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Asia Cup 2022: Three key Pakistan cricketers miss training session ahead of must-win Hong Kong match
Asia Cup 2022: Ahead of their must-win Hong Kong match, Pakistan rested three crucial players for their training session on Tuesday.
Having opened their Asia Cup 2022 campaign with a defeat against India in Dubai, Pakistan face Hong Kong in a must-win match with qualification for the Super 4 stage at stake. In a major development according to reports, the Babar Azam-led side rested all three pacers,Shahnawaz Dahani, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf, who played against India for their training session on Tuesday, at the ICC Cricket Academy.
Pakistan crashed to a five-wicket defeat against India at the Dubai International Stadium. They were bowled out for 147 in 19.5 overs, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya taking four-wicket and three-wicket hauls respectively. Mohammad Rizwan top-scored with a knock of 43 runs off 42 balls.
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Chasing a target of 148 runs, India reached 148 for five in 19.4 overs with Pandya smashing the match-winning six. The all-rounder played an unbeaten knock of 33 runs off 17 balls.
According to former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, Babar made one mistake during the match against India. Speaking to Star Sports, he said, "I like this T20 type of pitch. I enjoyed watching bowlers bowl bouncers and getting wickets, both sides. It was a good cricketing game that went down to the wire till the last over. Babar made one mistake. He should have had Nawaz bowl the 13th or 14th over. It was too late. You can't have a spinner in T20s bowling in the last 3 to 4 overs, especially against the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya."
"He is a very clever bowler, Nawaz. He had just bowled the straighter one, got the inside edge. Well done India. They won the game. Congratulations. But I was impressed by Pakistan's bowler. Dahani, playing his 3rd or 4th game, Naseem Shah, 20-21 years-old playing his first game, Haris Rauf has been consistent for Pakistan and every bowler tried their heart out. You can see that the future is bright for Pakistan as far as fast bowling is concerned", he further added.
Pakistan face Hong Kong on Friday, at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah. Meanwhile, Hong Kong, who had won the qualifiers, face India for their first match on Wednesday.
