India bowled Pakistan out for 191 in less than 43 overs and then raced to 192-3 in just over 30 overs as they recorded a seven-wicket win over their arch rivals at the Cricket World Cup.
In the first innings, Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah led a dismantling of the Pakistan batting order, taking two wickets for just 19 runs in the space of seven overs.
Fellow bowler Kuldeep Yadav then took 2 wickets at a cost of 35 runs in 10 overs as Pakistan crashed from 155-2 to 191 all-out in 42.5 overs.
Skittled in short order, target reached in barely 30 overs
Following the turnaround, Indian captain Rohit Sharma led the charge with the bat with a 36-ball half-century, ultimately scoring 86 runs off 63 balls, including six fours and six sixes, as India raced to a comfortable victory.
"There is no doubt about it that the bowlers set up the game for us again today," said Sharma. "Whoever gets the ball does the job for us. That's something we pride ourselves in. It was a great effort."
After three straight victories, hosts India lead the group stage table with six points, ahead of New Zealand by virtue of a better net run-rate.
No Pakistan fans or journalists after visa controversy
For India, it was an eighth consecutive World Cup win over rivals Pakistan going back to 1992, a rivalry which has regularly been accompanied by political controversies off the field.
The two teams haven't met in a bilateral test series in 16 years and in one-day international and Twenty20 series in 10 years. As recently as last month at the Asia Cup, India refused to travel to host Pakistan, so Pakistan accommodated by sharing hosting duties with Sri Lanka.
But the two teams can't avoid each other at a World Cup, where Pakistan are still to beat India. Even when Pakistan won their only title in 1992 in Australia, they lost to India in Sydney. The trend continued in 1996, 1999, 2003, 2011, 2015 and 2019.
And now in 2023, in another game which wasn't free of political controversy, with Pakistani fans and even journalists were effectively banned from making the relatively short trip across the border to Ahmedabad after Indian authorities refused to issue visas.
According to Al Jazeera, of about 70 Pakistani journalists accredited by the ICC, only one reporter working for French news agency AFP had made it to Ahmedabad the day before the game, while none had been able to attend Pakistan's first two matches.
Al Jazeera also reported that only one Pakistan fan was present at the game: Mohammad Bashir, nicknamed "Chicago Chacha," an elderly US-Pakistani with an Indian wife.
Pakistan: It felt like an Indian event, not an ICC event
Mickey Arthur, Pakistan's team director, regretted the one-sided atmosphere at the match.
"It didn't seem like an ICC [International Cricket Council] event to be brutally honest; it seemed like a BCCI [Board of Control for Cricket in India] event. "It plays a role, but I am not going to use that as an excuse. We didn't play well tonight, and didn't execute our plans."
Not that the political issues play a role for the players themselves, with Indian captain Sharma saying: "This was an opposition we wanted to play against because we want to play quality opposition."
Pakistan will be hoping to bounce back from their defeat in their next game against Australia in Bengaluru on Friday.
India are in action the day before when they face neighbors Bangladesh in Pune.
