Asia Cup 2018
Flickr photo by wonker shared under a Creative Commons (BY 2.0) license.

India vs. Pakistan: What went wrong?

Alvina Ahmed·
One Day International (ODI)
·2 Comments·

India and Pakistan met after a year’s gap in the Asia Cup 2018 yesterday, and there was plenty that went wrong for the Men in Green…

In the highly anticipated fifth match of the Asia Cup 2018, Pakistan and India locked horns after more than a year. The two teams last met in the Champions Trophy final, where Pakistan swept their rivals aside by a huge margin of 180 runs. Fans and critics alike were expecting a similar showing by the champions this time around. Pakistan, however, chose to surprise their fans by proving themselves to be unpredictable once again. The match that should have favoured the team that had home advantage in the UAE didn’t play out as such. Here’s a look at everything that went wrong for Sarfaraz’s men:

1. No opening stand

After winning the toss, Pakistan chose to bat first. The team was relying heavily on its openers to set the tone for a good total – but the openers failed them. Imam and Fakhar were removed in the space of just four overs, amassing a paltry 3 runs. Fakhar Zaman, who had been the star of the Champions Trophy final failed to add even a single run on the board as he was dismissed for a duck. This was his first ODI dismissal without scoring.

2. Failure of the middle order

The middle order was no good either. Babar Azam and Shoaib Malik tried to rebuild the innings after the early loss of two wickets but could only manage an 82-run stand. Babar was dismissed in the 22nd over and Malik was run-out shortly after. Their skipper also had a bad day as Sarfraz was forced to return to the dressing room after a brilliant catch by Manish Pandey. Collapsing completely, the Green Shirts lost their last seven wickets for just 77 runs.

3. Missing a captain’s innings

At crucial times like these when the team’s struggling, the captain needs to step up and deliver. Sadly, for Pakistan, the skipper failed to stand at the crease for long. His attempt to hit the part-timer Jadhav for a six got him out after playing only 12 balls. At a time when Pakistan were looking for a stable partnership, this attempt at slogging the ball was an extremely immature move on the captain’s part. As Mickey Arthur later said, “It’s not Sarfraz’s role to be hitting over the top and getting caught out there. We’ve got X-factor guys whose role it is to do that.”

4. Bowling

The bowlers did not live up to their full potential either. Pakistan’s current side is known for having one of the best bowling attacks in the world. However, the bowlers failed to strike early enough. Hence, the Indian openers comfortably set the tone for an easy chase.

5. Nerves

All in all, it was the pressure that got to Team Pakistan. India vs. Pakistan has always been a game of nerves more than anything – and yesterday, it was the Indian team that was able to soak up the pressure well and emerge on top. Even Pakistan’s coach agreed that his team panicked and that led them astray from their plans. Talking about his team’s capitulation, he said, “We panicked and went away from our plans.”

Thankfully though, all is not lost. Prior to this match, India and Pakistan had already qualified for the Super Four stage. Pakistan will now have to win at least 2 out of its 3 matches in this round to reserve a place in the final – and they meet India again on the 23rd. Let’s hope Pakistan is better able to control its nerves on Sunday. After all, who doesn’t want an India vs. Pakistan final?