The most awaited competition of the Asia Cup 2023 i.e. Ind Vs Pak started with the over cast condition. India Skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and choose to bat first. Though the decision took to surprise some experts, he was sure of his decision. As per the popular thought for such an over-cast condition, Indian Batter struggled on the pitch.
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Shaheen Shah Afridi’s Spell |Asia Cup 2023
Pakistan’s pace sensation Shaheen Shah Afridi didn’t let openers to settle on the pitch. He dismissed Rohit Sharma (11, 4X2) early on an eye catching In-Swinger. At the team’s score of just 27 runs, Virat Kohli (4, 4X1) also dismissed by Afridi. To add the woes to indian batting, rain stopped the game twice in first 15 overs. This make the situation more stringent to the batsman. In his third spell he dismissed Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja (14 runs, 4X1). Shaheen Shah Afridi ended his spell with 4 wkts at the expense of just 35 runs. He also bowled couple of maiden overs and put pressure on batsman.
Fairly utilizing the advantages, Haris Rauf (3/58)never let the new batsman settled and dismissed the Shubhman Gill (10, 4X1) and Shreyas Iyer (14, 4X2) on the nominal scores. At the 15th over of inning, Indian batters were struggling by losing 4 wickets at the score of just 66 runs.
Ishan Kishan’s Inning | Asia Cup 2023
From this moment, Indian wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan and allrounder Hardik Pandya took the situation in their hand and started rotating the strike responsibly. They together ensured the run-rate above 5 during their partnership. He scored his fifty in just 54 deliveries and then accelerated the innings. At the team’s score of 204 runs, he tried a pull on Haris Rauf but missed the got dismissed. He made 82 runs, 4X9, 6X2. It was his 4th fifty in a row. He also broke the Dhoni’s (76 runs) 15 year old record of highest individual score by an Indian wicket-keeper facing Pakistan first time in Asia Cup in 2008.
Top 4 scorers are
:- Ishan Kishan 82 – (2023)
:- MS Dhoni 76 – (2008)
:- Surinder Khanna 56 – (1984)
:- MS Dhoni 56 – (2010)
Hardik Pandya’s Inning | Asia Cup 2023
Hardik Pandya join the pitch after the dismissal of Shubhman Gill. He was a bit more careful comparing to the Ishan Kishan. He played some of the finest shot around the square boundary and completed his half-century on 62 balls and hit just 3 boundaries. After his fifty he switched the gear and hit 3 boundaries in Haris Rauf’s over. At a moment, Indian fans started expecting him to score his career first century but he mis-judged a slower delivery of Afridi and got caught at short mid-off. He made 87 runs, 4X7, 6X1.
Game called of due to Rain
India failed to play whole 50 overs. Their innings ended at the score of 266 runs in 48.5 overs. The game seemed 50-50 but again the main villain of game i.e. RAIN started and continue to happened. Umpire investigated the ground and decide to a final evaluation at 10:30 PM IST. At 10:00 PM umpires again investigated the ground that even if rain stop right away (which was not the case), it will take another 45 minutes to dry up and make the ground ready. After discussing with the captain, Umpires decided to call of match.
The main treat of this game was Shaheen Shah Afridi and Harid Rauf disciplined bowling attack. Nassem Shah earlier was unlucky but he dismissed the tail and ensured that India should not reach to the 275 mark. This is the probably first game of Asia Cup when all the 10 wickets were taken by pacers.
Talking about Indian batting the only pleasantries were the Ishan Kishan’s and Hardik Pandya’s innings. They both added 138 runs on just 140 balls. They established the inning and ensured that India reaches to a competitive total.
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