T20 World Cup 2021: Virat Kohli Handled The Defeat With Grace, I Admire His Sportsman's Spirit - Sana Mir

Former Pakistan Women’s skipper Sana Mir was impressed with the way Team India skipper, Virat Kohli, handled the demoralizing defeat against their arch-rivals, Pakistan. Babar Azam’s men were too strong for India on Sunday as they registered a crushing 10-wicket victory in their first Super 12 stage match of the T20 World Cup.

Mir also stated that the Indian team is more than capable of turning things around from their next match. She also expressed her desire to see the two teams play again in the tournament, which is only possible in the grand final. In her column for the ICC, Sana Mir wrote:

“Virat Kohli handled the defeat with so much grace and I admire his sportsman’s spirit, it’s really good to see the top athletes, who are role models, behaving in the way he did. It shows a lot of security within, and it means they have a lot of confidence to bounce back so I won’t be surprised if India bounces back very quickly and in a big fashion and I hope we can see Pakistan and India play each other again in this tournament.”

“It was incredible to see Pakistan beat India by ten wickets; I think every Pakistani has been waiting for this win for quite some time. It is the first time Pakistan has beaten India at an ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and they did it in quite a grand style. It was one of the most immaculate performances that I’ve seen from Pakistan’s men’s team, they were outstanding in all three departments; I don’t recall one mistake, they were quite brilliant.“

“Pakistan has definitely become one of the favourites for the tournament” – Sana Mir

The former skipper further added that the win against a top team like India would have certainly boosted Pakistan’s confidence. It also puts them in pole position to make it to the semifinals, and Mir also felt that Babar and co. will be favourites for the tournament from hereon.

“It felt like everyone knew exactly what their role was, there was a lot of clarity which I’m a big advocate of. With this performance, Pakistan has definitely become one of the favorites for the tournament, but it was heartening to see Babar and Shaheen not get carried away when in front of the media, they were focused on the next games. It is a great sign that they are staying level-headed and shows the team is going in the right direction,” Sana Mir concluded.

Pakistan will face New Zealand on October 26, Tuesday. The tension between the two countries is quite high, but they are expected to be at their behavioural best when they meet in Sharjah.

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