Pakistan beat India to end World-Cup jinx, Twitter loves Kohli-Rizwan bonhomie

When the Pakistan team went head to head with India in a T-20 World Cup match at the Dubai International stadium on October 24, the odds were stacked against it. Never before in the history of the World Cup had Pakistan defeated India. While Pakistani skipper Babar Azam cleared that the team carried no baggage of the past, the Indian team walked in with full confidence.

WHY IT MATTERS FOR PAKISTAN: The reason why the win is historic is not only because Pakistan decimated India for the first time in a T-20 World Cup match, but also because it did so with such perfection. While the top Indian batters struggled their way with the bat, the bowlers seemed to be clueless with their approach.

MOMENTS OF THE MATCH: The India vs Pakistan match was defined by a few iconic moments. When Virat Kohli came down the track and hit Shaheen Shah Afridi, Pakistan's star performer of the match for a massive six on the on side, for example. Then there was Rishabh Pant hitting Hassan Ali for two consecutive sixes in the 11th over. Shaheen Afridi's thunderous strike taking down the wickets of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, which left everyone gobsmacked, was another defining moment of the match.

BLUE-GREEN BONHOMIE: Post the match, Kohli went up to congratulate the two openers, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. The picture went viral within minutes. Kohli was widely appreciated from both sides of the border for this beautiful gesture.

A video of Pakistani players in conversation with MS Dhoni before the match is also making rounds of the internet. In the video, Babar Azam is seen shaking hands with Dhoni. 

THE MEN WHO STEERED THE MATCH: Though Babar Azam and Mohammad Azam played the match-winning innings of 68 (52) & 79 (55) respectively, it was Shaheen Shah Afridi who was named Man of the Match for his brilliant performance of 3/31. On receiving the trophy, a proud Afridi went on to applaud the Pakistani opening pair Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan for their tremendous innings.

HOW DESI TWITTER REACTED: Twitter users from India and Pakistan poured their reactions on the platform. Writer, poet and stand-up comedian Varun grover tweeted the viral photo of Virat Kohli hugging Mohammad Rizwan and wrote, "Wow what a beautiful moment between Kohli and Rizwan!"

Wow what a beautiful moment between Kohli and Rizwan! #IndvsPak pic.twitter.com/LcLctoNaRb

— वरुण ?? (@varungrover) October 24, 2021

Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan too shared the picture on Twitter and called it the spirit of cricket and humanity, "Spirit of cricket. Sprit of human beings. #remember don’t let people fool you."

Spirit of cricket. Sprit of human beings. #remember don’t let ppl fool you. pic.twitter.com/2ZXBR8RpRL

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 24, 2021

Bollywood actor Sonu Sood also shared the picture saying, "Yes, India won."

Yes...INDIA WON ?? pic.twitter.com/giJU9lZP3n

— sonu sood (@SonuSood) October 25, 2021

PAK MINISTER'S RANT: Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, shared a video on Twitter and said, "I salute the Pakistani team the way they have defeated their arch rivals India. I urge all the traffic police in Islamabad and Rawalpindi to lift restrictions and let Pakistani fans celebrate the victory with full enthusiasm. This was a final for us and we have won it. The feelings of Muslims all over the world, including the Muslims of India, were with the Pakistani team. Congratulations to the Islamic world. Pakistan Zindabad. Islam Zindabad." 

پاکستان انڈیا میچ ٹکرا: پاکستانی کرکٹ ٹیم اور عوام کو مبارکباد پیش کرتا ہوں.https://t.co/Tc0IG0n2DJ@GovtofPakistan @ImranKhanPTI #PakvsIndia pic.twitter.com/e9RkffrK2O

— Sheikh Rashid Ahmed (@ShkhRasheed) October 24, 2021

Sheikh Rashid Ahmed came under fire from Twitter users for his comments on the match.