Before Virat Kohli produced a masterclass in the chase to script India’s four-wicket victory in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 clash against Pakistan at MCG, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya put on a brilliant bowling display to restrict the Men in Green to 159/8.
Last month, Arshdeep was subjected to nasty comments on social media for dropping Asif Ali’s catch in a tense Super-4 match against Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022.
However, the left-arm pacer silenced his critics as he returned with the figures of 3-32 in his four overs, including the prized scalps of Babar Azam (0) and Mohammad Rizwan (4).
On the other hand, Hardik (3-30) bowled brilliantly in the middle overs and got the crucial wickets of Shadab Khan (5), Haider Ali (2) and Mohammad Nawaz (9).
Besides, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-22) and Mohammad Shami (1-25) also bowled economically and returned with one scalp each.
Speaking after the nail-biting victory, skipper Rohit Sharma showered rich praise on his fast bowlers for their brilliant use of the short deliveries, majorly in the back of the length region.
“That back of length, slightly back of length, slightly full, was not easy to hit, and what happened in today’s game will tell you that. A lot of the guys got wickets bowling that back of length because, like I said, at the toss, as well, there was a little bit of grass on the pitch and a bit of weather, quite nippy, as well."
“So we knew if you keep hitting that length, it’s going to be challenging, and that is something that we kept constantly putting in bowlers’ ears, that challenge them — if they hit you a couple of successful there, it’s fine."
“Actually we got rewarded bowling that length, as well. Hardik in particular bowling that kind of length and a couple of their batters trying to play cross-batted short got the top edge, and we got the wicket, and that is something that we spoke of at the start," said Rohit in the post-match press conference.
With the new ball, Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep also beat the Pakistani batters.
“That felt really good. We spoke of certain things in our team meetings and stuff like that. We spoke of how we want to utilise our bigger boundary and try and challenge the batsmen a little bit. You’ve got to sometimes understand what the pitch is doing, as well."
“With the way Bhuvi and Arshdeep were swinging the ball, our initial plan was to just try and pitch it up and see if we can get the ball to swing. The first four or five overs was brilliant to watch, honestly. For a little while it felt like a Test match because of the way the ball was moving around and the carry in the pitch, as well. It was a good cricketing pitch," concluded Rohit.
(With IANS inputs)
