T20 World Cup: VVS Laxman on the important lessons India could learn from the IND-PAK match

VVS Laxman. Pic/mid-day archives

Virat Kohli's team India went down to Pakistan in their opening match of the T20 World Cup on October 24. Pakistan chased down India's target of 152 without a loss of any wicket and won their first game against India at an ICC event in 13 matches.

Speaking exclusively on Star Sports' Show Follow the Blues, during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021, former Team India batsman VVS Laxman shed light on the important lessons Team India could learn from the IND-PAK match.

"I think the three important lessons from this match would be not to lose wickets early on, especially in the powerplay. That's very critical, you want to capitalize on the powerplay and make use of the fielding restrictions. The second lesson is, like batting, you don't want to lose wickets and while bowling you are required to pick up wickets and that's very critical, especially if you're defending a par score or probably a below par score. The third thing will be the length of the bowlers, when you're looking to pick up wickets it's important to use your variations. But, I just felt that the bowlers bowled a bit short and they didn't bowl to the conditions which were on offer," said Laxman.

Team India legend Sunil Gavaskar talked about Virat Kohli's performance in IND-PAK match. "It was a terrific innings because India had lost their openers in the powerplay itself, so there was a greater sense of responsibility on Kohli's shoulders because he now had to pace the innings he thought to repair the innings and also get India to a total which they could hope to defend. So, the way he paced his innings, the way he chose the shots to break free at times and the six that he hit off Shaheen Afridi. Absolutely amazing talent," said Gavaskar.

Sunil Gavaskar also praised Shaheen Shah Afridi's bowling and sheds light on how Virat was able to play the pacer. "The way Shaheen Afridi was bowling, he was mixing it up quite well, he was angling the ball across the right hand and he was getting the ball to turn back in after pitching, not so much in the air because you don't get that much help in the UAE. That's why it was important for Kohli to try and step out so that he would be able to then negate the amount of swing that Shaheen Afridi was getting and that's how he was able to negotiate that and score runs off Shaheen Afridi."

Viewers and fans can catch all the action of ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 on the Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar

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