India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 Highlights: PAK beat IND by 5 wickets in thriller for the ages

Rahul Dravid answered a few questions, non-answered a few others and had the journalists in the room in fits with some during the pre-match presser yesterday. Most prominent of course is him being lost for politically correct words while describing the Pakistan pace attack. It was classic Dravid diplomacy on show, he was saying that India's pace attack is just as good and effective as Pakistan's while making sure that he did not offend those on the other side of the rivalry too much. 

It may be difficult to think about any other match when we are building up to one between India and Pakistan but there are two other pretty good teams playing in this stage. They face Sri Lanka next on Tuesday after which they face Afghanistan on September 8. Then of course comes the final if they manage to get there on September 11. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been at his best while Arshdeep Singh continues to impress the legends of his trade. Hardik Pandya seemingly has no limits to his abilities or stamina now. However, that is where the good news ends for India as far as bowling is concerned in this tournament. While Avesh Khan's struggles have been discussed, it may be more worrying that Yuzvendra Chahal has not really impressed at all in this tournament. It might be down to the conditions of course but then India would do well to ensure that their premier spinner's confidence doesn't get dented too much here. 

Wrap your heads around this stat - Suryakumar Yadav boasts a strike rate of 177.51 in his 25-match T20I career, having scored 758 runs in 23 innings. AB de Villiers seems to have passed on his powers entirely to Suryakumar after the South African great hung up his boots because while the Mumbai batter has always been seen as a player to consider for India in limited overs cricket, he is now playing the kind of innings that the Proteas legend used to be known for in his prime. After his sensational 68 not out off an eye-watering 26 balls during India's match against Hong Kong, SKY, one of many mythical names he goes by, got a bow from King Kohli himself and a special mention from his head coach and batting legend Rahul Dravid during the pre-match presser for this game. That's the second time the word ‘legend’ has been used in this post that talks about Surya and that probably says it all. 

India have adopted an approach in which they want to be aggressive right from the off. However, it is rather ironic that the players that they have for the task have all struggled to get going for much of the last two years. While Rahul and Kohli's struggles have been spoken about earlier, Rohit Sharma's has been a strange case in which he has managed to score the runs but hasn't been able to convert the good starts he has been able to get ever since he got back to limited overs cricket after a career-defining performance during the Test series in England last year. In this tournament, he hasn't been able to get good starts either in the two matches India have played. 

Just about a year ago, when Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were making the England fast bowlers toil in their own backyard during India's five-Test series in the country, Dinesh Karthik was part of the Sky Sports commentary panel. He went on to become a regular in latter series to the extent that many started forgetting that he was yet to retire. A bumper IPL season came along where he found a new calling as arguably India's best finisher and he has been back with the national squad ever since, keeping out Rishabh Pant in this tournament at least. Regardless of whether DK actually goes and plays in the T20 World Cup or not, the fact remains that his is a truly inspirational story for any player who think they are now past their prime and cannot reinvent themselves. DK during his younger days did play as a top order bat in first class cricket, remember. 

Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Fakhar Zaman, Khushdil Shah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Hasan Ali, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Hasnain, Haider Ali

KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant(w), Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Dinesh Karthik, Avesh Khan, Deepak Hooda

Pandya was rested for the match against Hong Kong and he certainly deserved that considering he probably played the role of at least two players in the match against Pakistan. He had the Pakistan batters ducking and weaving while bowling, eventually ending with 3 wickets. Then he scored an unbeaten 33 off just 17 balls to take India to victory. 

Waqar Younis seemed to be jumping with joy in the commentary box when he was talking about the kind of assistance that fast bowlers were getting from the Dubai pitch during last Sunday's fixture between these two teams. Judging by what we saw during the Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan humdinger yesterday, it could be more of the same and the return of Hardik Pandya is only going to bolster India's resources in that departmenr. 

Right let's get down to brass tacks. India and Pakistan have played 10 T20I matches against each other over the last 15 years and India have won eight of them, which includes the bowl-out win from the 2007 T20 World Cup. In the Asia Cup itself, India lead 8-5, with the match being washed out once in 1997.

It seems KL Rahul is suffering from the England predicament in the way that his good times in the shorter formats correspond with bad times in Test cricket and vice-versa. Rahul has scored three centuries in the last six Tests he has played but his T20 strike rate has taken a beating in that same period. In this Asia Cup, Rahul's form has been forgettable at best, getting out for a golden duck against Pakistan first up and then getting out for a 39-ball 36 against minnows Hong Kong. 

It may have been over three years since Virat Kohli did something that had become so normal for him he had stopped celebrating them, score a century. But the fact remains that he is the biggest superstar in the cricket world and is the one around whom the cameras and opinions buzz. The buildup to this tournament for India was all about whether Virat Kohli can prove his worth and now, it is all about whether Virat Kohli can perform the way he did against Hong Kong against stronger sides. Meanwhile, Kohli has been joking around with his teammates, chatting with often star-struck opposition players and clicking selfies with the obviously star-struck fans. Wonder what new chapter of the Kohliwatch will be opened up today. 

If this tournament was an audition for Avesh Khan to be India's third seamer at the T20 World Cup, chances are that he won't be playing too many games in the tournament later this year. In fact, his struggles have been going on for a while now. He has conceded runs at 9.79 and 11.90 in the middle and death overs respectively in T20Is since IPL 2022

Pakistan have the experienced Hasan Ali and the young firebrand Mohammad Hasnain to replace Dahani. It wasn't too long ago that Hasan Ali was regarded as the next big thing to come from Pakistan's seemingly endless line of express fast bowlers but the fact that he is not part of the regular playing XI in this tournament shows how far he has fallen down the pecking order. It remains to be seen if he gets the nod for today's match. 

It wasn't too long ago that Jadeja was seemingly out of the Indian limited overs squad permanently alongwith Ravichandran Ashwin. Well, far from the case now. The absence of Jadeja means that India have a real conundrum in their hands. They could either play Axar Patel, whose bowling skills cannot be questioned but his batting skills, despite playing some encouraging knocks recently, cannot be compared to that of Jadeja. Or else, India could bring in Rishabh Pant to shore up the batting but then it will have to be seen if he keeps wickets and Dinesh Karthik goes back to being a regular fielder. Moreover, neither Pant nor Axar, or most players in the world really, can replace Jadeja as a fielder. 

Jadeja may not have played the most fluent of knocks but his 35 off 29 balls was crucial in India stemming the flow of wickets and eventually turning the game around in their favour. He also bowled 2 overs and gave just 11 runs. He is out because of his recurring knee injury flaring up and it was reported that he may undergo a major surgery that could keep him out of the T20 World Cup as well. However, head coach Rahul Dravid said that it is yet to be known till what time the all-rounder will be all out. India will miss him today for sure. 

It's the second part of a possible trilogy. It was preceded by what was arguably the first true thriller between the two teams in just under a decade and could be succeeded by a match to decide the 2022 Asia Cup title itself. We are, of course, building up to Round 2 of India vs Pakistan in this year's Asia Cup. Good days indeed for cricket fans of both countries and all those organising and broadcasting this tournament. Let's get to it then!