India lost a nail-biting contest to Pakistan by five wickets in the final over of the Super-4 clash of Asia Cup 2022 on Sunday (September 4) in Dubai. It was sweet revenge for Babar Azam & co. who had lost a similarly thrilling game to India last Sunday in the group stage of the tournament.
Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first as is usually the case at the venue and India responded well with 181/7 in their 20 overs, though at one time it looked like they would get close to the 200 mark after reaching 50 for no loss in 4.2 overs. Virat Kohli (60) top-scored for India, while Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul contributed 28 each. Shadab Khan with 2/31 was the most successful bowler from Pakistan.
Pakistan lost captain Babar Azam (14) and Fakhar Zaman (15) cheaply but Mohammad Rizwan (71) and Mohammad Nawaz (42) added 73 runs for the third wicket to get the chase back on track. India then picked up both the set batters in quick succession to once again have the upper hand in the contest by a slight margin.
With 31 needed in 15 balls, the pressure was mounting on Pakistan and Asif Ali hoicked a ball trying to find quick runs off Ravi Bishnoi in the 18th over, as Arshdeep Singh came under what seemed like a simple catch, only to drop it. The fast bowler perhaps was guilty of taking it a bit too casually.
It was a huge moment in the game and Asif Ali made India pay by smashing 16 in 8 balls before Arshdeep dismissed him in the final over. But Pakistan by then needed just 2 runs to win in 2 balls which Iftikhar Ahmed scored off the penultimate ball to seal a 5-wicket win for Pakistan.
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Arshdeep bowled well to finish with 1/27 in 3.5 overs and took the game to the penultimate ball despite only 7 runs needed in the final over. Unfortunately, as is the disturbing trend on social media, some 'fans' took their frustration out on the young seamer by dishing out abuse to him on social media, including his Instagram handle.
Former India spinner, Harbhajan Singh lashed out at the unacceptable behavior with a strong-worded tweet, as he wrote, “Stop criticising young @arshdeepsinghh No one drop the catch purposely..we are proud of our boys .. Pakistan played better.. shame on such people who r putting our own guys down by saying cheap things on this platform bout arsh and team.. Arsh is GOLD”
