- Kohli, Dhoni interact with Pak batsmen
- Fans receive the friendly gestures well
Although India lost to Pakistan, its arch rival, for the first time in world cup encounter, the Indians kept up the ‘spirit of cricket’ by not losing heart or cool and taking the loss in their stride. They also interacted with Pakistan players after the match in the true spirit of the game.
Pakistan won by ten wickets defeating Kohli’s team decisively on Sunday in their Super 12 fixture at the Dubai International Stadium. Soon after finishing the match Indian captain Virat Kohli was seen interacting with the super Pakistan openers, captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Team India’s mentor MS Dhoni was also seen chatting with some of the Pakistan players. This gesture by both the tall Indian players must have cooled down the Indian fans who felt frustrated and angry at the humiliating defeat suffered by their team.
Even Pakistan Cricket Board got the picture showing Kohli interacting with the its openers Azam and Rizwan posted in social media with a caption “Spirit of Cricket # WeHaveWeWill.” Bismah Maroof, capatian of Pakistan women team, commented that “We want/need to see this more often.” Dhoni’s pictures interacting with Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim and Azam were received well by Indian fans. One reader, Raz Khan, said on twitter, “The beautiful game. Dhoni passing on knowledge to Babar.” In one of the pictures, Kohli was seen hugging a Pakistan opener.
Chasing a target of 152, the Pakistan openers had hit up the required number of runs in 17.5 overs without losing a wicket. Rizwan and Azam made unbeaten 79 and 68 respectively. India, put to bat first by Pakistan captain who won the toss, lost its openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma to pace bowler Shaheen Afridi at the scores of 3 and zero. Kohli had hit his 29th half century in T20s and got out at 57 contributing his bit to a reasonable score of 151. Rishabh Pant also chipped in with 39 runs in 30 balls.
“We are not a team to press panic button when we lose a game. We are only at the beginning,” said Kohli. He agreed that Pakistan team had played better cricket. It dominated in all the departments. Cricket can do wonders where politics blunders.
