Pakistan wicketkeeper and batsman Mohammad Rizwan on the Perks of Beating India in the T20 World Cup
Pakistan cricket team has beaten team India only once in the history of World Cups, be it 50-over or T20. The victory for the team came in the T20 World Cup 2021, when Pakistan got the better of the Indian team in Dubai. India have won seven times against Pakistan when it comes to T20 World Cups and lost just once, while in the 50-over format, India are unbeaten on eight occasions. Mohammad Rizwan, who was part of the Pakistan team that defeated India in the T20 World Cup 2021, recalled the stunning difference that one win made in the lives of Pakistani cricketers.
In an event in the USA, Rizwan said, "We had never beaten India before that in a World Cup. Ramiz Raja met us and said, You have to beat India. There was a long time to go for the World Cup when he first came in (as PCB president), but he had started developing this thought in the team from right then.”
Rizwan further said, "India vs. Pakistan always comes with pressure. People may not watch all matches in a tournament, but this is a game everyone sits down to watch, regardless of which country they belong to. At the time, we had Matthew Hayden with us. He put his arms around me and the captain and asked how we were feeling. The captain said, We have worked hard, and now we leave it all in the hands of God.”
The wicketkeeper-batter also revealed, “For me, it was all a first, whether it be playing in a World Cup or in such a big match. So I was feeling quite normal; I didn't think this was any different from any other match. But when we won, that is when I realized what we had achieved. In Pakistan, if I go shopping somewhere, people won't take my money. Then I stopped going out for shopping because they weren't taking money from us; they were all commending us for beating India. Everyone I met was commending us for the win. Once, when I went to someone's room, they had the match playing on television and said that they watched it every day.”