Tag: Asia Cup

KARACHI: Former Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan claimed that Pakistan’s neighbouring team has the potential to beat the Green Shirts in the next round of the ongoing Asia Cup. 

After the resounding wins against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the group stage of the Asia Cup 2022, Afghanistan became the first team to qualify for the Super Four stage of the tournament. Pakistan and India are very likely to qualify for the next round unless Hong Kong put up a surprise against any of the two teams.

In an interview with an Indian cricket website, Asghar stated that Afghanistan always had close encounters with Pakistan and with proper planning and calmness within its ranks, the team could eventually beat Pakistan.

“Wherever we faced Pakistan, we always have a tough contest. If our players can play with proper plan and a bit of calmness, then we will have a really good match against Pakistan and hopefully, we can even beat them,” he said on Crictracker.com show.

Furthermore, Asghar believed that Indian players had an edge over other teams’ players because they faced the star spinner Rashid Khan and other Afghan bowlers during the IPL while the other teams in the tournament did not play a lot of cricket against them.

“Players who played a lot against them can only play them well. Indian players can play our bowlers well because they have played a lot in the IPL. Thus, they have an idea of our bowlers. The players of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka don’t know how to tackle our bowlers because they didn’t play a lot against us,” he said.

Afghanistan spinners Rashid and Mujeeb Ur Rahman remained inspirational with the bowl last night as they claimed three wickets apiece to wreak havoc on Bangladesh’s batting line before Najibullah Zadran smashed a powerful 43 off 17, blasting six gigantic sixes to claim a dramatic win over Bangladesh.

READ: New Zealand’s Colin de Grandhomme calls time on his international career

DUBAI: Afghanistan batters Ibrahim Zadran and Najibullah Zadran completed a comfortable chase for their side with unbeaten knocks after spinners dominated Bangladesh batting line-up as Afghanistan sealed an emphatic seven-wicket victory to book a Super 4s spot in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022.

Set to chase 128, Afghanistan comfortably steered to victory in the 19th over with seven wickets to spare, thanks to the astounding knock of Ibrahim and Najibullah.

Afghanistan were off to an unwanted start to their run chase as the side lost their first wicket for a mere 15 runs amid a slow start as Rahmanullah Gurbaz perished cheaply for 11.

Bangladesh bowlers then did well to stop the run flow and mounted the pressure on Afghanistan batters, which paid off the side in the form of Hazratullah Zazai’s wicket in the 10th over, who could only manage to score 23 off 26 deliveries.

The match took a thrilling turn in the 13th over when Mohammad Saifuddin trapped the Afghan captain Mohammad Nabi for a mere eight; forcing Afghanistan to slip to 62/3 while chasing 128.

Ibrahim and Najibullah then denied Bangladesh’s comeback as they batted sensibly and put on a match-winning unbeaten 69-run partnership for the fourth wicket and cruised Afghanistan over the line in the 19th over.

Ibrahim batted sensibly for his 42 off 41, while Najibullah top-scored with a quickfire 43 off a mere 17 deliveries, laced with a boundary and six sixes.

For Bangladesh, their captain Shakib Al Hasan, Mosaddek Hussain, and Mohammad Saifuddin made one scalp each.

Bangladesh, after winning the toss, made a rather surprising decision to elect to bat first against Afghanistan in the third match of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022.

Batting first, last edition’s finalists Bangladesh were off to a dismal start as the Afghanistan spinners dismissed half of their side for 53 in the 11th over.

Former Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah, alongside Mosaddek anchored the inning after a horrific start and added 36 runs for the sixth wicket.

Mosaddek was looking solid amid the stand, while Mahmudullah was struggling to score at a quick pace and in the end, fell victim to Afghanistan star bowler Rashid in the 16th over. He scored a mere 25 off 27 deliveries.

Bangladesh hero Mosaddek then joined hands with tailender Mahedi Hassan and added a further 39 runs to the total before the latter perished in the final over courtesy of a run-out.

