Team India had a bitter-sweet start to their ongoing Asia Cup campaign when they managed to register a narrow win of just 26 runs against the minnows like Hong Kong. However, they brushed aside the disappointment and made a stylish comeback to register an emphatic eight-wicket win over Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday and Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar played a crucial role in the game.
The prime architect of India’s victory was fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who returned excellent figures of 3 for 15 in his spell of seven overs to bundle out Pakistan for a meager 162 in 43.1 overs and was named Man of the Match for his efforts.
During an interview on BCCI.tv with Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar said, “It was good, got the Man of the Match, feeling good. But the main thing is that like, we had our match with Hong Kong, we won, but it was not as convincing as it should have been. But, the bowling unit stepped up today to register a comprehensive win.”
WATCH: Bhuvneshwar Kumar Dismisses Both The Pakistan Openers
Bhuvi suffered a lower back injury during the third ODI against England which kept him out for quite sometime and now he made a comeback in the Asia Cup. However, he was a bit rusty in the first game against Hong Kong where he conceded 50 runs and went wicketless in a nine-over spell. He admitted being nervous after the long injury lay-off.
The fast bowler explained, “I was quite nervous about yesterday’s game. Not because I was playing an international match after a while but was concerned about my injury. When you return after an injury, at the back of your mind you are always nervous about it recurring at any point. But, as soon as I bowled the first four-five overs, I got pretty comfortable and when I came into this match I was feeling pretty confident within myself.”
India locked horns with Pakistan for the first time since the 2017 Champions Trophy final and while the stakes were high going into the game, Bhuvneshwar said that it was important to not flow into the emotion of it and treat it as just another game.
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Bhuvi elaborated, “At the end of the day, it is just a game. Preparation remains the same. But, being such a high profile game, so you get the motivation to go out and perform well. Especially against Pakistan, if the performance is good, the confidence automatically goes up. The rivalry which has been there for so long, that lingers in your mind.”
Team India will now lock horns with Bangladesh on Friday in the first Super fours match followed by Pakistan and Afghanistan on Sunday and Tuesday respectively.
