A brilliant display of strategic thinking

In a masterstroke, reminiscent of the queen sacrifice conducted by the then-13-year-old Bobby Fischer against international master Donald Bryne in October 1956, India denied Pakistan a victory against them in tomorrow's T20 World Cup final. The brilliant move comprised losing to England on Thursday in the semifinal by 10 wickets. The margin of England's victory against a fancied Indian side must have doubly stung Pakistan, who had already beaten New Zealand the earlier day and were fervently hoping India would trounce England to make Sunday a subcontinental affair.

Even before the first delivery was bowled at the Adelaide Oval, the strategy was evident - benching India's most successful limited-overs spin bowler Yuzvendra Chahal (21 wickets from 19 games) was Chanakya-level thinking. On the pitch itself, the England innings showed what India was thinking of when the batting bromance of Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav showed its pluck in the fielding department. Almost running into Kohli, Yadav dropped Jos Buttler's skier when the batsman was at 66, with Kohli 'unable' to stop the ball going over the boundary in the 13th over. Playing the long game is tricky. While many will see a humiliating defeat against England, the true picture was ensuring it's impossible for Pakistan to even consider victory in the final against India. Brilliant.