India vs Pakistan: Not going to press panic button, says Virat Kohli after 10-wicket hammering in T20 World Cup

India captain Virat Kohli played down the impact of their `10-wicket defeat to Pakistan, saying there is no need to hit the panic button after just one match in T20 World Cup 2021. Kohli said credit needs to be given to Pakistan for “outplaying” India in their Super 12 contest in Dubai on Sunday.

Pakistan registered their first win over India in a World Cup match after 12 attempts. The victory was sweet as Babar Azam’s men completed a 10-wicket victory, their first-ever in the shortest format of the game. Babar led from the front hitting 52-ball 68 not out while his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan was in imperious form, hitting a 55-ball 79 not out as Pakistan chased down 152 with 13 balls to spare.

T20 World Cup: India vs Pakistan – Highlights

Virat Kohli hit a fighting fifty but it was not enough as India managed to post only 151/7 in their quota of 20 overs. India played with only 5 regular bowlers and it did hurt them as their two spinners in Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja were not able to grip the ball well with dew setting in during the 2nd half of the high-voltage clash.

When Virat Kohli was asked if India will consider playing an extra slow-bowler in their next match against New Zealand, Virat Kohli said there will be discussions around that but stressed India are not a team that will hit the panic button after just one loss in the tournament.

“It really depends on what kind of combination you are comfortable with. We are certainly not a team that presses the panic button. It’s just the start of the tournament and not the end of the tournament. So it’s very important to stay composed and just understand our strengths,” Virat Kohli said.

“There definitely will be a chat around what we want to do in the next game. But it’s certainly not a stage where we think ‘oh, what are we going to do moving forward?’. It is just the first game of the tournament and every team knows that,” he added.

Babar Azam won the toss and sent India into bat and from the start, things went according to plan for Pakistan. Left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi got the big wicket of Rohit Sharma for 0 in he first over with an unplayable yorker and he got KL Rahul in his second over. Hasan Ali got Suryakumar Yadav to leave India reeling at 31/3 in the powerplay.

Virat Kohli steadied the innings with a calm 59, stitching a 50-plus stand with Rishabh Pant but India were not able to accelerate towards the end.

Kohli said credit should be given to Pakistan for the way they played the match against India in the high-voltage environment.

“We didn’t execute properly. Credit where it’s due and Pakistan outplayed us today. They started brilliantly with the ball, and 3 wickets for 20 runs was not a good start. We needed wickets early but with the bat they gave us absolutely no chances,” he added.

Having suffered a massive defeat, India will look to bounce back when they face New Zealand next Sunday in Dubai.