zaman: IND vs PAK Asia Cup: Fakhar Zaman walks off without appeal, earns praise from fans

Pakistan batsman Fakhar Zaman walked away after bowling the ball to the wicketkeeper despite any serious appeal from the Indian team during a high-intensity Asia Cup 2022 clash here on Sunday, earning praise from fans on social media.

Rohit Sharma put Pakistan to bat first and Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave India an early breakthrough with the wicket of Babar Azam. Babar Azam-led Pakistan were struggling to come big in the first six overs when Avesh Khan came to bowl the last over of the powerplay.

Mohammad Rizwan, who was then on nine off 17 balls, hit the pacer for a six and a four in successive deliveries, but the pace changed again in the over when Zaman conceded a run to the wicketkeeper off the last ball.

While there was no appeal from the Indians, Zaman started walking, causing the umpire to point his fingers. He was dismissed for 10 runs in 6 balls.

Soon after the remarkable incident, many fans took to Twitter and appreciated Fakhar’s gesture.

A user wrote, “Fakhar Zaman’s class act. When Pakistanis know they are out don’t watch them walk and the umpire misses it. #INDvPAK,” wrote one user.

Another tweeted, “Many batsmen would have stood there and pretended they didn’t sideline it and hoped the opposition wouldn’t appeal – but it was great sportsmanship of Fakhar Zaman #INDvsPAK #AsiaCup2022.”

Another fan also reminded everyone that cricket is a gentleman’s game.

The user wrote, “Fakhar Zaman salutes you for walking before the umpire raises his finger. Cricket is after all #INDvsPAK.”

After Babar’s early dismissal, Fakhar could have been a potential threat to the Indian bowlers along with Mohammad Rizwan. The left-handed batsman played a crucial innings against India in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, which Pakistan won by 180 runs.

–IANS

Avon/BSK

Originally published at Pen 18

Hardik’s all-round show helps India pull off scrappy win over Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022

Dubai: Hardik Pandya made a special all-rounder effort as India registered a thrilling five-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan in their Asia Cup opening match here on Sunday.

Hardik (3/25 in 4 overs) showed his high value under extreme pressure as his well directed short deliveries helped India bowl out Pakistan for 147. It should have been a straight forward chase, but India’s veteran top-three faltered, putting on extra pressure. middle order. Hardik (33 not out on 17) and Ravindra Jadeja (35 off 29) put on a 52-run partnership to take India to the pinnacle of a famous victory.

The star all-rounder’s three fours off Haris Rauf in the 19th over effectively sealed the game for India. With the team needing 6 runs in three balls, Hardik ended the game with a six off left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz. The focus was on India’s top three going into the tournament and all three – KL Rahul (0), Rohit Sharma (12 off 18) and Virat Kohli (35 off 34) didn’t have the best of times in the middle.

Rahul was dismissed on the first ball with a tentative off body stroke off Naseem Shah, which saw him play on his stumps. Virat, who hit some confident pull shots in his innings, was dismissed in the first over. He also played and missed a few times and got lucky when a wrong pull went all the way for six. With luck running out, it looked like Kohli would finally get a much-awaited big but he was caught at long off by Nawaz.

In his last over, Rohit was similarly dismissed as he attempted to clear the long off fielder. The Pakistani pacers, led by Naseem, troubled the Indian batsmen with extra pace and the spinners kept it tight, scoring 86 runs in the last 10 overs, a daunting task. When Shah returned to rattle Suryakumar Yadav’s stumps, India were reduced to 89 for four, riding on the visiting batsmen Hardik and Jadeja.

The equation was brought down to 32 off 18 balls, with Pakistan being forced to bring an extra fielder inside the circle due to an over-rate penalty. Pakistan’s fast bowlers, especially Shah, who were suffering from cramps, made the task of the Indians a little easier.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma decided to chase after winning the toss and the bowlers led by Hardik set up the game well for India. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/26) was at his skilful best and his four wickets included the prized skull of Babar Azam (10). However, Hardik’s envious figures of 3 for 25 in four overs during the middle leg destroyed the Pakistani batting.

Young seamer Arshdeep Singh also returned good figures of 2 for 33 in his first appearance in the Indo-Pak match as all 10 wickets were snatched away by Speed ​​Merchant, a first for India in the shortest edition. The first over of the game bowled by Bhuvneshwar was crucial as it involved two DRS calls in favor of Mohammad Rizwan (43 off 42) and a straight drive from Babar. There was not much movement for both Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep Singh as they managed to keep things tight in their opening spell of two overs.

