India and Pakistan are clashing in their first match of the Super Four stage in the ongoing Asia Cup tournament at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, the 4th of September. The Indian team made a superb start to their innings after being put in to bat first by Pakistan. But Pakistan clawed their way back in the game after a flurry of wickets, including a gift from Rishabh Pant, who was dismissed playing a needless shot in a rush of blood.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, who were bearing heavy criticism for their indifferent form in the tournament so far, gave India their best-ever start in the powerplay overs against their arch-rivals in T20Is. But the Pakistani bowlers halted the momentum by chipping away with the wickets in the middle overs.
And after a few quick wickets, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant steadied the ship for India with a handy partnership for the fourth wicket, before the southpaw tried an audacious reverse sweep against Shadab Khan, which lead to his wicket. Pant’s dismissal came at a crucial stage of the innings as the Indians were building on a good finish to end the innings on a high, invoking collective angst from the Indian fans.
Notably, India suffered another setback in the lead up to the clash of the titans against Pakistan as Avesh Khan was sidelined due to illness. Rohit Sharma raised a few eyebrows by naming young leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi as the replacement of the tearaway quick in the squad, leaving India with two frontline fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh in the playing XI.
Another change that surprised many was the inclusion of Deepak Hooda at the expense of veteran batter Dinesh Karthik. The thinking behind Hooda’s inclusion could have been his ability to provide a few handy overs in the middle as India are without the services of their effervescent all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for the unforeseeable future.
Rishabh Pant playing the rash shot caught everyone’s eyes on Twitter. Let us take a look at the reactions here-
#INDvsPAK2022 am I the only one who is not able to hear @RishabhPant17 shouting behind wickets??
— Rohit Reddy (@rohitreddy413) September 4, 2022
#INDvsPAK2022
Vary poor and careless batting by Rishabh Pant. Hopefully he will not try such type of reverse shot in the future match.— ?????? ??????? (@PradeepSharmaPS) September 4, 2022
rishabh pant is the weakest link I really wonder why he’s in the team #INDvsPAK2022
— Buttercup? (@mahimabagdi) September 4, 2022
Rishabh Pant to Rohit:- Meri Zindagi se kab jayegi Urvashi naam ki grahan.#INDvsPAK2022 #INDvsPAK #IndiaVsPakistan pic.twitter.com/uTBpZ0j8tD
— Awarapan ?? (@KingSlayer_Rule) September 4, 2022
League Changed, Series changed, tournament changed, appointed as captain, dropped from the team….so many things happened with him but loyalty towards Academy same to same, Rishabh Pant you beuty ?? #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/RKmBdxaFU1
— TukTuk Academy (@TukTuk_Academy) September 4, 2022
Captain Rohit Sharma wasn't happy with Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya's dismissals.
?: Disney+Hotstar pic.twitter.com/k4QRm3RMpH
— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) September 4, 2022
