Pakistan suffered a stunning collapse against India on Saturday as they got bowled out for 187 in 40.1 overs in their third match of the ICC World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The Men in Green were going solid at 155 for 2 with Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan at the crease but the departure of the captain triggered a dramatic batting collapse.
India used six bowlers in total out of which Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya got two wickets each to wrap up the Pakistani innings.
Captain Babar Azam top-scored for Pakistan with 50 runs while Muhammad Rizwan made 49 and Imam-ul-Haq contributed with 36 runs but the rest all failed to fire.
Skipper Rohit Sharma's decision to bowl first after winning the toss might have raised a few eye-brows but the Indian team always had things under control despite a 72-run third wicket stand between Babar and Rizwan (49 off 69 balls).
191 is Pakistan's second lowest score against India in ODI World Cup after 180 all-out back in 1999.
Kuldeep's take on the first innings
"The wicket was a bit slow. We were focusing on the length. They were not attacking too much so I was just focusing on my pace and my variations. I was bowling very well. Not too much width because of the field restrictions. They weren't trying too much.
"Rizwan didn't sweep me a lot so I wanted to make him play the bad shot. I've been watching Saud Shakeel the last couple of games and he'd been trying to sweep a lot. He thought that ball was slow but it skidded on," Kuldeep said at the mid-innings break.
The left-arm leg-spinner also spoke about the crowd support for the Men in Blue at the biggest cricket stadium in the world.
"Unbelievable to play in front of this crowd. This atmosphere is crazy, playing against Pakistan and seeing close to 90,000 people here," Kuldeep added.
