1 hour ago
3
ARTICLE AD BOX
3 min readFeb 16, 2026 03:47 PM IST
After bowling Tilak. Surya also called in Rinku Singh to bowl one over where he conceded nine runs. (AP Photo)
Before the start of the much anticipated India-Pakistan match, the conversation was around how the Indian bowling line-up consisting of Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Hardik Pandya, and others will fare against Pakistan’s batting line-up.
However, the dominance of Indian bowlers was such that Pakistan struggled to face pacers and spinners alike losing wickets at regular intervals.
With the frontline bowlers doing their job and Pakistan reeling at 78 for 6 in the 12th over, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav turned to his part-time bowler Tilak Varma. And to rub salt in the wound of the Pakistani team, Tilak got a wicket on the first ball getting Shadab Khan caught off Shivam Dube making it 78 for 7.
Pakistani experts and journalists saw the move as an insult to the status of Pakistan cricket team. After bowling Tilak. Surya also called in Rinku Singh to bowl one over where he conceded nine runs.
Reacting to Surya’s move of calling part-timers, former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali said,” Surya ne jo sabse jor se tamacha mara hai na, jab usne Rinku aur Tilak Varma ko bowling karayi hai (Surya has slapped hard by bowling Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh).”
“This is the value of Pakistan’s cricket. I’m not talking about Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah or Varun Chakaravarthy,” he added on the Game On Hai where he appears along with former wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal.
Similarly on another show names Dug Out where former Pakistani cricketera Imad Wasim, Sohail Tanvir, Azhar Ali, and Azhar Mahmood appear regularly, the host of the show displayed the similar emotion as Basit Ali regarding Surya’s move of bowling part-timers.
Story continues below this ad
“They have embarassed us today by bowling Rinku Singh. It’s like they wanted everyone to bowl,” host Shazad Khan said.
When Tilak came to bowl on the 13th over, the match was more or less done.
Cricket writer Jarrod Kimber noted in his video on YouTube,” When Tilak Varma got the ball, Pakistan’s chances were less than 1%. And yes, there were some cricketing reasons to bring him on. Spin was doing well. Pakistan had used a load of them themselves, of course. And so having someone who can bowl a little bit of part-time spin at that point makes sense. But it’s also pretty funny when you’re bringing on a bowler who has three wickets in 42 T20Is to bowl in a game like this. It can only ever mean two things: you’ve completely won the game, or you’ve completely lost the game. And in this one for India, it obviously meant the former.”
English (US) ·