India and Pakistan faced each other in a match in the Asia Cup 2022 yesterday at Dubai International Stadium and once again, it was a high voltage match between the two neighbouring nations which was won by India by 5 wickets. However, the Indian openers Rohit Sharma (12 runs, 18 balls, 1 six) and KL Rahul disappointed fans with their performances and though Virat Kohli got the going, he also gave away his wicket in a silly manner.
Virat Kohli was dropped on the score of zero by Pakistani fielder Fakhar Zaman and he did use it to his advantage as he scored 35 runs for which he played 34 balls. This was a special match for Virat Kohli as it was his 100th T20I and his fans must have expected a bigger innings from him.
The former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was also not happy with the Indian top-order as he raised questions on the shot selection of the skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Gavaskar stated that nothing can be judged from the innings of KL Rahul as he played only one delivery but both Rohit and Virat got the time to play and they did score runs. Gavaskar said that earlier when people were talking about Kohli’s form, he used to say that Kohli is out of luck but today luck was with the former RCB skipper as he was dropped, he got some inside edges which went very close to the stumps and he used it to his benefit and played some really good shots.
Sunil Gavaskar added that however with the start that he got, Virat Kohli should have scored around 60-70 but he got out as soon as Rohit Sharma got out. Little Master went on to say that both the cricketers got out on ‘forgettable’ shots which were not needed at that time because the asking rate wasn’t 19 or 20 and there was no need of hitting sixes for them. According to Gavaskar, they both should have stayed on the crease and scored 70-80 before going for big shots and this has to be the takeaway from this match.
It won’t be wrong to say that it was India’s middle order which scripted India’s victory as Ravindra Jadeja (35 runs, 29 balls, 2 four & 2 sixes) and Hardik Pandya (33 runs not out, 17 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) produced a partnership of 52 runs. Though Ravindra Jadeja got out on the first ball of the 20th over of the Indian innings, Hardik Pandya finished the match for India by hitting a huge six.
Do you agree with Sunil Gavaskar’s statement that both Virat and Rohit should play a little sensibly? Let us know your views in this connection.