After the much hyped rivalry was renewed, the teams will look to get better in the second meet as the final T20 will be played in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Pakistan lead the two-match series after winning the first T20 in a thrilling finish on Tuesday.
It was an intense day in Bangalore as the two teams met under a lot of pressure and mounting expectations from their fans.
A spectacular comeback by Pakistan midway through the first innings propelled them on to a path that they eventually conquered in the end.
Pakistan will be relieved at the end result, after having been ordinary in the first ten overs. Mohammed Hafeez, the captain, expressed delight at his team’s performance that enabled their first ever T20 win against India. He also remained hopeful of a similar showing on Friday to maintain the momentum.
Once again, Pakistan will rely heavily on their bowling. Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul both looked threatening and that’s as pleasing a sight for a bowling captain as one would imagine.
In addition, Mohammad Irfan looked sharp on debut and his height is again expected to cause problems for the batsmen. Shoaib Malik’s fairytale record against India continued but the other batsmen, besides Hafeez, will need to pull up.
India, strongly in command, suffered a batting collapse that raises quite a few questions. Flooded with batsmen, the slide could not be stopped and MS Dhoni is still searching for an answer.
With the ball, Bhuvneshwar Kumar erupted as an exciting talent, extracting movement both ways. It will be a test for their senior players who will need to lift their game. With the pitch expected to turn, Ravi Ashwin could come into the side and also provide useful options with the ball as opposed to the first match where India only had three bowlers.
The match starts at 5.00pm local time.