IND vs PAK Review: Hardik Pandya seals the thriller for India
Team India star all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya held their nerves and clinched a crucial victory for their side in their opening encounter of the 2022 T20 Asia Cup against arch-rivals Pakistan played on August 28 (Sunday).
Talking about the match, team India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to have a bowl first. Team Pakistan got off to a horrible start as their premier batter and skipper Babar Azam got out after scoring just ten runs. Senior batters Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman tried to bring some stability to their innings, but Zaman was scalped by express pacer Avesh Khan.
Rizwan was then joined by batter Iftikhar Ahmed and both of them took their team’s total near the 100-run mark. However, ace all-rounder Hardik Pandya got the better of both the batters as team India took control of the game. Despite getting starts in their innings, none of the Pakistani batters managed to score big runs in their innings.
For India, senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped four crucial wickets. Apart from him, Hardik (three wickets), Arshdeep Singh (two wickets), and Avesh (one wicket) were the successful bowlers as the Men in Green got bundled out for just 147/10 in 19.5 overs.
Chasing a total of 148 runs, team India had a horrible start with the bat as opener KL Rahul was sent packing for a golden duck. Senior batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma stabilized the Indian innings, but both of them were scalped by the finger spinner, Mohammad Nawaz.
At one stage, team India looked in some sort of trouble after losing four wickets for just 89 runs in 14.2 overs. However, India’s prominent batters Ravindra Jadeja and Pandya held their nerves and took the game to the end with Pandya finishing the game with a series of boundaries as the Men in Blue started off their Asia Cup campaign on an emphatic note.
Top performers of the match:
Bhuvneshwar Kumar:
Team India veteran pacer delivered when it mattered the most. The right-arm pacer scalped a total of four wickets including the likes of Babar Azam, and Asif Ali. He spent only 26 runs in his four-over quota and completely bamboozled the Pakistani batting line-up after taking four wickets.
Naseem Shah:
Making his T20I debut in a big clash against India, Naseem Shah held his nerves and took some crucial wickets for his side. The right-arm pacer completed his four-over quota and scalped a total of two wickets and gave away just 27 runs. He could have got the big wicket of Virat Kohli as well, but could not find support from his fielders.
What’s next for both sides?
Both India and Pakistan are slated to Hong Kong in their next group stage encounters. While India will play Hong Kong on August 31 (Wednesday), the Men in Green will face the same side on September 2.
