"India-Pakistan hype needs to stop": Sanjay Manjrekar urges fans to move on

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 16 (ANI): Former India cricketer and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar stressed the need not to hype the India-Pakistan matches after India comfortably defeated Pakistan in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 in Colombo on Sunday.

Manjrekar shared a video on the social media platform Instagram with the caption, "India-Pakistan hype needs to stop. India has moved on. Maybe the fans should, too."

The commentator, who has played more than 100 international matches for India, said that Pakistan and India, cricket wise is a mismatch, and fans should move on from creating hype around such matches.

In the video, Manjrekar said, "The hype of India-Pakistan match and the promotion of the match and how it was such a huge draw and how it generates revenue for world cricket is hard for me to digest."

India defeated Pakistan by 61 runs in the highly-anticipated clash. The T20 World Cup group-stage match turned into a one-sided affair. The win marked the third consecutive win for Suryakumar Yadav & Co. as they find themselves leading the Group A standings in the World Cup. With the win, India also qualified for the Super 8 stage of the event.

The match was played against a dramatic backdrop: Pakistan had initially announced a boycott of the fixture against India, but later reversed their decision and participated.

On Sunday, Pakistan elected to field first after winning the toss. After Abhishek was out for a duck, Ishan's 77 and Tilak Varma's 25 kept India stable, but the Men in Blue sank to 126/4, losing their set batters and all-rounder Hardik Pandya (0).

However, skipper Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, and Rinku Singh finished the innings well, pacing their knocks perfectly in tough conditions. India scored 175/7, with Saim Ayub (3/25) being the top bowler for Pakistan.

In the run-chase, Pakistan were reduced to 34/4 courtesy early strikes from Hardik, Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel. Usman Khan (44 off 34 balls, with six fours and a six) was the only one who showed up for the fight, as Team India packed Pakistan for just 114 runs in 18 overs, progressing to the Super 8 stage with their third successive win.

Pandya (2/16 in three overs) was the pick of the bowlers for India, with Bumrah (2/17 in two overs), Axar Patel (2/29 in four overs) and Varun Chakaravarthy (2/17 in three overs) also being amongst the wicket-takers.

India remains on top with three wins in three matches in Group A, while Pakistan has dropped to third with two wins and a loss, and the USA currently occupies second place with two wins and two losses.

With the emphatic win over their arch-rivals in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup clash, India now leads the T20 World Cup head-to-head scoreline against Pakistan by 8-1. (ANI)

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