In the wake of India's six-wicket sweep of Pakistan in their Asia Cup Super Four match, captain Suryakumar Yadav has downplayed suggestions that the India-Pakistan match-up is a genuine rivalry, highlighting the one-sided nature of more recent results.
When asked if Pakistan had bettered their previous match, which India had won with 25 balls to spare, Suryakumar said, "I feel we should stop asking this question on [India-Pakistan] rivalry, whether a team plays good cricket or not."
India have now come out on top in seven straight matches against Pakistan in men's internationals since their previous defeat to them in the 2022 Asia Cup in Dubai.
He continued, "According to me, if two teams are playing 15-20 matches and if it is 7-all or someone is ahead 8-7, then that is called playing good cricket and that is called rivalry. 13-0, 10-1, don't know what the stats are. But this is not a rivalry anymore."
Looking back at the Super Four encounter, Suryakumar identified what he felt was the turning point of the match: "According to me, the turning point was in the first drinks in the first innings."
"People changed their body language after that. You always see the game changes generally after the powerplay. But today, the game changed after ten overs, when the bowlers changed their line and lengths, understood what was needed in that situation, and showed a little more energy. The spinners bowled well. And according to me, Shivam Dube's spell, you can say that it was a turning point, " he added.
In India's run chase of 172, young opener Abhishek Sharma gave a stunning 74 off 39 balls, supporting India to their highest successful run chase against Pakistan in T20 Internationals.
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