India beat traditional rivals Pakistan in their opening 2022 Asia Cup clash at Dubai International Stadium in UAE on Sunday. Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bowl first on the batting-friendly surface. Indian bowlers proved their captain’s decision right and bowled out Pakistan on 147 runs. Then returning star batter Virat Kohli and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja smashed 35 runs each to guide India to a big five-wicket win with just two balls remaining.
The star bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave India a dream start by dismissing Pakistani skipper Babar Azam in the third over with just 15 runs on the scoreboard. With very little help to swing the ball, Indian pacers used extra bounce to trouble Pakistani batters from the start. Avesh Khan removed Fakhar Zaman in the last powerplay over to stumble Pakistan on 43/2 in six overs. But Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed put a 45-run partnership to stabilize Pakistan’s collapse.
Iftikhar smashed 28 runs off 22 balls, and Rizwan scored the highest 43 runs off 42 balls. But Bhuvneshwar Kumar took three more wickets in his second spell in death overs to bowl out opponents on just 147 runs. Hardik Pandya took three, and Arshdeep Singh grabbed two, but Indian spin duo Jadeja and Yuzvendra Chahal failed to take any wickets for India.
Naseem Shah, playing his first T20I, dismissed star India opener KL Rahul on the second ball of the inning to give Pakistan a flying start. But the experienced duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli managed a 49-run partnership for the second wicket to put India ahead. Bowling all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz dismissed both batters to get Pakistan back in the game. Naseem Shah bowled out Suryakumar Yadav on 18 runs to put Pakistan ahead for the first time in the match.
But Jadeja and Pandya avoided the further collapse with sensible but attacking knocks. Mohammad Nawaz returned to bowl the last over of the match, where India needed just seven runs. But he bowled out Jadeja on the first delivery to raise Pakistan’s hope in the last over. But Hardik smashed six on the fourth ball to guide India to a winning start to the 2022 Asia Cup campaign. Pandya remained unbeaten on 33 runs off 17 balls and won the Player of the Match award.
Losing Captain, Babar Azam:
The way we started we were 10-15 runs short. We came back thanks to our outstanding fast bowling. Dahani stepped up with the bat which really gave us something to defend, but it’s a shame we couldn’t finish it off. We wanted to have 15 or so to defend for Nawaz, but that wasn’t to be and Pandya finished it off wonderfully.
Winning Captain, Rohit Sharma
Halfway through the innings, we still believed. That’s the kind of belief we want to have in this group, where you’re not in the game and you still manage to pull it off. We want to make sure they’ve all been given enough clarity around what to do in the middle. I’ll take wins like this over one-sided wins. The fast bowlers have done very well in the last 12 months or so. We were challenged at times but overcoming those challenges will take us forward. Since Hardik’s comeback into this team, he’s been brilliant. Had a great IPL too. His batting qualities we all know, he has been brilliant with the bat since he came into the team.
Player of the Match, Hardik Pandya
It’s important to assess the situation and use your weapons. The hard lengths particularly. But you have to use them wisely. When it comes to batting, the chances I take when executing, I’m likelier to pullit off when I’m calmer. I knew they had Nawaz waiting to bowl, and while we needed 7, even if we needed 15 I would have fancied by chances. I feel the bowler is under a lot more pressure than me. I just needed one six in that final over and try to keep things simple.
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