‘Can’t believe he doesn’t make the team’: Michael Vaughan on Rishabh Pant's absence from India XI against Pakistan

Former England cricketer Michael Vaughan who often faces the ire of Indian fans over his criticism of Team India every now and then, was surprised by the exclusion of Rishabh Pant from India's playing XI against Pakistan.

The match between India and Pakistan at the T20 World Cup on Sunday, grabbed eyeballs across the world beyond the fandom of Indian and Pakistani fans. The world witnessed the strong rivalry between the two nations as the cricketers competed neck and neck in the match that went down to the wire. The result came only off the last ball of the match as India chased down the target of 160 runs and won the match by four wickets.

Rishabh Pant: Michael Vaughan (getty images)

Former England cricketer Michael Vaughan who often faces the ire of Indian fans over his criticism of Team India every now and then, expressed surprise over the absence of India's prolific batter Rishabh Pant from the playing XI.

Pant, who has played many match winning knocks for the Men In Blue across all formats didn't play the match as India played with six bowling options including all-rounder Axar Patel and 'finisher' Dinesh Karthik.

"IMO @RishabhPant17should be playing … Can’t believe he doesn’t make the team … #INDvPAK #ICCT20WorldCup," tweeted the 47-year old.

Many England and Australia cricketers and fans dub The Ashes to be the best bilateral contest in cricket but Vaughan despite being an Englishman himself, endorsed the view that India-Pakistan rivalry is the biggest in cricket. "India v Pakistan !! I admit it … it doesn’t get any bigger in Cricket," Vaughan tweeted.

Talking further about the high octane clash between the two subcontinent teams on Sunday, Vaughan labelled the match 'unbelievable.' He also appreciated former India captain Virat Kohli for his match winning knock. "As good a game as I can remember seeing in T20 cricket .. Both teams bring so much .. 90 thousand at the G .. UNBELIEVABLE .. #INDvPAK #Virat," he tweeted.

Meanwhile Virat Kohli was awarded player of the match for his unbeaten innings of 82 runs off 53 balls. The former India captain along with all-rounder Hardik Pandya stitched a more than 100-run partnership for the fifth wicket. By the time, Pandya eventually got out at 144-5, India still needed 16 runs in the last six balls left. Kohli then smacked Pakistan bowler Mohammad Nawaz for a six off a no ball, which was the fourth delivery of the over. The six brought down the equation to six needed off three balls. Team India hit the winning runs off the last ball and opened their campaign at the marquee tournament with a memorable win.