T20 World Cup 2021: "Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav counter-attacking Afridi was just awesome cricket to watch" - Brad Hogg
Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg reserved praise for Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav's brief rescue act in the powerplay. After being reduced to 6-2 in the third over, Kohli and Yadav put up a 25 run stand in 20 deliveries.
The Indian skipper leading from the front on the big occasion 👏
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With Shaheen Afridi in full flow, Pakistan were going all-out for more wickets in the powerplay. Suryakumar Yadav reduced the pressure with a flashy six that just evaded the fielder in the deep.
The left-arm pacer bowled his third straight over in the powerplay and had Kohli on the ropes with three consecutive dot balls. The Indian skipper responded with a six over long-on after coming down the track. The small exchange drew praise from Hogg, who while speaking on his YouTube channel said:
"Virat Kohli played a wonderful shot straight past over the bowler's head, that was just counter-attacking play and it was awesome cricket to watch. Even Suryakumar Yadav playing that pull shot off Shaheen Afridi was great. That is just courageous, aggressive cricket and if both of them had got out on those particular deliveries, everyone would have been screaming about it, but at some stage India had to take the risk."
Suryakumar Yadav is gone ☝️
Hasan Ali finds a thick outside edge, scalping the 🇮🇳 batter for 11.
An acrobatic catch from Rizwan 🧤
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The rebuild, however, did not last long as Suryakumar Yadav perished to Hasan Ali in the final over of the powerplay. Mohammad Rizwan took a sharp catch behind the stumps, which also marked his 100th catch in T20 cricket.
Afridi was just on the money from ball one: Hogg
Shaheen Afridi's exploits with the ball carved open the Indian batting unit. His angle, pace and little movement offered was too hot for the Men In Blue to handle. Hogg noted how crucial Afridi's match-up against the likes of Kohli and Rohit was, heading into the contest. Hogg added:
"Shaheen Afridi was just too good. This was a worry for me. Shaheen Shan and Haris Rauf, two young fast bowlers, playing such a high-profile match, the emotions might get to them. He was just on the money from ball one. It was just sensational left-arm bowling upfront. His matchups against Rohit and Kohli were key heading into this match but getting Rahul out was unbelievable," Hogg explained.
Shaheen Afridi was adjudged as the player of the match as Pakistan registered their first win over India in World Cups. Both sides next face New Zealand, a set of fixtures which could arguably seal the fate of the group.