Hassan scored a crucial 14 off 12, while Mosaddek top-scored for the side with an unbeaten 48 off 31 deliveries, laced with four boundaries and a six.

For Afghanistan, Rashid and Mujeeb starred as they bagged three wickets each.

READ: ‘PCB to take complete ownership of the inaugural PJL’ PCB CEO Faisal

DUBAI: Pakistan pacers Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, and Shahnawaz Dahani were given rest from the national team’s training session for their second Asia Cup 2022 fixture against Hong Kong, scheduled on September 2.

Following an opening defeat against the arch-rivals India in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022, the Green Shirts has set their sights on their second match of the ongoing tournament against Hong Kong.

The national contingent hit the batting, fielding, and bowling drills at the ICC Academy Ground here on Tuesday.

Pakistan pacers – Naseem, Haris, and Dahani, however, who partook in the high-octane clash against India on Sunday enjoyed a rest day.

It is pertinent to mention here that India defeated Pakistan in a thriller to start their Asia Cup 2022 campaign on a high. Pakistan pacers Naseem and Haris were seen struggling with cramps amid the anticipated clash.

READ: Sarfaraz, bowlers power Sindh to thump SP in National T20 Cup opener

DUBAI: Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar shone with the ball with four wickets before all-rounder Hardik Pandya sailed India over the line in a final over thriller against Pakistan with a gritty unbeaten knock in the high-octane clash of Asia Cup 2022.

Pakistan bowlers did extremely well to make it hard for India to chase down 148 in 20 overs but Pandya held his nerves calm as he slammed a short delivery from Mohammad Nawaz to power India to claim their first win in the ongoing tournament.

The men in blue were off to a dismal start to their run chase as debutant Naseem Shah castled KL Rahul for a golden duck in the first over.

The experienced pair of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma then took the responsibility and anchored India with an important 49-run partnership for the second wicket.

Kohli was looking solid amid the stand, while Rohit was struggling to score at a quick pace and in the end, fell victim to Pakistan’s pick among the bowlers, Nawaz. He scored a mere 12 off 18 deliveries.

The brilliant Nawaz then turned the game on its head in his next over as he removed the danger man Kohli for 35 on the first delivery as Pakistan reduced India to 53/3 in the 10th over.

World No.2 Suryakumar Yadav had a forgetful outing with the bat as he scored a snail-paced 18 before Naseem castled him in the 15th over; forcing India to further slip at 89/4.

India’s hero of the match Pandya then joined Jadeja at the crease and put on a match-defining partnership for the fifth wicket. The duo added valuable 52 runs in accordance with the mounting required run rate.

Jadeja’s dismissal off Nawaz on the first delivery of the final over gave a thrilling late twist to the match and walked back sorrowly despite top-scoring for the side with 35 off 29 deliveries, laced with two sixes and as many boundaries.

The twist and Pakistan’s comeback into the game, however, was cut short on the fourth delivery as Pandya slammed a shorter length delivery from Nawaz over the long-on boundary to seal a thrilling opening victory for the defending champions.

Nawaz led the bowling attack for Pakistan with three wickets, while Naseem remained impressive with his two on debut.

At the toss, India invited Pakistan to bat first in the most-talked clash of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022.

After being put into bat first, Pakistan were off to the worst possible start, as the side lost their key batter, Babar Azam, cheaply for 10 amid a slow start.

Left-handed batter Fakhar Zaman then put on a brief partnership with Mohammad Rizwan and took Pakistan close to the fifty at the brink of the powerplay before the former fell victim to a short ball for 10.

Rizwan then joined hands with Iftikhar Ahmed and started the recovery with a 45-run partnership for the third wicket. Iftikhar was looking solid and was scoring at a quick pace before another short ball did the trick for India and he walked back to the pavilion after scoring 28.

Following his departure, Rizwan’s stay also remained brief as he too perished courtesy of a short ball from Pandya in the 15th over. He remained the top-scorer for his side with 43 off 42 balls, laced with four boundaries and a six.

