Pakistan-India. Ahmedabad. What just happened? Hostile home crowd, tense pitch and exemplary performance, all paved the way for a high-quality crumbling of our Shaheens as they closed their eyes and got steamrolled by India. Saturday’s performance was in tune with the tried-and-tested record when it comes to World Cup matches between historic rivals and a grave reality check for those praying the eighth time to do the trick. Pakistan Team Director Mickey Arthur hit the bull’s eye when he slammed the partisan crowd, discomforting chants by the stadium announcers and little to no appreciation by the spectators and proclaimed, “it didn’t seem like an ICC event.” Fans from Pakistan could not make it to the arena, thanks to visa delays while a sea of blue shirts flooded the ground. Now, this lack of support might appear like an excuse for a team that gave away its confidence from the very first ball. Far worse than a loss in a Pak-India game is failing to give a good chase. And an intimidated, timid group had raised the flag after a measly 30 overs. It would not be easy to rise above Babar’s disappointing performance, even after a decent half-century, little to no effort from the middle order and piercing nervous energy with the likes of Abdullah Shafique getting trapped by a straight ball, Imamul Haq being sent off with an arrogant goodbye and all-rounders struggling for easy boundaries. More worryingly, the usual line of defence, our bowlers, fizzled out in the face of a spectacular display of intent and confidence, punctuated by the Indian skillset. Their heroic chase continued ever after the dismissals of powerhouses like Kohli and Rohit Sharma. There’s no denying the wave of disappointment, disbelief and resignation for Pakistan over the next few days as it contemplates how it literally lost the plot towards the tail end of its innings despite being in a strong position. Let this be a moment of introspection for future matches. *