Asia Cup 2022, IND vs PAK: An Analytical Review


image-l7dxq8weBhuvneshwar stole the show with his bowling

India pulled off a cliffhanger against their arch-rivals, Pakistan in their first outing of the Asia Cup 2022. In a match that went to the last over India held their nerves and courtesy of Hardik Pandya won the match by 5 wickets with two balls remaining. 

India won the toss and decided to field first in the match. The Indian bowlers spearheaded by Bhuvneshwar Kumar were on the money straight away and kept up their good performance to restrict the Pakistan batting to a below par total of 147 runs. 

The Indian bowlers got a good grasp of the conditions and also the measure of their opposition pretty early on and executed their plans accordingly. 

Did the Indian bowlers do something different in the match? Well, let us find out from the pitch map of the two teams.


image-l7duf7nnIndian Pacers vs Pakistan Pacers Pitch Map

Observation

The Indian bowlers were clever about using the short balls. While they tried to keep most of the deliveries on the good length they did mix it up with back of the length deliveries and bouncers. 

But the fact that 5 of the Pakistanis wickets fell off short pitched bowling affected the Pakistani bowlers. As a result they bowled a lot more short balls and the element of surprise was missing from their bowling. 

Let us look at how the two teams handled short pitched bowling.


image-l7duh70cIndian Batters vs Pakistan Short Pitched Bowling


image-l7duho6xPakistan Batters vs Indian Short Pitched Bowling


Conclusion

So, the two figures make it clear that Indian batters were better against short pitched bowling on the day. There is also the fact that the Indian bowlers did not overuse short pitch bowling. It is a bit better discipline by the Indians that saved the day. 

Hardik Pandya, the game changer

Hardik did his part in bowling picking up 3 for 25 in his 4 overs. He was one of those Indian bowlers who used the short balls with great cunningness.

Besides this he played a match winning knock with the bat. When he came out to bat India were 89 for 4 down in the 15th over. With 59 runs required of 34 balls how exactly did he plan his innings. 

image-l7dul24wHow Hardik planned his innings


Observation

Not overawed by the situation Pandya took the attack onto the Pakistani bowlers from the very beginning and maintained that positive approach throughout the knock.

Given the fact that the Pakistani bowlers were looking to bowl short at him, let us look at his scoring areas.

image-l7dun57p


Conclusion

 Hardik got a grip of the situation very quickly and played accordingly. As there was a bombardment of short deliveries on him he used the Mid wicket regions the most using the short arm jabs, pulls and pick up flicks to great effect.

At the end of it all the maturity and composure of Hardik under pressure was a treat to watch. Hope he continues to win many more matches for India.


Also Read: Asia Cup 2022, IND vs PAK: Bhuvneshwar Kumar rips through Pakistan