Batman has just lost his Joker, Sherlock his Moriarty, India its Pakistan.....

So the worse team lost.

Without being contrarian for the sake of being contrarian, didn’t you, oh sons and daughters of Hindustan who #wontgiveitback, feel a twinge of disappointment even after vanquishing those chaps from next door? Let’s face it. You did hope that the 7 feet 1 inch Mohammad Irfan would break out of his circus cage and spread some early-overs terror at Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan. But Irfan turned out to be a cracker that never exploded.

 Sure, we want our batsmen to hit the ball around, something that wasn’t much on display today because hitting wasn’t really on the menu. Sure, we want them to rescue the team out of a chakravyuh. Which didn’t happen because this Pakistan bowling attack could have barely formed a ring-a ring-a roses circle if they wanted.

 What did happen was Kohli making the most of a half-chance dropped by Yasir Shah off Shahid Afridi when he was on 7. And then again when on 76 when Umar Akmal floored his snick that allowed Kohli to end his day at office with a steady 107. The kind of Pakistani bowling attack that India faced on Sunday — and the Indian batting that started the rather limp narrative — was not what deadly rivalries are made of. This was like watching Shakti Kapoor being a gentleman, Dale steyn bowling like Ishant Sharma.

 Yes, it is nice that going into the next game against South Africa next Sunday, India has received a much-needed booster-shot of confidence. Shikhar Dhawan remembers he is a batsman again. We (and, perhaps, Dhoni) were reminded of the fine stealth weapon that India possesses in the first real India fast bowler that Mohammad Shami is.

 But there is no doubt that Sunday’s game – feted as the biggest, phattest game “in the history of cricket” (Bret Lee’s pre-match description) received a beamer of a reality check. True, watching an India-Pakistan World Cup tie from 9 o’clock in the morning is significantly different from watching a real day-nighter where sundown brings its own weapons of support for the spectator.

 If the high point of an India-Pakistan match was the intense debate around Umar Akmal’s dismissal – initially the umpire had turned down Dhoni’s appeal for a caught-ehind off a Ravindra Jadeja turner, but gave him out after Dhoni went for a referral and the snickometer showed some phantom quiver that was apparently .024 on the Richter scale – India-Pakistan cricket rivalry stakes have gotta have plummeted significantly. Pakistan didn't show up any fight. There were lack of those thrilling and chilling moments. for every great hero, there needs to be a great villain.

 India won with a sigh. The match itself was a tepid bowl of daal. Methinks what we witnessed on Sunday was the end of the Big India-Pakistan Cricket Slag-Off. Batman has just lost his Joker, Sherlock his Moriarty, India its Pakistan. Hai.