There has been a chatter in recent times about the India-Pakistan game failing to send the adrenalin rushing like in the past – and the one in Dubai on Sunday showed why. The writing was on the wall when Pakistan laboured to a sub-par 241 all out after opting to bat first as the Men in Blue kept their date with the semi-finals of ICC Champions Trophy while the official hosts bit the dust.

Well, was the match as one-sided as it sounds? Not quite as they had their moments – like when Shaheen Afridi rattled the sticks of skipper Rohit Sharma with peach of an yorker when the latter had just pressed on the accelerator.

Earlier, the spunky Mohammed Rizwan and Saud Shakeel had put their heads down for a 104-run partnership for the third wicket but then, the ultracautious approach of the batters showed the team was still stuck in their ‘90s mode of ODI cricket.

It was a strategy at odds with Rizwan’s call to bat first. It seemed that Pakistan wanted to keep things simple by putting a par score on the board and then rely on a quality three-man pace troika, but the intent was simply missing when they batted. But for Khusdil Shah upping the tempo in the lower middle order with a dashing 38 (including two sixes), they would have ended with an even lesser score.

The onus was on the Pakistan attack of Afridi-Naseem-Hasan but then they showed they were not a patch on the 90s line-up, with whom head coach Aquib Javed was comparing them on Saturday. The Shubman Gill-Virat Kohli show regaled the audience from the fifth over onwards, with both matching each other stroke by stroke.

For Kohli, who missed out in the first game after getting a start, it was an opportunity to show that he can be still India’s go-to man in such crunch matches and he did not disappoint by keeping his date with ODI century No. 51 (100 not out of 111 balls, seven fours).

The cover drives off Rauf were his staple while his hard running singles showed why Indian cricket still needs in this format for a few more years, and on wickets where strokemaking is not that easy. The quicker the delivery, the harsher was the man as he went past the 14,000-run mark in this format – making the only the third batter to do so after Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara.

Kohli is, of course, the fastest to reach the landmark in 287 matches. It’s often said that the hallmark of champion performers lie in the way they manage to motivate themselves ahead of bigger challenges. On Saturday, the media personnel were in for a surprise to find the former captain landing up for practice session a good two hours ahead of the team. The hunger, despite being there and done that and nothing left to prove, still rages.  

 The more one sees Gill in the last few innings, words of appreciation fails. The confidence he has drawn on his current form – in the wake of two centuries and as many fifties in his last four ODI innings – is shining through. The way he walked into a delivery from Afridi, showing full face of the bat to send it screaming past the bowler for a four reminded one of a certain Sachin Tendulkar while his wagon wheel showed shots all round the wicket. After Gill left, the in-form Shreyas Iyer joined Kohli for a 114-run partnership and helped himself to a smart fifty.

It’s a defeat which will hurt the green shirts all the more. For a country which is hosting their first major ICC tournament after 29 years, the Pakistan fans would have fancied their chances of at least making the semi-final – if not retain the trophy which they won famously at The Oval in 2017. There is still a mathematical possibility for them to remain in the hunt, but it looks a long shot.

They had let go a good chance of bucking the trend against India in the ICC tournaments in the last T20 World Cup in the US and now – a favourable history on the UAE soil has also failed them to bring them luck!