As India locked horns with Pakistan in its opening game of Asia Cup 2022, the entire focus was on former Indian skipper, Virat Kohli. The right-handed batter was making a comeback to international cricket after being rested for the series against West Indies and Zimbabwe. In the match against Pakistan, Kohli scored 35 runs off 34 balls with the help of 3 fours and 1 six. Former Pakistan skipper, Inzamam-ul-Haq said that Kohli should have a played a longer knock but he was not looking confident even after scoring 30 odd runs.
In the latest video on his Youtube channel, Inzamam-ul-Haq said, “There was a lot of pressure on Kohli and I noticed that. Usually, it is difficult to dismiss a set batter and especially when he has scored 30-35 runs, but I was surprised to see yesterday that Kohli was not looking as confident even after getting set. This is a thing to be looked at.”
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Life came full circle for Hardik Pandya at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday as he churned out a match-winning performance against Pakistan, the same opponent, against whom he had gotten injured in 2018 during the Asia Cup and was forced to miss almost three years of cricket action.
On Sunday, Hardik Pandya was at his A-game in the middle as he took three wickets before playing a match-winning knock of 33 off 17 balls to help India defeat Pakistan by five wickets. This knock helped the Rohit Sharma-led side chase down 148 with a couple of balls to spare.
Talking about Hardik, Inzamam-ul-Haq said, “India’s middle order and lower middle order is very strong. That is what sets them apart from the other teams in this Asia Cup. I was surprised that India chose to bench Rishabh Pant. The combination of Pant, Pandya and Jadeja is outstanding. Pakistan also had a lower order comprising Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq and Shahid Afridi. It was difficult to chase down 11 runs an over on this pitch, but they played really well.”
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India was in a spot of bother while chasing a comparatively modest target of 148, and it was then that Hardik joined hands with Ravindra Jadeja to make a brilliant partnership of 52 runs for the fifth wicket. Jadeja perished after scoring 35, but Hardik ensured that the sidewalks away with a victory.
