After losing to Pakistan in the T20 World Cup last year, the Indian team was expected to perform well in the Asia Cup and India won this match by performing the same way. Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar played an important role in this victory of India, but Pakistan’s bowlers will also have to be praised, as they gave a tough challenge to the Indian batsmen, even with a small target of 148 runs. It is admirable.
Although the way Hardik played, the bowling attack of Pakistan looked lackluster. The way he finished the match by hitting a six, clearly shows the confidence of this player. Hardik has improved his batting and bowling a lot in last few years, as he firstly performed in the IPL and now against the Pakistan. After this performance by Hardik, it is confirmed that he will prove to be the trump card of Team India in this Asia Cup and in the future.
Apart from this Ravindra Jadeja also performed well in both departments as an all-rounder. Especially, the way he handled the crumbling position of India’s top order by batting brilliantly, and did a good partnership for the fifth wicket with Hardik Pandya. Apart from these two, we cannot forget the contribution of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who took advantage of his experience and pushed Pakistan’s batting completely on the back foot. He did what was expected of him before the Asia Cup and used his experience properly to take a total of four wickets including the main wicket of Babar Azam. Apart from this, the young bowlers Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh also bowled easily to Pakistani batsmen.
Pakistan should have scored 160 to 170 runs in this match, but they could not score even 150, especially because of their middle order. At a moment, it was like the Pakistan team would be bundled out for 125 runs, but the tailender batsmen took team to a respectable score, while Indian bowlers bowled perfectly in the last five overs. This victory clearly shows the confidence of the Indian team, and it can be proved to be a confidence booster, especially ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Apart from being the coach of Virat Kohli, the author is a Dronacharya Award winner.
