IND vs PAK 2022: To see such an easy catch dropped was a bit surprising - Rajkumar Sharma after Team India's loss to Pakistan
Former Delhi cricketer and Virat Kohli's childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma, spoke about the main reasons why Team India lost to Pakistan in their Super 4 encounter in the ongoing Asia Cup on Sunday.
Rajkumar was baffled, like many Indian fans, when Arshdeep Singh dropped an absolute sitter of Asif Ali at short third man. That proved to be a huge blow as Asif went on to hit two boundaries and a six to take Pakistan to the brink of victory.
Speaking on India News Sports, the veteran coach also spoke about Bhuvneshwar Kumar's penultimate over, which went for 19 runs, and believes the game was all but over for India after the 19th over. Rajkumar stated:
"Catches do get dropped in a game, but to see such an easy catch dropped was a bit surprising. I am a bit disappointed with the way our experienced bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar continued to bowl length balls in the second-last over and gave away 19 runs. Although Arshdeep tried his best, 7 runs were too less to defend in the last over."
Mohammad Nawaz at No.4 took the game away from Team India: Saba Karim
Former Indian wicketkeeper and selector Saba Karim believes all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz's blistering 42 off just 20 balls proved to be the difference between the two sides.
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The all-rounder was sent at No.4 to take on India's leg-spinners and he did that with perfection. Nawaz also took Hardik Pandya apart and broke the back of the run chase, smashing 42 off just 20 balls. On this, Karim stated:
"I feel sending Muhammad Nawaz at No.4 and him scoring 40-odd runs with a strike rate of above 200 took the game away from India. Bhuvneshwar did bowl an expensive 19th over and Arshdeep did drop a simple catch."
The former selector also questioned Team India's ploy not to use their sixth bowling option in Deepak Hooda. He added:
"But the biggest factor I think was Team India using just five bowling options. They compromised with using Hardik as a fifth option and didn't even give a single over to Hooda."
India will now have to win both their remaining games against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan to keep their hope alive of making it to the Asia Cup 2022 final. Rohit Sharma and Co. will lock horns with Sri Lanka on Tuesday, September 6, in Dubai.