DUBAI: A delighted Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said on Monday he and his players were proud to have made history by beating India for the first time in a World Cup match.

Pakistan humiliated their arch-rivals romping to a ten-wicket victory in the Twenty20 World Cup in Dubai on Sunday, sparking starkly-contrasting reactions.

The win was Pakistan’s first in 13 World Cup matches — seven in the 50 over World Cup and six in the Twenty20 World Cup — dating back to 1992 in Australia.

“It is definitely a proud moment for me as well as for all my players that we have made history,” Babar said in an exclusive AFP interview.

Lanky paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi put India on the back foot from the start with the wickets of openers Rohit Sharma and K.L. Rahul off his first seven deliveries. He finished with 3-31 after dismissing India’s top scorer, skipper Virat Kohli for 57.

Babar (68) along with fellow opener Mohammad Rizwan (79) knocked off the target in 17.5 overs without losing a single wicket.

“We realise how important and how much needed that win is as everyone wanted us to win and to have made history is one of the defining moments in our careers, “said Babar. “I had said before the match that records are meant to be broken so we have broken that jinx and we are very happy, in fact the whole country is happy and celebrating.”

Babar said the special match was as usual of high intensity.

“All of us know that when Pakistan plays India there is very high intensity and it’s a pressure game,” he said. “The whole world waits for this match, so it is a special match.”

Babar admitted the noise in the stadium made his task of arranging his fielders tough.

“The stadium was nearly packed,” said Babar of the Dubai venue where a 70 percent crowd was allowed in under relaxed Covid-19 restrictions. “There was so much noise in the stadium that I found it tough to call my players, I told them to keep looking at me so that I can move the fielders in between overs.

“We have gelled well over the years so we are used to that. The response from the players was extraordinary.

“We got a head start in bowling when Shaheen got us wickets and then we batted as per our plan.”

This was Pakistan’s first 10-wicket win in all Twenty20 internationals and the first defeat by this margin for India.

Babar said he had been part of two defeats against India, in the Under-19 World Cup in Australia in 2012 as skipper and then at the 2019 senior World Cup in England.

“I remember that we lost to India in the quarter finals of the Under-19 World Cup in 2012 so it was a much desired thing to beat India,” he said.

Babar said his team prepared well ahead of the tournament, despite New Zealand abandoning a tour due to a security alert last month without playing any of the eight limited over games scheduled.

England followed suit in withdrawing its men’s and women’s teams from touring ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup.

“We prepared well in the [domestic] National Twenty20,” said Babar. “Our plan was to keep things simple and through that we effected that turn around.”

Pakistan next play New Zealand in Sharjah on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2021