Babar dismissed Arshdeep straight in the second over, who has been showing great performance in the last 12 months. However, Bhuvneshwar surprised the Pakistani captain with a bouncer in his second over and he went to short fine leg only to pull Arshdeep over the top edge. India went with Avesh Khan as the third pace substitute and he smashed a six and a boundary towards the midwicket region by Rizwan in his opening over.

His fifth ball of the over was faced by left-armer Fakhar Zaman, who decided to walk short and wide to wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, who was picked ahead of Rishabh Pant for the big game. With much noise from the crowd, the Indians did not listen to the edge, but Zaman decided to walk, leaving Pakistan at 43 for two in six overs. After this, Rizwan gave some momentum to the innings by sharing a 45-run partnership with Iftikhar Ahmed (28 off 22) for the third wicket.

However, Hardik changed the course of the game with well-directed short deliveries removing Iftikhar and Rizwan—the former passed it to Karthik and the latter, not sure what he was doing, third man was given a regulation catch. , Soon after, Hardik removed Khushdil Shah with another short ball to bowl Pakistan out for 97 for five in the 15th over. Number 11 Shahnawaz Dahani hit two big sixes in the death overs to take Pakistan close to 150.

Originally published at Pen 18

narendra modi: Team India put up spectacular all-round performance in Asia Cup match against Pakistan: PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated the Indian cricket team for their victory over Pakistan in the Asia Cup game, and said it displayed great skill and patience. In the match played in Dubai, India defeated Pakistan by five wickets.

Modi tweeted, “Team India did a great all-round performance in today’s Asia Cup 2022 match. Team displayed great skill and patience. Congratulations to them on the win.”

#TeamIndia put up a great all-round performance in today’s #AsiaCup2022 match. Great performance by the team… https://t.co/rhplZ8vcpP

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 1661710449000

Originally published at Pen 18

Asia Cup runneth over: India Paks it up

Accepting change is never easy. India has tried to embrace change in two different ways. The first is to use the same personnel and change the approach, which has happened with batting. The top three of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have repeatedly said that India now want to play a more independent and aggressive brand of Twenty20 cricket, even if it means losing out on consistency. However, there is not enough evidence that this line of thought has been implemented.

The second type of change is to give opportunities to different people in different roles to see who can deliver the best brand of cricket that the think tank wants. India managed to try it in bilateral series against England and West Indies. Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav opened the batting at different times, and Deepak Hooda was used as an independent batsman, hitting boundaries in a few overs.

But, when it came to the first major tournament, the Asia Cup, India went back to the old form.

“We have already got a lot of answers in the last eight to ten months and this experiment will continue,” Rohit said ahead of Pakistan’s match. “Look, we have decided that we will try things. Some things may work, and some things may not work, but there is no harm in trying. You will get the answer only if you try things.”

The top three problems came out clearly during the day. KL Rahul temporarily cuts outside strike against Naseem Shah.

Kohli seemed to be trying to play fearlessly, but he was more hands than feet, shining on his second ball, lucky enough to be dismissed at second slip. Kohli swung the ball the wrong way or inward more than once, and certainly looked weak. In the midst of all this, he played two dangerous shots. A forceful pull out from Shahnawaz Dahani brings back Kohli’s nostalgia and a whip over midwicket hits it over the fence at bullet speed.

But while the innings signaled a return to run-scoring methods for Kohli, it is too early to say that he has returned to form. As he has done in recent times, Kohli once again fell, not fully committed to a high shot from the left-arm spinner, and reached for the ball, slamming it straight to long off at 35. Kohli had tried to play the game changed, but it didn’t look like his heart was in him. Rohit, for his part, was deprived of strike early on and was unable to get the ball away when he came on strike.

Despite hitting a long six, Rohit had gone back to his old self, looking to settle down, playing a few balls before growing up. His 12 runs of 18 runs brought India back in the chase of 148 runs. What helped India that day was that the target was not big and their batting had enough depth. And it came on the basis of a strong bowling performance, Hardik Pandya performing like a proper bowler, not part-time taking 3 wickets for 25 runs. A rejuvenated Bhuvneshwar Kumar was also on top of his game, finishing with 4 for 26. But, while it was in vogue to talk about a new approach and change, it was clear that old problems remained and many questions still remained unanswered.

Originally published at Pen 18

bournemouth: Liverpool equal Premier League record with 9-0 hammering of Bournemouth

Liverpool clinched their first win of the season in spectacular fashion after equaling the record for the biggest Premier League win of all time, beating promoted Bournemouth 9-0 at Anfield on Saturday.

Two goals from Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott within the opening six minutes put the hosts in a commanding position from off.

