The much-awaited India vs Pakistan clash finally got underway on Sunday evening at Dubai International Stadium, Dubai. The Indian captain Rohit Sharma called it correctly at the toss and chose to bowl first. India made the huge decision of choosing Dinesh Karthik over Rishabh Pant. The Pakistan opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan walked out to the middle to repeat the heroics of the last year’s 20-20 world cup. Bhuvneshwar Kumar started the proceedings for India and looked in great rhythm right from ball one.
Pakistan suffered a big blow as captain Babar Azam was dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar on the score of 15. Fakhar Zaman walked into bat to take the attack on the Indian bowling but faltered after a good start to his innings. The Pakistan batting couldn’t get going and the situation was made worse after the dismissal of Rizwan, who was set at the crease. Pakistan batter suffered a collapse and were reduced to 128/9 after 18.3 overs.
Some late flourish by Shahnawaz Dahani and Haris Rauf propelled Pakistan’s total to 147 as they got all out for 147 after 19.5 overs. Mohammed Rizwan was the top scorer for Pakistan who scored 43 off 42 balls. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the pick of the bowlers for India, claiming 4/26 in his four overs. Hardik Pandya also picked up 3/25 in his four overs.
The Indian chase got off to the worst possible start as they lost star batter KL Rahul on the very second ball of the innings. The bowling combination of Naseem Shah and Shahnawaz Dahani were breathing fire as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were seen struggling against them. After a cautious start, Rohit decided to go big and began attacking the Pakistan bowling. He was eventually dismissed while trying to clear long off against Mohammad Nawaz. Nawaz caught another big fish in the name of Virat Kohli as India looked in trouble at 53/3 after 9.1 overs.
Ravindra Jadeja and Suryakumar Yadav came together at the crease to take India out of misery. Yadav perished against Naseem Shah trying to increase the run-rate, leaving India at 89/4 after 14.2 overs. Hardik Pandya came in to bat determined to take India over the line. Pandya and Jadeja stitched a match-winning partnership of 52 runs in just 29 balls. Jadeja got out on the first ball of the final over but Pandya finished the game in style with a six in the and took India home as he remained unbeaten on 33 off 17 balls.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to India’s thrilling win:
Bhuvneshwar kumar – 1st Indian to pick 4fer against Pakistan in T20I format#Cricket #AsiaCup2022 #AsiaCup #AsiaCupT20 #IndvsPak #PAKvIND
— Muhammad Qasim Iftik (@Qasimifti) August 28, 2022
Caught by Avesh Khan bowled by Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh came running to hug them. Ye hai mera India
— Sumit (@kumar_sumit12) August 28, 2022
Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 4/26 (4)
Arshdeep Singh – 2/33 (3.5)
Hardik Pandya – 3/25 (4)
Avesh Khan – 1/19 (2)For the first time pace bowlers have taken all 10 wickets for India in men's T20I.
— Sahil Vaddoriya (@sonofvaddoriya) August 28, 2022
@BCCI @SGanguly99 @ImRo45
Don't you all feel Indian team is making mockery of itself with experiments .. not playing rishabh pant against Pakistan is the stupidest thing could have done by any team— Rahul Heda (@rauuulheda) August 28, 2022
There's always a pacer that India is unable to handle from this side of the Sub-Continent
Well played Naseem Shah
— z o y a (@itcouldbezoya) August 28, 2022
https://twitter.com/giyer555/status/1563952043546791936?s=20&t=8e-jjpILe4GaiMqdovrbgA
What a match ??
Sir #RAVINDRAJADEJA and #hardikpandya (Hard Hitting)
India ??????????#AsiaCup2022 #INDvsPAK @ICC @BCCI— Akhil Kumar Singh (@akhilnlu) August 28, 2022
Thanks to these consequential matches, India-Pak is a vibe again. What a match. #INDvsPAK #AsiaCup2022
— Alankrith Shankar (@AlanzArena) August 28, 2022
What a lionhearted bowling performance from Naseem n co. Babar could have handled the match better. #INDvsPAK
— Abhisek (@abhi_ab93) August 28, 2022
Chak De India SONG playing???
That's our INDIA #INDvsPAK #ChakDeIndia #ShahRukhKhan?— Aman (@amanaggar) August 28, 2022
@imjadeja being interviewed by @sanjaymanjrekar – must have been awkward for both. Awesome game #INDvsPAK #INDvsPAK2022
— 2waseem.eth (@tweetwaseem) August 28, 2022
