“Need Bumrah, Shami, Ashwin back” : Twitter fumes over Indian bowlers as Pakistan register a five-wicket win in a thrilling game in Asia Cup 2022

The second blockbuster of the Asia Cup 2022 between India and Pakistan took place at Dubai on Sunday. Pakistan captain Babar Azam called correctly at the toss and invited Rohit Sharma’s men to bat first at the crease. Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul came out to bat with a clear intention of batting positively right from ball one. Both batters began scoring freely from the first over itself and put pressure on Pakistan bowlers.

The magnificent opening stand was broken at the score of 54 after 5.1 overs as Rohit Sharma returned back to the pavilion. Virat Kohli came to the crease and looked a completely different batter from the last India-Pakistan match. Kohli looked much more confident at the crease and rotated the strike comfortably.

The star batter carried the form from the last match into today’s game and found occasional boundaries. Pakistan came back into the match with back-to-back wickets of Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya. Indian innings was at an important stage at 131/5 and another wicket would’ve hampered India’s chances of posting a big total. Virat Kohli and Deepak Hooda then added crucial 37 runs for the sixth wicket.

Thanks to Virat’s half-century, India reached a total of 181 for 7 wickets at the end of 20 overs. The Pakistan openers, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam came out with an intention to give a blistering start to their team. The Indian team gave a big blow to Pakistan, picking up the crucial wicket of Babar Azam in the fourth over.

Pakistan, further, lost their second wicket on 63 as Fakhar Zaman’s struggle was ended at the crease. The third wicket partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz of 73 runs took the Pakistan team to ascendancy in the match. Bhuvneshwar Kumar brought India back into the game by dismissing Nawaz in the 16^th over. Rizwan’s incredible innings was also ended by Hardik Pandya in the 17^th over.

The final three overs were full of drama as Indian bowlers looked under pressure and bowled many wide deliveries. Arshdeep Singh made the condition even worse by dropping a crucial catch of Asif Ali. Pakistan then made the game one-sided by smashing 19 runs in the penultimate over against Bhuvneshwar Kumar. There was another twist in the tale as Arshdeep Singh removed Asif Ali with Pakistan needing 2 off 2 balls.

All the drama came to end on the second last ball as Iftikhar Ahmed finished the match with a double. Pakistan avenged the loss of the first game and handed a defeat to India by 5 wickets in the Super Four stage. Here’s how Twitter reacted to India’s loss: