Gautam Gambhir's interesting take on Indo-Pak series after ODI World Cup clash: 'Pakistan used to hammer India'
Following India's crushing of Pakistan in the highly anticipated match between the two long-time rivals in the 2023 ICC World Cup, former India opener Gautam Gambhir made an intriguing comment regarding the possibility of the Men in Blue playing a bilateral series against Babar Azam's team. In the ICC World Cup, Rohit and company crushed Pakistan in game number twelve, extending their winning streak to three games in the main event.
Two-time winners In the World Cup, India also extended their winning run against Pakistan to eight games. Since the Asian giants first faced off in the 1992 ODI World Cup, the Men in Blue have won eight out of the eight times. Pakistan was forced to set a low-ball goal of 192 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium by the combined efforts of the Indian bowlers. At the largest cricket arena in the world, India defeated Pakistan by seven wickets after successfully chasing down the score in just 30.3 overs.
"India used to be hammered like this by Pakistan."
Former Indian opener Gambhir remembered that Pakistan used to slam India in a similar way, as he thought back on India's thrilling victory over Babar's team. "Dorminating while hammering away. You hardly ever use this word, and only when you are playing Pakistan. Pakistan used to pummelled India like way for a long time, if you look at the results. However, India has been in the lead for a number of years. For subcontinental cricket, this is awful news. We used to consistently state that an India-Pakistan series would be fiercely competitive. There is a huge disparity between the two teams, therefore an India-Pakistan series won't be competitive at all, Gambhir told Star Sports.
Great luxury to own a Bumrah
Indian pacer Bumrah, who took home the Player of the Match award for his masterful bowling, was praised by Gambhir in plenty. With the score down at the Narendra Modi Stadium, pace ace Bumrah took the vital wickets of Shadab Khan and Mohammed Rizwan. After conceding 19 runs and taking two wickets in seven overs, Bumrah was removed from the game, and India's victory was cemented by captain Rohit's outstanding 86 off 63 balls."It is an enormous luxury for any skipper to have both Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah. You get 20 overs from bowlers who can deliver you wickets at any point out of 50 overs. You made a comparison between Shaheen Shah Afridi and Jasprit Bumrah. In his first spell, Jasprit Bumrah bowled beneath the 2 PM sun and conceded very few runs in his first four overs, according to Gambhir.