T20 World Cup: India-Pakistan match draws eyes, but underdog players win hearts

The mandatory group-level clash between India and Pakistan in global championships hosted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) serves as a “guarantee” to media companies that invest in the visual and digital rights for these tournaments. The match serves as a magic potion for sponsors as well, given the game's high worldwide viewership.

The only flip side to this is that this match occupies so much space in all forms of media- print, visual and digital- and even inside the heads of followers of the game that other matches tend to get ignored. The games in the league phase, which are often the only avenue available to cricketers from countries outside the Test-playing nations to display their skills, tend to take second place among a large portion of cricket fans.

For the record, India outplayed Pakistan, winning by 61 runs, with Pakistan failing to last even their allotted 20 overs. India built on a flying start from opener Ishan Kishan, who struck a whirlwind knock of 77 runs off 40 balls, which justifiably won him the Player of the Match award. This was a pitch where stroke play was not easy, as the ball did not come onto the bat, which made Ishan’s contribution all the more valuable. With this victory, India has defeated Pakistan in eight of the nine meetings between the two teams at this stage.

Spirited Performances
As the first week of the T20 World Cup drew to a close, the highlight was undoubtedly the spirited performances of the less-fancied sides. Thus, we saw Zimbabwe defeating Australia to record the first upset of the championship. South Africa came close to meeting a similar fate as the Aussies. Still, it was fortunate to edge out Afghanistan in a match that ended in a tie and went to the second super over before the winner could be decided. Nepal gave a huge scare to England and held the upper hand till the last over, before going down by a margin of 5 runs. Pakistan was severely tested by the Netherlands in their first match but managed to wriggle out of a difficult situation.

India too was not spared this ordeal as they floundered initially in the opening game against the USA, before lifting their game to vanquish their opponent by a decent margin.

None expected Nepal, the USA, or the Netherlands to possess the required wherewithal and firepower to even come close to putting up a good fight against the more fancied test-playing nations. The players in their ranks are virtually unknown even to diehard followers of the game, and not many of them play in the professional T20 leagues. These nations do not have any cricketing pedigree to speak of, nor do they have good infrastructure or an organised domestic structure for the game's growth. Hence, the fact that they came close to springing surprises on established teams speaks volumes not only about the spirit and zest displayed by the players but also about the nature of this version of the game.

The USA lost their matches against India and Pakistan but showed superiority over the Netherlands with an emphatic 93-run win. The side would have realised that their chances of reaching the Super-8 stage were bleak when they were placed alongside India and Pakistan in Group A. However, they equipped themselves splendidly and the performances of two of their bowlers, Shadley van Schalkwyk and Harmeet Singh, were particularly impressive.

Van Schalkwyk is presently the highest wicket-taker in the championship, with 11 scalps to his credit. Moreover, his two 4-wicket hauls against India and Pakistan show that he has the potential to trouble the best batsmen in the world, as well as a unique ability to read the pitch and conditions and adjust his line and length accordingly.

His experience of playing first-class cricket in South Africa, the country of his birth, where he earned a reputation as a promising schoolboy cricketer, stood him in good stead when he started playing in the USA, after emigrating there in 2019. Van Schalkwyk was part of the USA squad for the 2024 World Cup as well.

Harmeet Singh strikes
Harmeet Singh, on the other hand, had the more difficult task of displaying his wares before two sides traditionally reputed to be the best players of spin bowling in the world. But he bowled splendidly, picking up the wickets of Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel in the match against India and dismissing top scorer Sahibzada Farhan in the game against Pakistan. He was unstoppable in the fixture against the Netherlands, returning with the figures of 4 for 21 off his allotted four overs, which also won him the Player of the Match award. Incidentally, Harmeet is a product of the Indian cricket system, having come up through the Maidans of Mumbai. He was part of the national under-19 side for two World Cup championships and looked set for a rise to the higher level when a mishap threatened to destroy his career. He emerged from it unscathed but decided to emigrate to the USA, where he has earned a reputation as a top-notch left-arm spin bowler.

Paul van Meekeren of the Netherlands rued after the loss to Pakistan that his side had allowed the game to slip out of their hands due to costly lapses on the field. Van Meekeren had bowled splendidly and picked up the wickets of Sahibzada Farhan and Usman Khan in the 12th over to derail the Pakistani run chase. Unfortunately, he picked up an injury during this game, which forced him to warm the benches in the matches against Namibia and the USA. He hails from the Netherlands and sharpened his cricketing skills by playing in England, where he made his first-class debut with Somerset. Van Meekeren is also a regular in many T20 leagues held in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

Nepal was kept in the race during the game against England by the heroics from the bat of Lokesh Ram, who struck an unbeaten 39 off 20 balls, which included two sixers and four boundaries. Had he succeeded in his efforts to hit one more sixer in the last over bowled by Sam Curran, he would have managed to help his side achieve the impossible task of vanquishing England, one of the top sides in the world. Lokesh hails from Nepal itself and, unlike the others detailed above, does not have any cricketing pedigree worth speaking of nor any formal coaching or exposure to any of the T20 leagues.

These players captured the attention of the sport's followers by making the most of the opportunities they received to showcase their skill sets on the biggest stage the game has to offer. The expansion of the World Cup format to include teams from every part of the world has made this championship truly global for the first time ever. It feels good to see teams like Italy, making their debut, Nepal, Namibia, and Scotland play in front of huge crowds and enjoy the applause and adulation they receive.

With the benefit of hindsight, one can say that ever since the world championship in limited-overs matches became a part of the international cricket circuit, these tournaments have thrown up the future stars of the game. In the 1979 World Cup, Sri Lanka, which were not a Test-playing nation at then, shocked India in a league match. This hastened the island nation's entry into the category of Test-playing nations, which they achieved in the next three years. Sri Lanka proved that they were every bit worthy of this status by winning the ICC World Cup in 1996.

In 1983, Zimbabwe sent shock waves by defeating Australia in the group match and had India pinned to the wall, which set the stage for Kapil Dev playing one of the greatest innings’ by an Indian in a One Day match. In 1996, Kenya served a stunner by vanquishing the West Indies, a formidable side at the time. And in 1999, Bangladesh served notice of their skills by defeating Pakistan, the eventual runner-up, in a group match. Ireland had announced their arrival by defeating Pakistan in the 2003 ICC World Cup.

It will be fallacious to suggest that the Netherlands, the USA and Nepal are ready to move into the higher rungs of the game. But the players who performed well in this championship deserve to be rewarded, and there is no better way to do this than providing them with opportunities to take part in the biggest T20 leagues, such as the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Big Bash League (BBL) of Australia. This will help them rub shoulders with the best cricketers in the world and further sharpen their skills. This will also have a huge impact on the upcoming young players in these countries, who will aspire to emulate these heroes and play in these leagues.

Well played, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Harmeet Singh, Paul van Meekeren and Lokesh Ram. You covered yourselves with glory by your lion-hearted performances in this World Cup.