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'You Are Trying To Hurt Me' - Nawaz Recalls T20 World Cup MCG Clash With India

image-lsk6t94zNawaz gave away 16 off the 20th over vs India [X.com]

Pakistan left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz doesn't have fond memories of the marquee T20 World Cup 2022 clash with India at the MCG where he conceded 16 runs off the final over in his team's defeat in another thriller for the ages between the two arch-rivals. 

As the high-octane battle came down to the 20th over, Pakistan, who had frontloaded their traditional strength seamers to try and thwart India early in their defence of the modest 159/8, were left with no option but to give their defensive T20 spinner the ball again with the fixture watched by over 1-lakh capacity crowd standing at a knife's edge. 

Despite the pressure reaching its peak, Nawaz started off exceptionally well, dismissing the dangerous Hardik Pandya off the very first ball and giving away only three runs from the first half of the 20th over. What followed then, however, continues to haunt the inexperienced tweaker. 


Nawaz Recalls Final Over Disappointment Versus India 

Nawaz was dispatched for a game-transforming six by the legendary Virat Kohli with the no-ball for height also adding salt to the wounds for the 29-year-old and Pakistan. 

Under the pump, the spinner ended up bowling a wide next ball, which retained the free-hit and that meant, even as he yorked and bowled Kohli, the ace batter was smart enough to run three byes while the ball ricocheted towards the deep-third region. 

When the equation came down to 2 off 2, Nawaz won the little cat-and-mouse bout with Dinesh Karthik and had him stumped but couldn't do the same to the ever-intelligent R Ashwin, who anticipated he would bowl to his front pad and cleverly kept it out of the way of another wide. Ashwin then showcased nerves of steel and hit the winning runs over the mid-off fielder. 

When asked about the game in an interview by Cricbuzz, Nawaz made a joke at his own expense, stating: "You are trying to hurt me again (laughs)". The bowler also explained his lessons from the experience. 

"When the match is so big and the whole world is seeing you... and the fight in that game was a good one and there was excitement and now it seems that it turned out to be my strength because when you go through such an experience, you can adapt better when you come up against a similar scenario," he added. 

Despite a roller-coaster of a 20th over, Nawaz was one of Pakistan's safe bowling options up until then, giving away just 26 runs off his first three overs. The spinner has played 60 T20Is for Pakistan with an impressive economy rate of 7.41.