The Super 4 encounter between India and Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022 turned out to be a thrilling game as Pakistan beat India in the final over. The Indian bowlers failed to defend 181 as they gave away too many extras in the final three overs. There were many moments in the game that the ‘Men in Blue’ failed to grab and let the game slip from their hands. Former Indian captain, Virat Kohli also shared his thoughts about the turning point of the match in the post-match press conference.
According to Kohli, the turning point of the match was Mohammad Nawaz’s promotion up the order. Kohli credited the southpaw for playing an impactful knock and taking the game away from India.
“I think the innings by Mohammad Nawaz was game-changing. Pakistan team management took a gamble of sending him up the order to extend their batting lineup. If the game gets into a precarious situation later on, there were still enough batters to come for them,” said Kohli in the post-match press conference.
“Babar and Rizwan were expected to play the anchor innings but for Nawaz to go out there and play an impactful knock like that of 42, was the game changer. Had the innings been of just 15-20 runs, it wouldn’t have made a lot of difference. But he went on to score 42 in quick time and put the pressure back on us,” Kohli added.
Nawaz walked in to bat at the score of 63/2 after 8.4 overs. Pakistan desperately needed someone to play counter-attacking knock from that stage and Nawaz didn’t disappoint. His innings was studded with six fours and two sixes as he managed to score 42 off just 20 balls.
The Indian team also managed to make a comeback into the game with back-to-back wickets of Nawaz and Mohammad Rizwan. But a catch drop of Asif Ali by Arshdeep Singh in the 17th over worked in Pakistan’s favour. Ali went on to score 16 off just 8 balls and took his team home.
