Thousands of fans poured onto the streets of Pakistan right after the final ball was bowled to hail Pakistan’s rout of arch-rivals India at T20 World Cup in Dubai – their first-ever World Cup victory against the neighbors.
As skipper Babar Azam and his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan sealed a crushing 10-wicket victory in their opening T20 World Cup group match on Sunday evening, Pakistanis rushed out on the streets to celebrate the victory waving Pakistani flags from motorcycles and car windows. Cheers of jubilant cricket fans echoed from houses and apartment buildings, followed by firecrackers, bursts of gunfire and blaring car horns
Prime Minister Imran Khan, who led Pakistan to the ODI World Cup victory in 1992, congratulated the cricket team on its brilliant performance.
Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa also congratulated Green Shirts on the historic win.
Kohli-led Indian side went into the match with a 12-0 winning streak in World Cups against Green Shirts but faced a thrashing 10-wicket defeat at the Dubai International Stadium.
Chasing an average target of 152 runs, Azam and Rizwan led the team to victory in the 18th over, with an undefeated opening partnership. Azam scored an undefeated 52-ball 68 while fellow opener Rizwan smashed 55-ball 79 as Pakistan bagged first 10-wicket win in a T20 international.
The loss was also India’s first 10-wicket defeat in Twenty20 cricket.
Earlier, after Pakistan decided to bowl first after winning the toss, left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi set up victory with a 3-31 that helped Pakistan restrict Kohli-11 to 151-7 despite a valiant 57 from Captain Virat Kohli.
“This is just the start, we have confidence to build on it now,” said Babar after the opening win in the round-robin Super 12 stage.
“That will remain with us. The pressure on us wasn’t that much — we weren’t thinking of the record against India at all.”
Indian skipper Kohli reacted with incredulity when asked if their unblemished track record made them complacent against the arch-rivals ahead of the Group Two blockbuster.
“You don’t go out there to take anything lightly, especially a team like Pakistan who on their day can beat anyone in the world,” Kohli, who will relinquish India’s Twenty20 captaincy after the tournament told reporters.
Pakistan will play its next match against New Zealand on Tuesday, Oct. 26.