New Delhi, February 16 Pointing out Pakistan's tactical errors in their 61-run defeat to India, former pace legend Waqar Younis said that the team was already out of the high-profile T20 World Cup clash once Suryakumar Yadav's team reached 175 after being invited to bat.
Speaking on Star Sports, Younis said that Pakistan had no chance after India set a challenging target in Colombo on Sunday night.
"Pakistan lost the game in the first innings. Once India reached 175, the game was effectively out of Pakistan's reach. The ball was spinning, and Suryakumar Yadav bowled intelligently," Younis said.
"When you look at how much spin Pakistani bowlers got, I don't think they used it as effectively as India did. But the game was over in the first innings because India scored too many runs," he added.
India posted a formidable total thanks to an aggressive 77 off 40 balls by opener Ishan Kishan and valuable contributions from the middle order. In reply, Pakistan were dismissed for 114 in 18 overs.
"He (Suryakumar) gave the new ball to Hardik Pandya at the start. Jasprit Bumrah was outstanding as always, attacking the stumps and swinging the ball. It was very difficult for Pakistan after that. Salman Ali Agha allowed that to happen by not bringing Usman Tariq in early," Younis said.
"Tariq was superb, taking a wicket and conceding only 24 runs. We have been talking about him for weeks. But he was held back for too long. By the time he got the ball, Ishan Kishan had already done the damage. That's where the match was lost," he explained.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar credited Suryakumar for his situational awareness.
"He has led from the front. In the match against USA, when India were in trouble at 77 for 6, Surya bailed the team out, and here against Pakistan, when he came out to bat, India were at 88-2 and then he batted until the 19th over, scoring 32 runs," Gavaskar said.
"Yes, he didn't bat at a high strike rate, but he ensured that the wickets didn't fall, keeping one end under control. So, the rest of the team understands that in T20 cricket, you don't want dot balls," he added.
