India wins rain curtailed World T20 match against Pakistan at Eden Gardens

At one point of time there were serious doubts as to whether the World T20 match can be held at Eden Gardens because of heavy downpour. But, thanks to the ground staff and latest equipment in the form of soppers, the play was made possible. Only, it became a 18-over game instead of the 20-overs and Indian captain M S Dhoni chose to field first.
Pakistan managed to post 118 runs on a pitch that appeared to be unplayable at times due to the ball taking spin. However, the score of 118 was inadequate as was proved by India scoring the win in the penultimate over, thanks to a huge 6 by Dhoni which he followed up with a single to make the winning run.
Virat Kohli was, without doubt, the man of the match. In two back-to-back innings against Pakistan, he had scored 49 in the Asia Cup last month and, at the Eden Gardens, he scored 55-not out. This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 20 March 2016.

Incidentally, this was a Indo-Pak encounter of a different kind because stalwarts of both countries were present as were big names like Amitabh Bachhan, Anil Ambani, Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, and Imran Khan. They were felicitated by the CAB and Amitabh Bachhan sang the national anthem.


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Indo-Pak World T20 group match will be held at Eden Gardens and not at Dharmasala

It has now been officially declared that the Indo-Pak World T20 group match will be held at Eden Gardens instead of Dharmasala as had been announced earlier. After days of speculation, this India-Pakistan World Twenty20 group match has been shifted out of Dharamsala and allotted to Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.
This has been reported in hindustantimes.com dated 9 March 2016.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has taken this decision and have announced it at a media conference because the Himachal Pradesh venue lost the battle to retain this high-profile, and commercially lucrative, contest that has been scheduled on March 19.
It has been officially indicated that the decision to relocate the match has been made for security reasons. However, it is a known fact that any India Pakistan match draws the crowds, sets the adrenaline racing and is an attractive investment option, especially in a cricket-mad venue like the Eden Gardens of Kolkata.


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Asia T-20 - India beat Pakistan hollow at Dhaka - Virat Kohli Man of the Match

Any cricket match between India and Pakistan, the arch rivals, is usually one full of excitement and one expects nail biting finishes but the Asia T-20 at Dhaka was a totally different kettle of fish. It turned out to be a sad display of cricket and set to bat first, Pakistan managed to score just 83 runs in 17.3 overs - they could not play out the full quota of 20 overs. This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 27 February 2016.

Pakistan had players like Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, and Umar Akmal in the team and failed miserably to put up a decent definable score. For India, they began on a bad note and were tottering at three for eight in 2.4 overs when Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh joined forces to take India home. Virat Kohli missed out on another 50 but he and Yuvrah Singh stitched 68-run partnership after Mohammad Amir's fiery spell. India finally cruised home to a five-wicket win in 15.3 overs over Pakistan in their second Asia Cup T20 match in Dhaka and, with this win, India are top of the table with four points in two matches. Hardik Pandya was the pick of India's bowlers, finishing with 3 for 8 while Ravindra Jadeja captured 2 for 11.


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Asia Cup T-20 between India and Pakistan - all flights to Dhaka sold out

All flights to Dhaka for the Asia T-20 match between arch rivals India and Pakistan are flying full, and an airline was selling a one-way ticket from Calcutta to Dhaka for Rs 19,000, against the normal fare of Rs 4,000-Rs 5,500. Such is the state of affairs for the India-Pakistan clash in the Bangladesh capital on Saturday.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 27 February 2016.

The increase in demand for tickets for the India-Pakistan tie at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur - set to start at 7pm - had led to a sudden spike in the demand for tickets, resulting in the fares hitting the sky. This is because fans are eager to cheer Team Dhoni to victory from the stands instead of watching its telecast on TV. Air India, which flew Dhoni and his boys to Dhaka last Saturday and it has indicated that it had been flying full to Bangladesh over the past four days. Its aircraft has 142 seats.
Similarly, fights of Jet Airways and Bangladesh-based Regent Airways are booked to capacity.
Cricket fans have ensured 100 per cent occupancy over the past three days. The flying time is just 30 minutes and, hence, it makes for an attractive option for cricket fans in Calcutta. They can return back to Calcutta by Sunday after the match ends.


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India opens 2015 Cricket World Cup journey with a win over arch rivals Pakistan

#2015cricketworldcup #IndVsPak #adelaideoval It was a memorable Sunday in Adelaide when India opened its 2015 Cricket World Cup journey with an emphatic win over arch rivals Pakistan. It was the 6th time that the two had met in World Cup matches and Pakistan lost all six times as reported in ibnlive.in.com dated 15 February 2015.
From the word go, the Indians showed that in spite of recent failures with the bat and the ball, they had brushed all past failures and emerged with more determination to do better and prove their worth.
After all, India are the defending champions and played like champions in spite of not having among them stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar, Virendra Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh. This was a match in which the top order fired and helped India put up a score of 300 which turned out to be a tough one for Pakistan who lost by 76 runs.
The plus point of the match was the 107 scored by Virat Kohli who was adjudged Man of the Match – in doing so, he beat the record set by Sachin Tendulkar of the highest number of runs posted by an Indian against Pakistan in the World Cup. India will now take on South Africa next Sunday and let us hope that also turns out to be another memorable match.

The Indo-Pak divide surfaces again in hockey match

#INDvsPAK The Indo-Pak divide has surfaced again – the occasion this time was the win by Pakistan in the Hero Champions Trophy hockey tournament against arch rivals India. The Indians lost a golden opportunity to create history as they went down 3-4 against Pakistan in a high-voltage semifinal of the tournament. The Pakistani players, then, celebrated their victory by hurling indecent and obscene gestures towards the crowd and Indian media and were promptly rebuked by their coach Shahnaz Shiekh.
The fact remains that, in spite of the overtures made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his counterpart Nawaz Sharif during the oath-taking ceremony in New Delhi, hopes had been raised that at long last India and Pakistan will go in for ensuring peace in the region and bring back normalcy in dealings.
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