India vs Pakistan: Arshdeep Singh puts Men in Blue in driver’s seat with superb powerplay spell

Arshdeep Singh repaid the faith shown in him by the team with a superb powerplay spell during India’s opening game of the T20 World Cup against Pakistan in Melbourne.

Arshdeep removed both openers during his spell of 2/10 from two overs after India opted to field in overcast conditions at a sold-out Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.

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Both skipper Babar Azam (0) and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammed Rizwan (4), who are the leading batters in the team, departed for single-digit scores as the Men in Green got off to a forgettable start.

The left-arm seamer struck off his very first delivery of the evening, trapping Babar LBW for a golden duck, which the Pakistan skipper reviewed in vain.

Read: Amid speed rush, Arshdeep reaps rewards for consistency and accuracy

Rizwan, meanwhile, managed to open his account with a boundary in the same over, tickling the ball away towards fine leg, but was caught in the same region by Bhuvneshwar in Arshdeep’s second over after top-edging a short ball.

Pakistan reached 32/2 at the end of the powerplay with Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed at the crease.

Arshdeep earlier had been preferred by the Men in Blue over Harshal Patel, who looked impressive in India’s warm-up match against Australia. While India also picked Dinesh Karthik over Rishabh Pant along largely expected lines, it was Ravichandran Ashwin’s selection over Yuzvendra Chahal that raised a few eyebrows.

Pakistan had hammered India by 10 wickets in Dubai last year the last time the two South Asian arch-rivals squared off in a T20 World Cup match, with the Men in Green ending their World Cup jinx against India in the process.

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