Full-back strike from England

Alexander Arnold shot an arrow into the top corner to give Liverpool a three-goal lead in the 28th minute, before Roberto Firmino took action three minutes later in the fourth.

Not done there, Liverpool had fifth before the interval, Virgil van Dijk going home from a corner – the first time the Reds had scored five runs in the first half of a league game since 1958.

Chris Mayfum’s own goal had the visitors staring at the prospect of an embarrassing drubbing, such concerns heightened after a close-range finish from Firmino and converting a volley from Fabio Carvalho.

After Diaz finished ninth, Liverpool had five minutes to become the first team to score 10 goals in a Premier League match. But Bournemouth tried hard enough to avoid that humiliation, despite a brief scare.

This was the fourth time a team won a Premier League match 9–0, after Manchester United (twice) and Leicester City.

“We had to prove a point for ourselves,” said Liverpool coach Juergen Klopp, celebrating the biggest competitive win of his managerial career so far.

“We weren’t happy with the way we played so far this season, but we had good moments in those games.

“We just had to give a proper direction to the game and that’s why I loved the start today. Two amazing goals, everything about them.

“We kept scoring different goals, but with the same aim of keeping the pressure up. In the end it was a perfect football afternoon.”

The last time Liverpool had failed to win any of their opening four matches of the 2012–13 season, Mohamed Salah’s cross at the end of Diaz’s third-minute header found the net likely to be repeated once again. was not.

It was the first time in eight league games that Liverpool had scored first, and before long the hosts added a second at Merseyside Sunshine as young Elliott went home from the edge of the penalty area.

A third was quick to come, and an expected Anfield wait was worth it, with Alexander-Arnold striking an unstoppable strike into the net, while there was more than an element of luck about Liverpool’s fourth being eliminated by Firmino.

In finding the net, the Brazilian became the first Liverpool player to score four goals – three assists and one goal – in the Premier League.

Van Dijk’s header meant it was going to be a long second half for the visitors, with a sense of even greater dread after Mefham’s own goal, made it six after the break.

A poor parry from Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers was penalized by Firmino before Carvalho and Diaz’s supporters again called for a 10, with Bournemouth certainly looking nervous but it was not to be.

Bournemouth have now conceded more goals (16) in their first four matches of the Premier League season than any other side in the history of the competition.

“What happened today was a pleasant experience,” said Bournemouth coach Scott Parker.

“We need to make a decision (in the transfer market) and give these players a break. They are fighting for air.”

Originally published at Pen 18

hardik: Even if we needed 15, I would have fancied myself: Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya would have “admired” his chances even if India needed 15 runs instead of seven scored in the final over to win their Asia Cup opening match against Pakistan. Pandya had a dream game, taking 3 for 25 in the first 4 overs and then finishing the match with a six off Mohammad Nawaz, scoring 33 invaluable runs off 17 balls.

Pandya said after the match, “Having chases like this, you always plan over-by-overs. I always knew there is a young bowler (Naseem or Shahnawaz Dahani) and a left-arm spinner ( Nawaz) too.”

India’s number one player said, “We needed only 7 runs in the last over but even if we needed 15 runs, I would have guessed myself. I know the bowler is under more pressure than me in the 20th over. I try to keep it simple.” 1 all-rounder.

As far as bowling is concerned, Hardik knew that he needed to mix short deliveries and motivate the batsmen to commit mistakes.

“In bowling, it’s important to assess the conditions and use my weapons. For me, bowling short and hard lengths has been my strength. It’s about using them well and asking the right questions to spot the batsmen making mistakes. is.” ,

He has been brilliant since his comeback: Rohit

India skipper Rohit Sharma always knew the match was under control and was all praise for Hardik.

“Halfway through, we still knew we could win regardless of the situation. We had faith and when you have that belief, these things can happen,” Rohit said.

For Rohit, Hardik is someone who now knows what to do in specific situations.

“Ever since he (Hardik) made a comeback, he has been fantastic. When he was not part of the team, he thought about what he needed to do for his body and his fitness regime, and now he can easily reach 140+ is clocking.

“The quality of his batting is known to all of us and since his return it has been fantastic. He is much calmer now and more confident about what he wants to do, be it with the bat or the ball.”

Hardik can bowl fast which was on display that day.

“He can bowl really quickly, we saw with those short deliveries today. It was always about understanding his game and he is doing well now. With 10 runs per over under high pressure, you panic. but he never showed any of these,”

Told

Originally published at Pen 18

Asia Cup 2022: All eyes on India-Pak match today at Dubai International stadium

Originally published at Pen 18