IND vs PAK: A tactical masterclass from Pakistan

Pakistan defeated India in super four match of Asia Cup 2022

India and Pakistan faced off for the second time in a week in the second match of the super four stage of the Asia Cup. Much to the delight of the cricket fans, the two teams once again gave a down to the wire contest. 

Pakistan won the toss at the Dubai International stadium and invited India to bat first. India got off to a strong start and with the help of Virat Kohli’s brilliant 60 off 44 deliveries India managed to post a total of 181 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in their 20 overs. Pakistan batted out of their skin and chased down the target with 5 wickets in hand and just one ball left in the match. 

But where did India exactly fall behind in the match? 

Absence of Jadeja not properly covered up

Ravichandran Ashwin's absence was felt by India during bowling

Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the tournament, and India have brought in Axar Patel as his replacement in the squad. But in today’s playing XI, India opted to go for Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant and Ravi Bishnoi in place of Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik and Avesh Khan.

Not playing Ravichandran Ashwin is a strategic blunder that India made in this match. The time when the left handed Mohammad Nawaz was taking on the Indian bowlers, Rohit Sharma could not trust the bowling abilities of Deepak Hooda, but this would not have been the case if Ashwin was playing. 

Ashwin could also have played the role of a floater in the batting order as he has shown in the latest IPL season.

Absence of variety in the batting order

Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz Put the brakes on Indian scoring rate

After the brilliant start that the openers gave, India should have reached a total of 200+ in the match. 

In the first 6 overs India scored at a rate of 10.33 losing only one wicket. In the next 10 overs India managed to score 78 runs while losing 4 wickets. This was the phase where Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz operated. Both the bowlers settled into a nice rhythm and with only one left hander, Rishabh Pant to bowl, they did not have to adjust too much. 

The presence of a left handed batter was missed. Keeping this in mind Axar Patel could have been a good choice and he could have also bowled a few overs for the team. 

A tactical masterstroke

Mohammad Nawaz, the X-factor for Pakistan

The Pakistan team management read the type of bowling India had very nicely. Hence as soon as Fakhar Zaman was dismissed they sent in Mohammad Nawaz to bat with the license to go after the bowling. In fact after Nawaz was dismissed another left hander in Khushdil Shah replaced him. 

The point to note is that Pakistan made a conscious effort to keep the left hand right hand combination going and the Indians failed to come up with a proper answer to that. 

In the end it was Nawaz’s fiery 42 off 20 that put Pakistan way ahead in the match. Nawaz helped his team score 95 runs in the middle overs, 17 more than their opposition. 

Lastly, it was a bad day for the Indian bowlers and it was the better team on the day that won. Many cricket fans might be pointing fingers at Arshdeep Singh for dropping Asif Ali in the 18th over of the match. But the truth be told, the match was already out of hand by that time. 

India as a team will surely move on quickly from this off day and look at the task ahead. So, we as fans also should put this behind and get behind the team, cheering for them while they win the tournament for us. 

Also Read: Asia Cup 2022: Babar Azam hails Pakistan's all-round brilliance to pip India