Pakistani batters put up a competitive total — but with bowling lacking punch, India’s batting line-up chased it down with ease, ultimately, under the Dubai lights.
India romped home in style by six wickets to win, chasing down the 172-run target with ease, in their second high-intensity encounter against Pakistan in the men’s Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday.
Abhishek Sharma was adjudicated player-of-the-match, scoring 74 runs of 39 balls as he led the Indian effort from the front after getting a reprieve in Shaheen’s second over.
The bitterness between the players that started with India’s refusal of handshakes in the first encounter continued as Sharma at the post-match ceremony said: “Today it was very simple, the way they were coming (at) us for no reason, I didn’t like it at all, and this is the only way I could give with my bat.”
Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha, speaking after the match, said, “We are yet to play the perfect game. We batted really well — but I think when it came to the bowling, they took the game away in the powerplay.”
He said they could have got 15 more runs after being 91 in the first 10 overs, but added that 171 was still a good total.
Match summary: The Indian opening batters made a mockery of a decent score by the Pakistani batters as they helped the Men in Blue chase down their highest score against the Green Shirts in men’s T20Is.
In the first innings, the Indian bowlers — barring Shivam Dube — had no answers to the Pakistani onslaught with the bat. The Men in Blue’s fielding was nervy and even worse than the bowling effort with multiple dropped chances!
Dube was the only redeeming aspect of the Indian bowling effort as he got crucial wickets in the middle overs and dried up scoring — Pakistan going 39 balls without boundaries after being a commanding position of 91-1 after 10 overs.
Pakistan’s batters smashed both the Indian pacers and the spinners on a dry pitch that got better as the match continued — with India making full use of the easier conditions.
Nearly all the Pakistani batters had a terrific day with the bat as India were under pressure from ball one with the start, Fakhar got — getting to their highest score batting first against India in men’s T20Is.
Fakhar’s controversial dismissal was a major talking point after the southpaw opener was given out by the third umpire, and visuals showed that there was definitely room for doubt — which usually goes in the batter’s favour.
The Green Shirts continued with their tradition with facing their opponents with one hand tied behind their back as they picked Hussain Talat in a bid to strengthen their batting but at the expense of the potency in the bowling department.
Pakistan still have one more potential chance of getting over the line against the Men in Blue — if they build on the positives in this game and play well across both departments next Sunday in the Asia Cup final.
, Mohammad Haris, Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Abrar Ahmed.
India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, and Jasprit Bumrah.
Build-up to the high intensity clash
The Green Shirts have a chance at redemption as they face India again today in Dubai for the Super Four stage of the Men’s Asia Cup after their last game was marred by a controversy spiralling from the neighbouring team’s refusal to shake hands with their opponents.
The Group A clash between the fierce rivals last Sunday — their first meeting since the four-day military conflict between them in May — ended on a bitter note when the Men in Blue refused to shake hands with the Green Shirts after winning the game. There were no handshakes between the captains at the toss either.
According to Reuters, Indian media have reported that the team plans to stick to its no-handshake policy for today’s clash, which is scheduled for 7:30pm PKT at the Dubai International Stadium.
Match referee Andy Pycroft, whose removal was sought by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over the controversy but was denied by the International Cricket Council (ICC), is still scheduled to officiate today.
Asked about the handshake issue and Pycroft’s presence yesterday, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav changed the subject, saying, “It will be a good contest between the ball and the bat”.
He added: “Close your room, switch off your phone and sleep. I think that’s the best thing to shut the noise. It’s easy to say, but sometimes it is difficult.”
India won all three of their group games, narrowly edging out a brave Oman by 21 runs in Abu Dhabi on Friday, as well as beating Pakistan by seven and the UAE by nine wickets respectively.
Suryakumar, who had seemingly politicised last Sunday’s victory by bringing up the Pahalgam terrorist attack in India-occupied Kashmir, said: “I have been very clear with all the boys. I think it’s very important if you want to do well in this tournament and going forward.
“We will have to shut a lot of noise from outside and take what is good for you.”
Despite India’s triumph in their previous encounter, Suryakumar insisted past results would count for nothing when the rivals meet again in today’s Super Four match.
“I feel our preparation has been really good leading into the tournament. We have also had three good games, so we are actually focusing on what we can do best,” he added.
“We want to follow all the good habits that we have been doing from the last two or three games. We take it one game at a time. It doesn’t give us an edge that we have played them once, and we had a good game. We have to start from scratch.”
Pakistan had cancelled their pre-match press conference yesterday, making it the second consecutive time that they did so following the handshake incident.
Last night, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi met with the Green Shirts in Dubai as they participated in warm-up exercises for today’s match.
Handshake ruckus
Earlier this week, the situation escalated to the point that the PCB was even mulling its participation in the Asia Cup after the ICC rejected its complaint seeking the removal of Pycroft, who PCB said told captain Salman Ali Agha not to shake hands with his Indian counterpart before the match.
However, the situation was finally settled when, just before Pakistan’s match against the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, the PCB said Pycroft “apologised” to the Green Shirts’ manager and captain over the ruckus resulting from “miscommunication”.
Nevertheless, the tournament still had lingering disputes; the ICC reportedly took exception to the PCB recording Pycroft’s “apology” meeting with Pakistan team officials. The event had been marred by controversy before it even began, with calls for a boycott of the game from across the border.
