IND vs PAK: We Were About 10-15 Runs Short - Babar Azam After 5-Wicket Defeat To India In Asia Cup 2022 Match

Babar Azam-led Pakistan side lost a close encounter to arch-rivals India in the second match of the Asia Cup 2022 on August 28, 2022, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in UAE. It was a brilliant game of cricket that saw India winning the match by 5 wickets in the last over chasing 148 runs to win.

Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to field first. India preferred Dinesh Karthik as the keeper over Rishabh Pant, while for Pakistan Naseem Shah made his T20I debut. Virat Kohli created a record by becoming the first Indian to play 100 or more matches in all three formats of the game and the second Indian to play 100 T20Is.

Mohammad Rizwan top-scored with 43 runs, while Iftikhar Ahmed made 28 and Shahnawaz Dahani entertained with 2 sixes in his 16-run knock as Pakistan struggled their way to 147 runs in 20 overs. For India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked 4/26, the best figures by an Indian bowler against Pakistan and Hardik Pandya took 3/25 in 4 overs. Arshdeep Singh took two wickets and Avesh Khan took one.

Idea Was To Create Pressure But Hardik Pandya Finished Well: Babar Azam

In reply, debutant Naseem Shah removed KL Rahul for a first-ball duck on the second ball of his first over in T20Is. Rohit Sharma (12) and Virat Kohli stabilized the innings a bit before Mohammad Nawaz got rid of both of them, with Kohli making 35 runs.

Then, Ravindra Jadeja (35) and Hardik Pandya (33* in 17 balls) added 52 runs for the 5^th wicket to bring India back into the game and past the finishing line. Pandya hit Haris Rauf for 14 runs in the 19^th over and then hit Nawaz for a six to win the match for India.

After the match, Babar Azam said: “The way we started (with the ball), was great. We were about 10-15 runs short. Bowlers did really well to make a match of this. Our tail did step up a bit to add those handy runs. Thought was to take the game deep (and hold back Nawaz’s last over). Idea was to create pressure but Hardik finished well. He (Naseem) is a very young bowler but bowled so well, and showed so much aggression.”

Also Read: IND vs PAK: ‘I Have No Doubt That Virat Kohli Will Rise Again’: Harbhajan Singh