The high-voltage game between India and Pakistan on Sunday, August 28, turned out to be a late-night thriller as the defending champions won the game by five wickets in the last over with a couple of deliveries to spare.
While it seemed that India’s strong batting unit would chase the target of 148 with great ease, it wasn’t the case as the Pakistani bowlers made life difficult for the star-studded batting line-up of the defending champions on a tricky pitch.
The Men in Blue dealt a big blow in the form of their opener KL Rahul in the very first over during their chase. Naseem Shah, who was making his T20I debut, bowled a short-pitched delivery outside off which hit the edge of Rahul’s bat and eventually crashed into the stumps.
Pakistani ace pacer Shaheen Afridi, who was ruled out of the Asia Cup 2022 owing to a knee injury, was present in the stands. After falling of the wicket, the camera panned towards him where he was seen roaring in celebration of the wicket. The moment has since gone viral on the internet.
Notably, Afridi had also similarly dismissed the right-handed batter in the T20 World Cup 2021 at the same venue. He was also adjudged the Player of the Match for his match-winning spell, including the wickets of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Speaking of the match, the duo of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja did well to ensure a victory for their side. Pandya was named the Player of the Match for picking up three wickets and an unbeaten 33 of just 17 deliveries including four fours and a six.
The Babar Azam-led side will next face Hong Kong on the 2nd of September. They will need to win the encounter to keep themselves alive in the continental cup.
