnership between Indian master batsman Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya sailed India to victory. Before Pandya’s (40) dismissal, he and Kohli (82) shared scored 113 runs off 78 balls.
At the end of the match, India stood at 160 with the loss of eight wickets. Kohli was awarded the Man of The Match award.
On Pakistan’s side, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Nawaz took two wickets each, while Naseem Shah was able to get one.
While there is disappointment over the Green shirts’ defeat, Pakistani politicians have come forward to support them.
Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif praised the “brilliant effort” by the team, saying it was a “great game”.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President, Maryam Nawaz, was of the view that “there’s no shame in going down while putting up a valiant fight”.
“The match was an absolute cliffhanger and could’ve gone anywhere. Buck up Boys and gear up for the next fight!,” she said in a tweet.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry praised Kohli who nearly scored a century. In a tweet, Chaudhry also asked the Indian PM Narendra Modi to let the Indian cricket team come to Pakistan.
Apart from these politicians, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, PTI’s Senator Faisal Javed, PML-N’s Hina Parvez Butt, and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Saeed Ghani applauded Pakistan’s performance and wished them good luck for the upcoming T20 World Cup matches.
