Team India registered an emphatic five-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan on August 28 (Sunday) and started their Asia Cup 2022 campaign in the best possible manner. Hardik Pandya's all-round brilliance rolled out India's path to victory while some questions still remained unanswered for the Men in Blue. For instance, former India captain Virat Kohli was the joint-highest scorer for the Men in Blue but his knock was sluggish, to say the least.
The maverick batter struggled with timing throughout his innings and was dismissed by Mohammad Nawaz for 35 runs off 34 balls. Also, the right-handed batter was dropped by Fakhar Zaman off Naseem Shah's bowling in the very first over of India's innings.
Form Pakistan captain and legendary batter Inzamam-ul-Haq criticised Kohli for throwing his wicket away after getting set.
"There was a lot of pressure on Kohli yesterday. Usually, it is difficult to dismiss a set batter, but I was surprised to see yesterday that Kohli was not looking confident even after getting set," the former Pakistan captain said on his YouTube channel.
Inzamam also questioned the Indian management's decision to pick Dinesh Karthik in the playing XI instead of swashbuckling left-handed batter Rishabh Pant.
"India’s middle order and lower middle order is very strong. That is what sets them apart from the other teams in this Asia Cup. I was surprised that India chose to bench Rishabh Pant. The combination of Pant, Pandya and Jadeja is very dangerous. It was difficult to chase down 11 runs an over on this pitch, but they played really well," he added.
Both India and Pakistan will face Hong Kong next in their Group A clash while there is also a high chance of both teams locking horns against each other once again in the Super Four stage.
