Clouds forecast to douse Melbourne with spoiling rain all week instead provided a grey lid to turn the MCG into a pressure cooker for what may just be the world’s biggest sporting contest this year. Unquestionably, it was the loudest.
Under the suffocating weight of facing a local rival in front of 90,293 expectant, exultant fans, it was India’s cricketers who prevailed in channelling that force into the creation of a few diamonds – that’s if Virat Kohli didn’t shine brightly enough already.
Needing 48 off the final three overs, Kohli (82 not out, 53 balls) hammered the lion’s share, accelerating like the most finely tuned of sports cars.
Defending 16 in the last, the spinner Mohammad Nawaz dismissed Hardik Pandya but then cracked under Kohli’s examination: a no ball that went for six and two wides helped India to squeak home in game three of the World Cup’s Super 12. It was as messy an over as you would ever hope not to see.
Sent in to bat, Pakistan’s vaunted top order pair of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam had been swept away by the left-arm swing and pace of Arshdeep Singh for a combined four runs in 13 balls.
Pakistan responded through the flashing blade of Iftikhar Ahmed, who crunched four sixes in five balls from R Ashwin and Axar Patel. Shan Masood played the anchor role with grim determination, and with the help of Shaheen Afridi enabled Pakistan to set India 160 for victory.
As in Pakistan’s innings, the new ball wobbled around on a fresh pitch, understandably in a city that has not yet been able to stage a single day of premier grade cricket due to the La Nina weather.
Virat Kohli steered India home to an unlikely victory at the MCG.Credit:Getty Images
This time Kohli and Pandya fashioned a stand with expertise befitting the IPL’s two biggest stars – before Kohli took India home in the most chaotic of final overs by Nawaz.
Cricket had not witnessed anything quite like this heaving, thriving sea of cricket-loving humanity at a global event since the women’s Twenty20 World Cup final in the final days before COVID-19 gripped the globe three years ago – in that respect at least, it felt like something of a bookend to that era of biosecurity and sparse crowds.
But the occasion was also yet another reminder of how sport is perennially at the mercy of wider forces. Despite the greatness of the occasion, the warmth on both sides and the obvious sense of fraternity in the stands, India and Pakistan must wait until the next World Cup to meet again – that is if the Indian hosts of the 2023 ODI event permit the entry of Pakistani visitors.
Looking on from the seats at the Members End, Australia’s Pakistan-born Test opener Usman Khawaja captured the mix of joy and frustration he feels whenever the two sides do manage to take the field against one another.
Kohli’s side looked headed for defeat before a wild final three overs.Credit:Getty Images
“Everyone wants to watch more India versus Pakistan. But I think it’s bigger than we realise because it’s very political,” he said. “I was just having a conversation with an Indian cricketer and I just asked him ‘Is there animosity?’, and there’s none.
“Even what we saw last T20 World Cup, that great photo of Rizwan and Kohli embracing, you can just see that between the players it’s just about the cricket and there’s still a lot of camaraderie.
“When I came to Australia, I played sport before I could speak English, and that’s what it does, it breaks down barriers. So personally I think it’s a great way to link back up the relationship between the two countries. The fact they are playing each other in World Cups and Asian Cups, it might be baby steps but it’s good to see those steps.”
India faced Pakistan in the MCG’s cauldron.Credit:AP
Before the tournament, Rohit had stated flatly that he wanted India to take a more fearless approach with the bat, abandoning some of the more risk-averse ways of the past.
But in point of fact, he asked Pakistan to take the risks batting first on a pitch tinged with a smidgeon of live grass, and watched as Arshdeep and Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivered immaculate new ball spells, moving the ball both ways with the occasional bouncer.
To lose Babar and Rizwan so soon was undoubtedly a shock to Pakistan given their recent pre-eminence among T20 batters. At length, Iftikhar and Shan Masood attempted a recovery in a stand worth 76 priceless runs.
Axar Patel of India is run out.Credit:Getty Images
No sooner had Iftikhar raised a tremendous half century than he fell lbw to the miserly Mohammed Shami, ushering the loss of 3-7 in 10 balls.
Masood, however, stuck around. And with Afridi he added a priceless 31 in 16 balls to squeeze Pakistan past 150 and into the realms of targets they have made a habit of successfully defending.
Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf all bowled with skill and speed, taking early wickets and cornering Kohli and Pandya. The counter-attack that followed was thrilling, and brought all too visible anxiety to bear for Babar’s team.
Thanks to Kohli, Pakistan was humbled; India rejoiced.
“I have no idea how that happened,” Kohli, his head still spinning, admitted afterwards.
