Watch: Dinesh Karthik bows down to Hardik Pandya after finishing the game vs Pakistan
Team India started off their 2022 T20 Asia Cup on an emphatic note after thrashing their arch-rivals Pakistan in their thrilling tournament opener. The Men in Blue had several match heroes, but star all-rounder Hardik Pandya gave his contribution with both bat and ball and ensured that team India give a solid reply to the Men in Green after their previous loss during the 2021 T20 World Cup.
After taking three wickets with the ball, Pandya played a crucial knock with the bat as he scored an unbeaten 33 off just 17 balls smashing four fours and one maximum. Team India required six off four deliveries as Pandya smacked a flat delivery from Nawaz over long-on and sealed the game for his team.
Karthik acknowledged Pandya’s effort with the bat
Acknowledging Pandya’s efforts, the wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik, who was at the non-striker’s end, bowed to Pandya as the star all-rounder was seen having a smirk on his face. Karthik, on the other hand, faced one delivery and scored one run.
Here’s the video:
Talking more about the match, team Pakistan after being invited to have a bat first, had a poor start with skipper Babar Azam failing to get going. Senior batter Mohammad Rizwan played a decent knock of 43 runs with batter Iftikhar Ahmed also making a crucial contribution of 28 runs.
For team India, veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was simply unplayable as he scalped a total of four wickets. As mentioned above, Pandya also took three wickets for the Men in Blue. Pacers Arshdeep Singh (two wickets) and Avesh Khan (one wicket) also contributed with the ball.
In reply, team India had a shaky start with opening batter KL Rahul sent back to the pavilion for a golden duck. Senior batters Virat Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma stabilized team India’s innings before two of India’s star all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya, finished off the game for their team. Both teams will now face Hong Kong in their next group stage match of the Asia Cup.