The Green Shirts then began to lose wickets at an alarming rate and were soon slipped to 128/9 in the 19th over.

Shahnawaz Dahani’s quickfire cameo of 16 runs off just six deliveries, however, bolstered the side to amass 147 before being bundled out in the final over.

Bhuvneshwar led the bowling attack for India with four wickets, while Pandya followed back with three. Arshdeep Singh, on the other hand, bagged two wickets.

Hardik Pandya displayed an all-round performance and Ravindra Jadeja shone with a brilliant 35 to power India seal a final-over thriller against Pakistan in their opening match of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022.

IND 148-5 (19.4 Overs)

Nawaz to bowl the final over

IND 141-4 (19 Overs)

Haris comes to bowl the 19th

IND 127-4 (18 Overs)

Naseem comes to bowl his last

IND 116-4 (17 Overs)

Babar calls Haris back into the attack

IND 106-4 (16 Overs)

Dahani comes to bowl his last

IND 97-4 (15 Overs)

14.2: Back of a length and zipping in from over the wicket at 142ks, it looked a lot quicker than that, though. Surya clears his front leg, slog and misses the ball altogether. Naseem hits his target and delivers the big breakthrough for Pakistan.

Naseem comes back

IND 89-3 (14 Overs)

Babar brings Dahani into the attack

IND 83-3 (13 Overs)

Shadab comes to bowl his last

IND 77-3 (12 Overs)

Nawaz continues

IND 69-3 (11 Overs)

Shadab comes again

IND 62-3 (10 Overs)

9.1: Kohli sends it straight down long-off’s throat. That was a bit of a gift to Iftikhar, who takes the simplest of chances. He struck it through the line, but didn’t get the distance on it, and it almost felt like catching practice for the fielder. Huge moment in the game.

Nawaz continues

IND 53-2 (9 Overs)

Shadab continues

IND 50-2 (8 Overs)

7.6: Rohit came down the ground to try and smash this through the line over mid-off, but he miscues it to long-off, where Iftikhar holds on to it

Mohammad Nawaz replaces Haris

IND 41-1 (7 Overs)

Shadab Khan comes into the attack

IND 38-1 (6 Overs)

Haris continues

IND 29-1 (5 Overs)

Dahani replaces Naseem

IND 23-1 (4 Overs)

Haris Rauf replaces Dahani

IND 15-1 (3 Overs)

Naseem continues

IND 10-1 (2 Overs)

Shahnawaz Dahani to bowl from the other end

IND 3-1 (1 Over)

0.2: Inside edge dragged onto the stumps, and Rahul departs first ball! Naseem strikes on his second ball, and Pakistan have their perfect start!

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul come out to bat for India. Naseem Shah to lead the bowling attack for Pakistan.

PAKISTAN vs INDIA (2nd INNING)

Indian pacers utilized the short pitch deliveries to dismantle Pakistan batting line-up for 147 despite a gritty knock from Mohammad Rizwan in the high-octane clash of Asia Cup 2022.

PAK 147-10 (20 Overs)

Arshdeep to bowl the final over

PAK 136-9 (19 Overs)

18.3: Full again from Bhuvneshwar, skids back in to ping the pad on the knee-roll. Not bat involved. Ball-tracking suggests it would have shaved the top of the stumps.

18.2: Bhuvneshwar spins around for an lbw appeal and the finger goes up. Shadab challenges the on-field out decision. Very full and ducks back in to catch the batter on the crease.

Bhuvneshwar comes to bowl his last

PAK 124-7 (18 Overs)

Avesh comes back

PAK 114-6 (17 Overs)

16.3: Slower leg cutter from Bhuvneshwar. Asif lofts in the air, does not get enough elevation. Picks out Surya at the boundary.

Bhuvneshwar comes back into the attack

PAK 111-5 (16 Overs)

Chahal comes to bowl his last

PAK 103-5 (15 Overs)

14.3: Five short balls, five wickets for India. This is Pandya’s third. Dug in short and angling across off from over the wicket. Shah leaps off his feet and swishes it straight to Jadeja at sweeper cover. Shah mistimes a cut and holes out This is turning out to be a terrific spell from Pandya.

