The 1983 World Cup winner, Madan Lal has lavished praise on the Indian bowlers especially Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya for scripting a six-run victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in New York and said the batters need to pull up their socks in upcoming matches. Madan Lal termed it a “good win” for India as Pakistan was only chasing 120 for victory and gave credit to the bowling unit for making the victory possible.
Asked to bat first on a challenging drop-in pitch, India were bundled out for 119, reaching the score mainly due to a fighting 31-ball 42 by Rishabh Pant. However, India fought back brilliantly to restrict Pakistan to 113/7 in 20 overs with Bumrah claiming 3-14 and Pandya taking 2-24. Pakistan were 80/4 at one stage and only needed 40 runs to win the match with six wickets in hand but the Indian bowling unit tied them into knots as they fell short by six runs.
“All credit goes to the bowlers. I will have to praise them for the way they bowled as a unit, especially Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya. Pandya’s four overs proved very crucial. The spinners too bowl well. To win a match while defending a target of 120 is a big achievement,” Madan Lal told IANS on Monday.
Madan Lal, who was part of Kapil’s Devils that defended 183 against the mighty West Indies in the final to win the World Cup in 1983, said the victory against Pakistan will prove a huge morale booster for the Indian team in the T20 World Cup. India had defeated Ireland in their opening match of the T20 World Cup.
But Madan Lal said the Indian batting will have to do better in subsequent matches as it is not always possible to win with a score of 120.
“I feel the Indian batting unit will have to improve in the subsequent matches as it is not possible to win every time by scoring 120 runs,” he said.
India will play the USA in their next match on Wednesday (June 12). Just like India, the USA, too, have won both their matches so far in the T20 World Cup.