India pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, along with spinner Axar Patel, choked Pakistan's scoring to leave them struggling at 71 for 4 after 10 overs in the high-voltage T20 World Cup clash between the arch-rivals here on Sunday.
After posting 175 for 7, India struck back with intensity as Pandya dismissed Sahibzada Farhan for a duck off the fourth ball of the opening over.
Jasprit Bumrah followed up with a double strike in the next over, removing Saim Ayub (6) and skipper Salman Agha (4) to leave Pakistan reeling at 13 for 3 after just two overs.
Axar Patel compounded Pakistan's woes in the fifth over, clean bowling Babar Azam (5) with the fifth delivery to leave them in dire straits.
Keeper-batter Usman Khan (1 not out) and Shadab Khan (0) were at the crease having endured a tough time.
Earlier, opener Ishan Kishan's explosive 40-ball 77 provided India the ideal launchpad to post a competitive total.
India skipper Suryakumar Yadav did not shake hands with his Pakistan counterpart Salman Ali Agha at the toss, continuing the status quo maintained since the Asia Cup in Dubai last year.
Put in to bat, defending champions India lost opener Abhishek Sharma for a fourth-ball duck, caught at mid-on by Shaheen Shah Afridi off off-spinner Salman Ali Agha. Sharma, returning after missing the Namibia match with illness, remains without a run in the tournament.
Kishan, however, dominated the bowling with a blistering 77 off 40 balls, while Tilak Varma steadied the innings. Kishan was bowled in the ninth over by spinner Saim Ayub.
The partnership between Kishan and Varma yielded 87 runs, stabilising the innings after the early setback.
Captain Suryakumar joined Varma at the crease as the pair looked to build on the platform set by Kishan.