14.1: Another short ball. Another wicket for India. Hardik bounces out another batter. Banged in short and keeps ducking in with the angle from over the wicket. Rizwan looks away and is surprised by the bounce. He goes low, aims to ramp half-heartedly and ends up guiding this 141kph delivery into the hands of Avesh at deep third.

PAK 96-3 (14 Overs)

Avesh comes back

PAK 90-3 (13 Overs)

12.1: Lifter outside off, 142ks, rushes Ahmed into a hook. He weakly flaps at the ball and top-edges it behind to DK who leaps and grabs the ball.

Pandya comes back into the attack

PAK 87-2 (12 Overs)

Chahal comes again

PAK 76-2 (11 Overs)

Jadeja continues

PAK 68-2 (10 Overs)

Chahal continues

PAK 63-2 (9 Overs)

Ravindra Jadeja comes to bowl his first

PAK 59-2 (8 Overs)

Yuzvendra Chahal comes into the attack

PAK 51-2 (7 Overs)

Hardik continues

PAK 43-2 (6 Overs)

5.5: The extra bounce beat him, or so it seemed, but it’s taken the faintest of nicks! The Indian players didn’t appeal much, but Fakhar just walked off. Not sure the umpire even raised the finger.

Avesh Khan replaces Arshdeep

PAK 30-1 (5 Overs)

Hardik Pandya comes into the attack

PAK 23-1 (4 Overs)

Arshdeep continues

PAK 19-1 (3 Overs)

2.4: Bouncer from Kumar and it got big on Babar as he looked to pull it to square leg.

Bhuvneshwar continues

PAK 14-0 (2 Overs)

Arshdeep to bowl from the other end

PAK 6-0 (1 Over)

Babar and Rizwan come out to bat for Pakistan. Bhuvneshwar to bowl the first over.

PAKISTAN vs INDIA (1st INNING)

DUBAI: India won the toss and elected to field first in the high-voltage clash against the arch-rivals Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022.

PLAYING XIs

Pakistan: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh

DUBAI: India won the toss and elected to field first in the high-voltage clash against the arch-rivals Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022.

PLAYING XIs

Pakistan: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh

KARACHI: With only a few hours left before the action begins at the glittering Dubai International Stadium for one of the biggest rivalries, cricket fever reaches its zenith as the two Asian giants and arch-rivals Pakistan and India are set to lock horns today in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022.

In less than a year, the arch-rivals will meet again, and they could do so three more times in the current year.

The two sides last met in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 when Pakistan thrashed their arch-rivals India by a massive margin of 10 wickets to claim their maiden triumph over the Men in Blue in a world cup game.

The humiliating defeat at the hands of Pakistan and then New Zealand resulted in halting India’s chances to secure a semi-final berth in the tournament.

The Men in Blue, therefore, will now be seeking to avenge their bitter defeat.

India, however, were jolted by an injury scare ahead of Asia Cup 2022 as their ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the continental event. Whereas, Pakistan also suffered an alike setback in the form of left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi ruling out due to a knee injury.

The Green Shirts then sustained another blow to their bowling department as Mohammad Wasim Jr also ruled out with an injury. His ouster left Pakistan with a relatively inexperienced fast bowling attack out of which will be a debutant Naseem Shah in a high-voltage clash. The spin attack will be the key point for the side that features Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz.

Despite Bumrah’s unavailability, India still have a rather strong attack, having the likes of Bhuveneshwar Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Ravichandran Ashwin.

Both sides will be heavily relying on their top-order. Pakistan on the trio of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Fakhar Zaman. Whereas, India will be hoping for their top four – Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, and Suryakumar Yadav – to fire.

Before taking the field in a much-anticipated clash India played 22 T20Is in the ongoing year and lost only four out of them. The top-ranked T20 side did not lose any series in the same period.

