While India defeated Pakistan by five wickets on Sunday in the Asia Cup 2022, there were also some issues for the team that they would like to address moving forward. The top three Indian batsmen were the subject of attention going into the humdinger, and all three — K L Rahul (0), Rohit Sharma (12 off 18), and Virat Kohli (35 off 34) — did not enjoy the finest of middle-innings performances. Even while Kohli showed indications of regaining his form, he occasionally relied on luck. Sunil Gavaskar, a former captain of the Indian cricket team, believed that the players needed to score a lot.
“Rahul played just one ball, so you can’t judge anything from that. Rohit and Kohli had the opportunity to bat for some time, they got runs. All these earlier times when people were talking about Kohli’s form, I kept on saying that he is not having any luck. “Today, he had a lot of luck, drop catches, a lot of inside edges, which went so close to the stumps, he had the luck. But he did capitalize on it and played some very fine shots,” said. “But one had expected that with the kind of start that he had, he should have got around 60-70. He got out immediately after Rohit got out. Both of them got out to forgettable shots. At that stage, those shots were not necessary as the asking rate wasn’t 19 or 20 for them to attempt sixes at that stage,” Gavaskar stated. “It was required for them to get going, get to 70-80, and then maybe go for the big shots. That should be learning from this game,” he added.
In the game, Hardik Pandya displayed an exceptional all-around performance as India maintained composure to defeat Pakistan by five wickets in their Asia Cup opener on Sunday. Under intense circumstances, Hardik (3/25 in 4 overs) demonstrated his high value by assisting India in bowling out Pakistan for 147. The middle order was under additional pressure because India’s seasoned top-three struggled during what should have been an easy chase. A 52-run stand between Hardik (33 not out off 17) and Ravindra Jadeja (35 off 29) put India on the verge of a historic victory. India won the match thanks to the star all-three rounder’s fours against Haris Rauf off the 19th over. With the team needing 6 off three balls, Hardik finished the game with a six off left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz.
