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quick succession following which Pakistan bowled well to keep India in check. However, Ravindra Jadeja was promoted up the batting order and he played a superb knock of 35 not out before a fiery Pandya slammed four fours and a six to remain unbeaten on 33 and seal India’s win with two deliveries to spare.
Earlier, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/26) and Hardik Pandya (3/25) led an impressive performance from India as they bowled out Pakistan for 147 in their Asia Cup 2022 opener. Pakistan continued to lose wickets regularly as India pacers dominated them throughout the innings.
Rohit Sharma, the India captain, won the coin toss and decided to bowl first against Pakistan on Sunday. The crowd went berserk right after that and it meant, Rohit had to wait for a few seconds before resuming his conversation with presenter Sanjay Manjrekar. The noise was deafening and Manjrekar had to reconfirm what Rohit had opted to at the end. Big news from Indian team is that they have picked Dinesh Karthik over Rishabh Pant and Avesh Khan has also made the cut alongside Arshdeep Singh. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead the pace attack. Pakistan have given debut to Naseem Shah and are playing with three fast bowlers accompanied by two spinners.
Match Preview
It’s time. Arguably, cricket’s hottest rivalry is back after a gap of 10 months with India and Pakistan clashing at the Asia Cup 2022 which itself is making a comeback after four years of absence. Forms, predictions seemingly get thrown out of the window when these two teams square off, adding to the intrigue. However, critics will quickly point out the past few meetings that have produced rather drab contests. Will Sunday produce another of one-sided results or an Indi-Pak classic?
The Asia Cup 2022 is underway and if the result of the first match is anything to go by, this edition is going to be full of surprises. Afghanistan thrashed five-time champions Sri Lanka in a one-sided contest on Saturday night. The match surely has thrown open their group which also comprises Bangladesh.
ASIA CUP 2022: FULL COVERAGE | SCHEDULE | RESULTS
Which brings us to the Group A that comprises India, Pakistan and Hong Kong. The top-two teams from each group will progress to the next round – Super-fours and the two teams which finish at the top will contest for the title on September 11.
Apart from the history that this particular clash carries, tonight’s encounter provides India with a chance to apply their aggressive batting approach in a multi-team tournament. Captain Rohit Sharma has openly admitted the team has embraced this tactic and will be following it going forward. What will add to their confidence is their batting returning to a full strength with the likes of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul returning.
For Pakistan, their pace attack has been affected due to injuries to Shaheen Afridi and then Mohammad Wasim.
As far as the match goes, the side chasing at the venue has seen more positive results if T20 World Cup and IPL 2021 are taken into account.
The encounter will be a special one for Kohli as it will be the 100th T20I of his career and after a long break, he will be itching to get back his old touch. He will thus become just the second player in international cricket history to have played 100 matches each in all three formats.
At the Asia Cup, India have a better head-to-head record against Pakistan having beaten them eight times out of 14 and losing five. One match produced no result.
Will it be 9 tonight? Stick with us for all the updates.
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