Pakistan, on the other hand, played only one T20I in 2022, that was against Australia back in April and lost by three wickets.
[totalpoll id=”240412″]

Apart from all these factors, another component that holds importance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the toss and due factor. It is often said the side winning the toss in UAE is more likely to win the match as well and the stats too, proved it right last time round in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021.

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD:

Asia Cup: Matches-14, India-8, Pakistan-5, NR-1

DUBAI: Pakistan pacer Naseem Shah is set to make his T20I debut today as Pakistan will lock horns with arch-rivals India in the high-voltage Asia Cup 2022 clash at Dubai International Stadium.

According to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the right-arm pacer will play his first T20I match today as he will be the 96th player to represent the Green Shirts in the T20Is.

Naseem Shah had earlier made his ODI debut during the recently concluded Pakistan tour of the Netherlands while he has also represented Pakistan in the red-ball format.

“I feel happy to represent Pakistan in all formats step by step,” said Naseem in a video posted on PCB’s official Twitter account.

🗣️ "Happy to represent Pakistan in all formats"@iNaseemShah will be making his T20I debut today against India 👏#AsiaCup2022 | #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/cc9IDCEGhk

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 28, 2022

 

“Debut match in any format is always very important as it determines what impact you will create in that format” he added.

“We all know, it’s a big match but I’ll try to play it like a normal match and perform well.”

READ: Pakistan team to wear black armbands to show solidarity with flood victims

DUBAI: National Cricket team will be playing its much-anticipated game against the arch-rivals India today wearing black armbands to show solidarity with the flood victims of the country.

According to the details, the Babar Azam-led side will be sporting black armbands in their opening game of the Asia Cup as a gesture of support to the affectees of one of the worst-hit floods in the country.

The team management will also be wearing black armbands along with the players.

Meanwhile, the skipper also announced aid for the flood victims and urged the nation to help the affectees during his press conference on Saturday.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan will take on India today in their Asia Cup 2022 opener at Dubai International Stadium as millions of cricket fans of both countries await the greatest rivalry of cricket.  The action will begin at 7:00  PM (PST).

READ: Sindh govt to raise funds for flood victims by screening Pak-India match

DUBAI: Afghan bowlers wreaked havoc on the Sri Lankan batting line before openers Hazratullah Zazai and Rahmanullah Gurbaz charged the bowlers to outclass Islanders by eight wickets with 59 balls to spare in the opening match of Asia Cup 2022.

Sri Lanka underwent a complete batting collapse as eight of their batters failed to enter the double figures and the team was bowled on 105 after they were put to bat.

Medium pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi remained inspirational with the ball as he grabbed two early wickets, dismissing Kusal Mendis and Charith Asalanka in the very first over of the game, with Naveen-ul-Haq getting rid of Pathum Nissanka in the next to reduce Sri Lanka on 5-3.

Despite a brief resistance in the middle powered by Danushka Gunathilaka (17) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (38) with a 44-run partnership, Afghanistan attacked with even greater force, storming through the lower order.

Chamika Karunaratne, on the other hand, played a valiant knock of 31 off 38 late in the order to help the side get past the 100-run mark.

For Afghanistan, Fazalhaq produced the sensational bowling figures of 3/11, while Mujeeb ur Rehman and Mohammad Nabi bagged two wickets each.

Set to chase a paltry total, Afghan openers blasted a powerful 83-run opening partnership with Gurbaz taking a toll on Sri Lankan bowlers as he smashed 40 off 18, hitting three boundaries and four gigantic sixes before Hasaranga De Silva bowled him out.

Zazai, on the other hand, scored an unbeaten 37 off 28, laced with five fours and a six to take his team towards a comprehensive victory in the 11th over for the loss of just two wickets.

With the thumping win, Afghanistan raised its chances to qualify for the next round of the tournament as it will now face Bangladesh in the next encounter of Group B on Tuesday.

READ: Sindh govt to raise funds for flood victims by screening Pak-India match