Since it was against Pakistan’s archrival, India won their opening game of the Asia Cup 2022, which was considered to be one of the most important games. India had five wickets remaining when they successfully completed the 148-run mark. The Player of the Match was announced to be Hardik Pandya.
Hardik Pandya’s sensational performance has clinched the celebration of every Indian supporter out there. After years a match of India vs Pakistan was witnessed approach so closely that the winning chances of both the teams were equal until Pandya ended it with six.
Player of the Match Hardik Pandya spoke about how the bowler should be in pressure and how he handled the situation well.
Following Pakistan’s 5-wicket loss to India in the Asia Cup 2022, questions have been raised about Babar Azam’s leadership. Despite being in excellent form, the Pakistan captain was unable to make much of an impact as he only managed to score 10 runs off of 9 deliveries before being dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Later, he came under fire for a couple decisions he made during the game’s second innings, which allowed India to win with two balls remaining.
Speaking on Star Sports Network, Akram believed that Babar made a mistake by bringing in Nawaz after such a long absence.
“I like this T20 type of pitch. I enjoyed watching bowlers bowl bouncers and getting wickets, on both sides. It was a good cricketing game that went down to the wire till the last over. Babar made one mistake. He should have had Nawaz bowl the 13th or 14th over. It was too late. You can’t have a spinner in T20s bowling in the last 3 to 4 overs, especially against the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya,” Akram said on Star Sports.