Captain Babar Azam  steered Pakistan to an easy victory against arch rivals India in their T20 campaign-opener in Dubai. Chasing a target of 152 runs, the Pakistan openers were extremely comfortable against Indian pace bowlers. Babar Azam with another opener Mohammad Rizwan made it look so simple to chase the target of 152 runs. The together did it without losing a wicket. The Indian bowlers could not make a dent on Pakistan openers. Pakistan had scored the required 152 in 17.5 overs.
India had a disastrous start losing both the openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma very cheaply. Both were dismissed by Shaheen Shah Afridi. He sent Indian captain Virat Kohli after he made his 29th half century in T20s. Kohli was out at 57. Hasan Ali took care of Suryakumar Yadav. Rishab Pant scored 39 runs in 30 balls. Hardik Patel was a disappointment. India managed to get past 150 mark. It ended its innings at 151 runs.
Kohli had left out Ravinchandran Ashwin, Rahul Chahar, Shardul Thakur and Ishan Kishan from the eleven players. Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bowl. He seemed to have read the pitch perfectly.