Defending champions India avenged their humiliating defeat against Pakistan in last year's T20 World Cup at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday (28) when they won a high-octane clash against the arch-rivals in Asia Cup 2022 by five wickets.
India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and asked Babar Azam's Pakistan to bat first. The Pakistani batting line-up struggled against the Indian seamers who bowled the former Asia Cup champions out for 147 inside 20 overs.
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While the likes of Hardik Pandya (three wickets for 25 runs), Arshdeep Singh (two for 33) and Avesh Khan (one for 19) bowled well, the wrecker-in-chief was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who claimed four wickets for 26 runs.
The sensational bowling figures were the best registered by an Indian bowler against Pakistan in T20 internationals. The previous best was by Pandya who had picked three wickets for only eight runs in Mirpur, Bangladesh, in the 2016 edition of the Asia Cup. Had Kumar, who took the all-important wicket of Azam cheaply and had a two-in-two strike towards the end of the Pakistan innings, not gone for some runs in his penultimate over when the opponents' No.11 batter Shahnawaz Dahani took him on, the Indian seamer would have the best bowling figure in an India-Pakistan clash in the T20 format.
His four for 26 now stands second only to former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif's four for 18 which he took in Durban, South Africa, in the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007.
Speaking about the Indian bowler's take on his team's performance in the first half of the match, Kumar said, “When we looked at the wicket, we thought it would swing but there was no swing. There was bounce, but we know what balls we have to bowl. When you bowl short, few were skidding and some were coming slow. To be honest, we gave 10-15 runs extra. New ball is always tricky on this wicket. There could be bounce for their bowlers too, but I'm backing our batters to chase this down."
The batters indeed honoured his trust.
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