India vs Pakistan: Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan come out in Arshdeep Singh’s support after trolls target young seamer – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Pakistan made it one-all against India in the 2022 Asia Cup after eking out a thrilling five-wicket victory over their arch-rivals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

In the previous meeting between the two, which had taken place at the same venue on 28 August, the Men in Blue had come out on top by a similar margin, successfully chasing down the 148-run target with the match going into the very last over. The Super 4 clash between the two sides turned out to be quite similar, in that the victor was only confirmed in the penultimate ball of the evening, although credit must go to Mohammad Rizwan and the rest of the Pakistani batting lineup for chasing down a much bigger 182-run target.

Read: India’s undisciplined bowling raise multiple questions for team management

Not only were India guilty of some wayward bowling, especially in the slog overs, the fielding wasn’t up to the mark either. And among the most crucial moments from the high-voltage clash on Sunday evening was Arshdeep Singh dropping a dolly at short third man to give Asif Ali a reprieve off Ravi Bishnoi’s bowling.

Ali ended up getting a thick leading edge that sent the ball straight up in the air after getting foxed by leg-spinner Bishnoi. What should’ve been a regulation catch for Arshdeep instead became a comical affair as the ball popped right out of his hand, leading to a roar of joy from the Pakistan fan contingent at the venue and a collective sigh of relief in the Pakistani dressing room.

Watch: Rohit Sharma furious at Arshdeep Singh for dropping easy catch

Arshdeep did somewhat make up for the drop even if India ended up losing the tight contest in the end. Coming in to bowl the final over after veteran seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar had been smacked for 19 runs, leaving him to defend seven off six, the Punjab Kings pacer managed to take the game till the penultimate ball, trapping Ali LBW along the way with an inch-perfect yorker.

Internet trolls, however, were having none of it and decided to target the young cricketer after the defeat, targeting his Sikh identity by branding him “Traitor” and “Khalistani” among other things. “Khalistani” was in fact among the top trends on Twitter in India the morning after the defeat. It brought back memories of the way Mohammed Shami was trolled online after India’s loss to Pakistan in the T20 World Cup — also at the same venue last year.

However, Arshdeep also garnered plenty of support both from former and current cricketers as well as from fans, who argued that there were plenty of other factors behind India’s defeat and Arshdeep’s dropped catch alone did not cost India the game.

Let us take a look at some of the heartwarming messages of support for the young pacer, starting with Indian spin legend Harbhajan Singh’s tweet:

India now face a must-win scenario and have to beat both Sri Lanka, whom they face in their next Super 4 fixture on Tuesday, as well as Afghanistan if they are to secure their passage into the final. Sri Lanka and Pakistan currently occupy the top two slots in the Super 4s points table with a win each.

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