India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2022: Derailed batting plan and unimpressive bowling combine to put India at losing end – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

A top-heavy batting order that failed to deliver, and a bowling that was as far from ‘sexy’ as can be were the end of India in their second Asia Cup 2022 contest with Pakistan, as the latter kept their poise and wrestled a win which they should have got much more easily than it finally turned out.

India’s batting plan of trying to hit everything out of sight didn’t quite materialise as they had planned and barring Virat Kohli, the rest did not really stack up as big individual scores. In the bowling department, India’s spinners weren’t half as effective as their Pakistani counterparts and that eventually made all the difference.

Opener Mohammad Rizwan’s 71 was the cornerstone for Pakistan’s run chase while the inspired promotion of Mohammad Nawaz to one-drop was the boost that they needed to scramble home with one ball to spare.

The Indian batting began the way they wanted to – hit the fast bowlers out of the attack. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul began the job in right earnest, but as has been India’s wont in many a match off late, neither stated long enough.

There was a lot of applause for India’s assault in the Powerplay and that is all merited. But in a 20-over match, the need for one batter staying long cannot be underestimated and given the truncated format of the game, one of the two openers needs to be that batter. Kohli did do his bit again but once the two openers had reached their mid-20s, the second one left in the far, Rahul, needed to carry on.

Take a look at what Rizwan did. He took all the pressure, especially when Pakistan once again lost Babar Azam cheaply. He guided Pakistan to a situation from where, in spite of some reverses late in the plot, the lower middle-order had enough leeway to get the desired runs, even though they were taken to the penultimate delivery.

Yes, Pandya’s early exit had an impact on India’s overall score, but the decline in the run rate began with the top two going and while Kohli kept up the pressure, none of the others got close. Even the normally pugnacious Suryakumar Yadav did not last long enough. As for Rishabh Pant, he looked very rusty and quite frankly, downright struggling to run.

The Pakistani bowlers in spite of the pasting they got in the first six overs and then some, were able to get the Indian bowlers to the crease to bat, and while Bishnoi was given two precious boundaries by Fakhar Zaman at the fence, the eventual total was way short of where it should have been.

The Indian bowlers did not manage to get the Pakistani bowlers to bat, barring Nawaz, but that wasn’t their doing. The question of who will be bowling for India to make it a potent attack is something of a teaser for Dravid and the rest of the coaching team. This attack is not India’s best by a long shot. The absence of the quality of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami and even Deepak Chahar is being felt, and India will time and again have to score massive totals if the current bowling has to defend runs.

Pandya is an all-rounder who should come in to bowl after the top five have chipped in, which was not the case here. He has the tendency to get wickets, but never mistake him for the fine like of bowling attack. Or defence, for that matter.

One point about the fielding. The positioning of the boundary runners two to three yards inside the fence with Khushdil Shah and Asif Ali batting was ostensibly to protect against the twos. But what we know of the Pakistan batting, barring Rizwan and maybe one or two more, running between the wickets is not their forte. They like to hit boundaries and the Indians being in from the fence resulted in a minimum of two fours that could have been kept down to two, or even one run.

The Pakistani spinners were head and shoulders above the Indian counterparts and that made a telling difference. Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan had excellent spells, with Nawaz returning figures of 1/25 and Shadab putting the brakes on decisively, with 2/31.

Compare this to Yuzvendra Chahal’s 1/43. Chahal is the leading spinner for India, and more is expected from him on a track that wasn’t always consistent. On the other hand, the raw Ravi Bishnoi was much better with 1/26 but he just doesn’t have the variety to make a major impact.

So, the India-Pakistan drama is level at one match apiece, which will definitely be a dream situation for the Asian Cricket Council and also the broadcasters. However, now come two more matches for either side, with a resurgent Sri Lanka and an always dangerous Afghanistan still in the mix. Much as the money-makers would like to see an India-Pakistan final, these two sides may have something to say about that. Wouldn’t that put a wrench in the works!

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.