It’s been 10 months since Shaheen Afridi’s memorable spell of pace and swing dismantled India’s batting in a T20 World Cup game here at the Dubai International stadium.
The Indian pace attack literally and figuratively bounced back on Sunday evening to bowl out Pakistan for 147 as the Indian batters scrambled to a thrilling five-wicket win with two balls to spare in the opening match of the Asia Cup.
Led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya, Indian pacers dished out short-pitch stuff right through the innings as first five Pakistan wickets fell to deliveries climbing to the shoulders of the Pakistani batters.
Bhuvneshwar’s 4/26 and Hardik’s 3/25 gave Indian batters a relatively modest target to go one-up over Pakistan in this tournament.
It came down to Hardik to finish off the messed-up chase with an unbeaten 17-ball 33.
As Hardik finished the match with a six off left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz, he again showed why he becomes an indispensable part of the team when he is bowling at full tilt.
