WATCH: Rohit Sharma consoles teary eyed Naseem Shah after Pakistan’s 6-run loss to India

Rohit Sharma saw his Indian team beat Pakistan by 6 runs in their 2nd match of the T20 World Cup 2024 on Sunday. Pakistan could score only 113 runs while chasing 120 to win in yet another low-scoring encounter in New York. This win has now pushed India to the top of the group, while Pakistan are now 4th in the table. 

Naseem Shah hit Arshdeep Singh for two fours in two balls but by the time the last ball was to be bowled the match was all but over. The young pacer had bowled his heart out earlier in the day to help bowl out India for 119 runs. 

Even Naseem Shah, our young bowler, played better than our highly paid batsmen. The time has come, if you’re not performing well, please resign gracefully and let others join. It’s time to take strict decisions, or they’ll never understand. #PakvsIndpic.twitter.com/kkV9LZntFX

— Saad Kaiser 🇵🇰 (@TheSaadKaiser) June 9, 2024

At the end of the game, as the players were making their way off the field, Naseem Shah broke into tears. Shaheen Afridi could be seen putting his arms around his teammate's shoulders while heading back to the dugout. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma too was seen patting Naseem Shah in a true gesture of sportsman spirit. 

Pakistan’s hopes hanging by the thread 

Babar Azam and his side are on the brink of elimination from the T20 World Cup tournament. Pakistan had started the tournament with a loss to the United States of America to send shockwaves. They had to beat India to make sure they stayed in the hunt for a place in the Super 8 stages. 

Pakistan now have two games left to play and they need to win both matches by a huge margin. Babar Azam’s side will play Canada and Ireland and both sides are potential banana peels for the former T20 World Cup winners. 

Jasprit Bumrah was given the man of the match for his 3/14 from 4 overs. The 30-year-old first dismissed Babar Azam to break the dangerous opening stand. In his second spell, he got the key wicket of Mohammad Rizwan to open the game wide for his team. His final wicket came in the 19th over when he had Iftikhar Ahmed caught by Arshdeep Singh for 3. 

During the post-match conversation, Babar Azam showed his disappointment and said, “We bowled well. In the batting, lost back-to-back wickets and had too many dot balls. Tactics were simple to play normally. Just strike rotation and the odd boundary. But in that period we had too many dot balls. Can't expect much from tailenders. Our mind was to utilise the first six overs in batting. But one wicket down, and again we weren't up to the mark in the first six."