Dubai, September 22: Shubman Gill (47 off 28 balls) and Abhishek Sharma (74 off 39) put on a masterclass at the top of the order as India chased down the target of 172 set by Pakistan in 18.5 overs, in a Super 4 Asia Cup game played in Dubai.
At the innings break, Pakistan’s score seemed to be competitive. However, Abhishek and Gill brought back evocative memories from their junior days by exploring every nook and cranny of the ground in the power play. As always, Abhishek took the aggressive route against the first ball that he faced — pulling Shaheen Afridi for a six. Although it was a top edge, Abhishek had once more made his intention clear. A few words were also exchanged between Abhishek and Afridi.
Gill then took over by essaying a volley of shots while facing Saim Ayub and Afridi. Gill’s pristine timing could be exemplified by how he charged down the track and thwacked Afridi via the extra-cover region. He also showcased his class with a short-arm jab. There was one more heated exchange, with Gill indicating to Afridi where the ball had ended up. Fortunately for India, it didn’t end up like Aamir Sohail versus Venakatesh Prasad from the 1996 World Cup encounter between the two sides.
After just six overs, India had reached 69. By then, Abhishek and Gill were on 33 and 35 off 18 deliveries each. Even Abrar Ahmed, Pakistan’s mystery spinner, wasn’t spared. Abhishek clubbed one via the mid-wicket region in the fourth over. To make matters worse for Pakistan, Farhan Sahibzada dropped a catch in the seventh over, with Abhishek getting the reprieve.
IND vs PAK: Batting exploits take India take over the line https://t.co/dMlQIx26Ty
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Abhishek soon completed his 50 with a boundary off Ayub. Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir aptly gave him a warm round of applause from the dug-out. The left-hander also blew a flying kiss in the direction of someone in the stands. Pakistan did break the stand, with Faheem Ashraf rattling Gill’s timber.
Rauf followed it up by removing Suryakumar while Abhishek fell to Abrar.
The spirited Rauf also sent Sanju Samson’s stumps for a walk in the park. Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma, though, calmed down the nerves in the Indian camp with an undefeated alliance of 26.
Earlier, the narrative surrounding India’s bowling and fielding efforts were dropped catches. In the ‘Ring of Fire’ of the Dubai International Stadium, four catches went down. Varun Chakravarthy was the most unlucky bowler of the lot, with two grassed chances off his bowling. He still finished with creditable figures of none for 25 from four overs.
From India’s point of view, Shivam Dube turned out to be the surprise package. The well-built all-rounder snapped his back quite hard and extracted enough bounce to trouble Pakistan’s batters. He also got the dangerous Farhan for 58. Even though his final over went for 17 runs, the Indian camp would be pleased with his bowling.
Meanwhile, Farhan turned out to be the fulcrum of the Pakistan unit. The opener cracked five fours and three sixes. The highlight of his innings was perhaps the way he picked Kuldeep Yadav’s googly and launched it over long-on. Mohammad Nawaz and Ashraf also made decent contributions. Just that, in the final analysis, it didn’t prove to be enough against an Abhishek-inspired batting line-up. India sealed their seventh successive win over Pakistan in men’s cricket.
There was some hype and drama surrounding the match, especially in the backdrop of the handshake-gate late week. Yet, the stadium wasn’t packed to the brim. Is India-Pakistan cricket losing some of its charm? Your guess is as good as mine.
Brief scores: Pakistan 171/5 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 58; Shivam Dube 2-33) lost to India 174/4 in 18.5 overs (Abhishek Sharma 74, Shubman Gill 47; Haris Rauf 2-26) by 6 wickets.
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