Asia Cup: Pakistan’s memorable victory against India

The green shirts reaped the rewards of brave decisions

Journalists usually reach the stadium 3 hours before the start of each match. If Pakistan and India are competing, it is necessary to arrive 4 hours before the start of the match. Abu Bakr Bilal and Bilal left for the stadium at 12 o’clock with Aqeel.

There was less rush on the roads due to the Sunday holiday. When we reached outside the stadium around 1 o’clock, despite the intense heat, a large number of supporters of both teams were already there, and after the TV coverage, they entered the stadium.

On our way to the media gallery, we met Waqar Younis in the elevator. He asked senior journalist Sohail Imran whether Hasnain is playing today or Hasan Ali. Sohail replied that “as per my information, Hasnain will get a chance today” and the news proved to be true.

The media gallery was full of journalists. Most of them were Indians, but Pakistanis were also present in large numbers. Journalists from other countries were also present. When Pakistan won the toss, I told the Indian journalists, winning the toss means winning the match.

The Indian journalists also did not have much faith in their team; they said that it seems that you will win today. The atmosphere of the stadium was such that 80% of the spectators were Indians and supporting their team, despite the fact that the attendance of Pakistanis at the stadium was not much but they were fully enthusiastic. The streets of the UAE were deserted during the match.

Every restaurant, Sheesha cafe was full of fans, millions of people in their homes were staring in front of TV and big screens. When Pakistan won the match, Pakistanis were seen celebrating on the streets in different areas of Dubai.

Fortune also favors the brave. This was proved in the India-Pakistan match as well. Rohit Sharma and Lokesh Rahul shook Naseem Shah’s confidence with continuous strokes. Then other bowlers also found it easy to keep the run rate low. At that time Babar Azam decided to try the spinners, the strokes decreased, the wickets also started falling. In this situation, the pacers also reined in the aggressive Indian batsmen.

If boundaries on wide balls and misfielding errors had not happened, the total of the Indian team would have been less than 160. Mohammad Nawaz played an important role in restricting the opponent’s shelling with his excellent spin bowling. In every over, his one or two balls surprised and worried the Indian batters. They were concerned about saving wickets instead of playing strokes.

When Babar Azam, the most important pillar of Pakistan’s batting, faced difficulty in playing a big innings, the left and right combination in the form of Fakhr Zaman and Mohammad Rizwan created problems for the Indian bowlers, but Fakhar could not prolong the innings. In this situation, Pakistan took a brave decision and Mohammad Nawaz, another left-handed batsman, was sent to the crease.

He destroyed the Indian bowling plan by playing aggressive but sensible strokes, and Rizwan managed one end according to the plan. After the departure of this pair, there was enough opportunity for other batsmen to continue their journey towards victory.

Arshdeep Singh is under criticism for dropping the catch of Asif Ali, but even if it had not happened, some power hitter would have completed Pakistan’s mission. The ratio of balls to required runs was such that Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan could have made the target possible with the help of two boundaries. The real work was done by Mohammad Nawaz, who removed the complacency of the Indian bowlers and turned their aggression into defense.