India Vs Pak Asia Cup. In the opening match of the 2022 Asia Cup in Dubai, Hardik Pandya’s all-around performance (3-25 & 33* off 17) helped India defeat Pakistan by five wickets (August 28). Pandya’s game-changing second spell, which led to a deadly collapse of 7 for 41, was at the vanguard of India’s adoption of the short ball strategy to demolish Pakistan’s top and middle order. In restricting Pakistan’s team to 147, Bhuvneshwar recorded 4-26, the greatest T20I bowling performance for India against Pakistan. When the all-rounder and Ravindra Jadeja (35 off 29) teamed up, India was in serious trouble at 89/4 in the 15th over and managed to turn around the chase.
India Vs Pak Asia Cup – India’s Pacers score on the power play.
After a thrilling first over of India Vs Pak Asia Cup in which Mohammad Rizwan successfully appealed a second ball LBW ruling against him and India lost a wicket on a caught-behind appeal, Bhuvneshwar eventually made a crucial breakthrough with the dangerous Babar Azam. The Pakistani skipper top-edged the short ball while attempting to pull it, making an easy catch for the short fine. The wicket of Fakhar Zaman caught both India and the umpire off guard. After stealing a behind from Avesh Khan, the Pakistan No. 3 made the decision to genuinely go. 43/2 was hardly the best start.
Pakistan is kept afloat by the Rizwan-Iftikhar standoff.
Even though Iftikhar Ahmed (28) never truly able to break free of Rizwan (who struggled to middle the ball for the majority of his run-a-ball 43), the third-wicket pair did well to spearhead the team’s comeback following a lacklustre powerplay. In their 6.1 overs of partnership, the pair added 45 runs, enabling Pakistan to keep a healthy run rate of over seven. Particularly Rizwan overcame a shaky start—he was 9 off 17 at one point—and Iftikhar displayed intent right away until he collided with the returning Pandya.
Pandya causes an unexpected collapse in India Vs Pak Asia Cup
With three strikes in two overs, Pandya completely changed the game by sticking to the short-ball strategy that had given India success during the powerplay. Upon his return, he swiftly ended the growing third-wicket partnership with a well-placed bouncer at Iftikhar, who top-edged the catch to the wicketkeeper. In his subsequent over, Rizwan was out after a tardy, half-hearted attempt to scoop the short ball at 141 runs, and one ball later, Khushdil Shah’s aerial cut was expertly collected by Jadeja at deep cover as Pakistan collapsed from a relatively comfortable 87/2 to 97/5. The Indian all-final rounder’s game-changing stats were 4-0-25-3.
Arshdeep and Bhuvneshwar tie up the tail.
The seasoned Indian seamer added three more strikes to the slog-overs, further adding to Pakistan’s misery. Off the slower ball, Asif Ali was the first to leave after holing out to long-off. Both Shadab Khan and Naseem Shah, making their debuts, were caught in front on consecutive balls and made the decision to stall India’s celebrations by making fruitless DRS appeals. Arshdeep Singh’s two strikes on either side of this mark the first occasion in T20I history that India’s seamers have taken all ten wickets. However, Pakistan didn’t give up without a fight. In his brief appearance, Haris Rauf managed to steal the show by scoring two goals off Arshdeep in an unblemished cameo of 10.
Kohli excels in a calm opening in India Vs Pak Asia Cup
KL Rahul received the golden duck against Naseem, the newcomer for Pakistan in the match, after the latter inside-edged the first delivery onto his stumps. If not for the opportunity that was lost in the slips, he could have also had Virat Kohli one ball later. Despite a ferocious start from the Pakistan pacers, the former India skipper swiftly turned things around with some strong pulls and a fortunate top-edge for six that went over the keeper’s head. The fact that Rohit Sharma struggled to get going at the other end made Kohli’s 34-ball 35 all the more significant. India finished just a little below Pakistan’s powerplay score, at 38/1.
Nawaz places India behind
After the powerplay, Pakistan introduced spin, and Mohammad Nawaz delivered two powerful strikes to push India back. The left-armer stayed to the full-ish length after getting blasted into the deep midwicket stands by Rohit earlier in the over and got the India captain to misfire one to long-off to give his team a crucial breakthrough and break the 49-run stand. He had the well-positioned batter hole out to long-off on the first ball of the following over, tempting Kohli to go big. At the midway point of India’s chase, he was hit for a six by Jadeja, but he had already neutralised the threat by reducing India to 62/3.
The noose’s spinners tighten it.
Through spin, Pakistan persisted in applying pressure while preventing the in-form middle order from accelerating. India’s equation was complicated to 65 off 42 – an asking rate of above 9. Shadab Khan’s sparse spell of 4-0-19-0 played a significant part in this. Therefore, India fell to 89/4 as Suryakumar Yadav attempted to break the chains with a powerful slog against Naseem’s fast pace but instead had his off-stump destroyed.
Jadeja and Pandya assist India in overcoming
Jadeja and Pandya teamed up when the asking rate rose above 10 for the final five overs, joining forces just in time to meet the task. Both batsmen raced effectively between the wickets. The final over of Naseem in India Vs Pak Asia Cup lacked drama but also lacked any heroics. After starting the over with a cover boundary, Jadeja used a review to get the LBW call reversed and then smoked the very next ball and over bowler’s head and into the sightscreen. With 21 needed off of 14, Pandya destroyed Pakistan’s aspirations by hitting three boundaries in the span of four deliveries off Rauf – a brilliant pull over midwicket, a misfield from Babar at the ropes, and his signature short-arm jab.
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