Yuvraj – Pandya Wrath
Before the start of the game, there were still doubts whether Yuvraj Singh will be the part of playing XI because of the fact that Dinesh Karthik had proved a case in the practice game. Along with that, Pandya too had a race with R Ashwin to get a place and Kohli took a bold decision to bench Ashwin.
The pressure was on the duo of Yuvraj-Pandya to prove the captain right and they did.
First talking of Yuvi, he came in at a time when 11 overs were left in the bag and 37 overs had already been consumed. The score was 194 though. There were doubts, whether he will be able to take bouncers from Pakistani bowlers? Is Yuvi fit enough to face Amir’s pace? Has he got enough power now to clear the fence?
What followed next came up with a feeling of nostalgia, as it has been many years ago when we saw a Yuvraj innings like that. The Man of the Match of the game made most out of the dropped chance and punished Pakistan bowlers. A boundary off every over was a customary treat and in a matter of 29 balls, he reached the mark of 50 to do the job of the finisher brilliantly.
After his dismissal, Dhoni was expected to come to the fore but Pandya coming in was a surprise.
It was the last over of India’s innings and he had faced just one ball till then but it had no impact on him, as the first delivery of the last over was sent out of the park off Imad Wasim. Two more followed next and Pandya churned out 19 runs in five balls which he faced and a four to finish the over from Kohli helped India to put up a total of 319 on the board, which turned out to be a huge one for Pakistan.