India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2022: Hardik Pandya, in champagne form, seals win after India’s near-perfect bowling – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

India’s well-planned bowling attack was almost derailed by a spirited Pakistan bowling but a brilliant effort from Hardik Pandya with the bat was the difference as India managed to pull off a five-wicket win to give them the match, the first for both teams in Asia Cup 2022. After a near-perfect bowling display by India, some fiery bowling from the Pakistani fast bowlers ensured that they pushed India till the end before that crucial fifth-wicket stand between Jadeja and Pandya decided the issue. Well, almost.

India were threatened with some last over brain freeze in both innings. Arshdeep Singh was somehow bowling short of length to the Pakistan tail-enders, resulting in 19 extra runs, while Ravindra Jadeja almost let it go with a hoick off the first ball 20^th over of the Indian inning. But Pandya was as poised as he has been through the year and put the icing on a cake that was threatening to melt.

India were phenomenal in their bowling and fielding approach and that was what put them in a strong position.

Instead of getting drawn into the intense pressure that every such match brings, the Indian bowling unit played to a plan with calm heads, leaving them with a very viable chase.

The Pakistan batters were taken by surprise as the Indian bowlers used the short ball with telling effect. All of the top-order, from Babar Azam downwards, were found struggling when all the Indian seamers, not the fastest, were tellingly accurate with their short stuff.

Not just short of length. They went for the ball that rises towards the helmet and the leading shoulder of the batter, leading to several miscued shots, be it a pull or the hoist on the off-side.

Babar was held at short fine-leg playing a hook off a Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivery that took off from short of length.

The pattern continued even when the second line of bowlers came into the fray. Avesh Khan snared Fakhar Zaman with another rising ball and Hardik Pandya too struck to the gameplan and was rewarded with the wickets of Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan and Khushdil Shah in essentially the same fashion, with minor variations.

There were some glitches, which made the effort that much more difficult, but the plans were by and large met. The seamers did lose the plot a little in the last two overs with the experienced Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep allowing the Pakistan tail-enders, particularly Shahnawaz Dahani, to get under the ball with the straight full-length ball was need of the moment. That difference of 128/9 to 147 all out definitely pressurised India.

The spinners were not in the game for India, in sharp contrast with Pakistan, which was something they will need to address in the next few games. Yuzvendra Chahal was ordinary and Jadeja isn’t really a frontline spinner.

As for India’s batting effort, at the risk of a little hindsight, one wonders if KL Rahul is the best option as opener. He wasn’t too convincing against the modest Zimbabwe attack in One-day Internationals and has not played even one T20 International this year. Yes, he was unlucky with his dismissal, but this may still be an issue to consider through this tournament and beyond.

That the Pakistan bowlers would come at the Indian batters all guns blazing wasn’t surprising. Debutant Naseem Shah was fiery but India were distinctly lucky when Virat Kohli was dropped early on. Two wickets in the first over would have been a disaster.

Kohli looked something like his old self while he was around, but India’s plan to attack from the beginning didn’t really work out. Rohit Sharma was struggling to time the ball and India were always a little behind.

That invariably brought about some extravagant shots against the innocuous left-arm spin of Mohammad Nawaz, as he snared Sharma and Kohli off consecutive deliveries off almost identical shots.

The batting was never too comfortable and somehow, they didn’t manage to find the fence frequently enough to put the pressure back on the Pakistani bowlers.

All that changed once Pandya joined Jadeja in the middle. He was in some other zone and took on the bowlers as only he can. A bowling spell of 3/25, an unbeaten 33 off 17 deliveries and a 52-run fifth-wicket stand with Jadeja. One really couldn’t ask for more.

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