Published: Sep 04, 2022, 11:49 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 05, 2022, 02:38 AM (IST)
Dubai: Pakistan defeated India by five wickets in a thriller to get the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup to a winning start. Chasing a target of 182, Mohammad Rizwan played an outstanding inning of 71 off 51 balls to set up a solid platform for a brilliant chase.
Mohammad Nawaz also played a blinder inning off 42 to put India on the back foot. However, the tides turned in India’s favour when Pakistan suffered back-to-back blows as Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz were dismissed in consecutive overs. With 31 needed off 16 balls and two fairly new batters at the crease, it was anyone’s game.
Ravi Bishnoi, who had bowled a brilliant spell, created an opportunity as Asif Ali mistimed one in the air, but Arshdeep Singh failed to grab the catch as Asif Ali got the second life. That proved to be the game changing moment as Asif Ali took Pakistan home with a 16 run cameo. Soon after the drop catch, Arshdeep started trending on social media, with fans bashing him for his drop catch.
Arshdeep Singh 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/821w5cjEU9
— 💙 (@Alreadysad__) September 4, 2022
#INDvsPAK
Me and my boys searching for Arshdeep pic.twitter.com/5mgH0DpJfK— Jaadu (@_jaadu_) September 4, 2022
Arshdeep Singh winning Man of the Match, but from Pakistan’s side.#INDvPAK #AsiaCupT20 pic.twitter.com/P1mftciIhx
— Duke 🦁 (@DukeForPM7) September 4, 2022
The only reason for me if we lose the match will be Arshdeep 😭#INDvsPAK #AsiaCupT20 pic.twitter.com/EweSn0HWnZ
— Nasim Ahmad (@nasim_ahmad1) September 4, 2022
Every Indian to Arshdeep Singh when he dropped the catch #INDvsPAK2022 #INDvsPAK pic.twitter.com/oe4oNZFWn6
— Just Another Guy (@JustNotherGuy11) September 4, 2022
People looking at Arshdeep’s smiling face after that drop catch pic.twitter.com/kZE9vB8NU4
— yaarivanu_unknownu (@memesmaadonu) September 4, 2022
Arshdeep drops a catch…
Aavesh Khan in dugout : pic.twitter.com/ITinwvDz3i
— ZEHAR ( स्वाद अनुसार ) (@editomemer) September 4, 2022
Earlier in the game, Virat Kohli scored a blazing half-century to help India post a very good score of 181. The team though will be slightly disappointed as they looked like getting a score of 200+ after the first 10 overs before Pakistan pulled things back in the second half.
Meanwhile, India skipper Rohit Sharma wasn’t too upset about the loss and said that the team played well, adding that Pakistan played better cricket and deserved to win. “It’s a high pressure game we know that. You’ve got to be at it every time. A game like that can take a lot. We were calm even when there was a partnership between Rizwan and Nawaz. But that partnership obviously went a little long and they batted brilliantly. Games like this can bring the best out of them if they deliver. These are the games that can make them. They’ve done it in the past. There’s a class in the other team as well. And we’re not surprised with that.
We understand the pitch gets slightly better in the second innings. It’s a good learning for us. I thought it was a good score. Any pitch, any conditions when you get 180 it’s a good score. We got to learn a lot today – what sort of mindset we need to have when defending a score like that. Like I said you’ve got to give credit to Pakistan. They’ve played better than us. The form is brilliant (talking about Kohli). Needed someone to bat long when the others were getting out. He batted with that tempo as well. Virat getting that score was crucial from the team’s point of view. Wickets of Hardik and Rishabh was not needed at that time. But we want to play with an open mindset. While taking that approach you’ll not always have success,” said Rohit.
