India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2022: Men in Blue’s undisciplined bowling raises multiple questions for think tank

Pakistan required 26 runs from 12 deliveries to beat India on Sunday. India had one over spared of each of their fast bowlers — experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and the raw Arshdeep Singh. Bhuvi was the obvious choice for the 19th over, having done the job repeatedly if we roll the time back. Alas! He starts the over with a wide. After two legal deliveries, he bowls another wide. In between the two wides, Asif Ali – whom Arshdeep dropped in the previous over – had smashed a slower ball over long-on for a six. Bhuvi’s first three balls had gifted 10 runs. But, as always, Indian fans had hope. Talking points: Rizwan topples Kohli’s innings, Nawaz's promotion, and more Khushdil Shah had now acquired the strike. He disposes of a short ball to the square leg boundary. The match was swinging in Pakistan’s favour now, more than ever. The last ball of the over was slapped in the extra cover region, for another boundary, bisecting the two fielders in deep. The 19th over conceded 19 runs. Impeccable Bhuvi was expensive. Bhuvi, after raising all the hopes, giving just four runs in the 16th over, for once, proved to be hopeless. Seven runs of the final over seemed like a walk in the park. Arshdeep – considered a death specialist – at times – is compared with Jasprit Bumrah. But he is no Bumrah. Indian fans, though, still had hope. And though Arshdeep couldn’t defend the seven runs, was not hopeless. He yorked Ali and caught him LBW in what was a plumb decision before they could hit the winning runs. He took it down to the fifth ball. But Pakistan ensured to not lose again to their arch-rivals.

Player of the match Mohammad Nawaz talks about the depth in their batting line up 🇵🇰 and on their strategy to take the game deep in order to see through a difficult opponent in India🇮🇳#INDvPAK #ACC #GetReadyForEpic #AsiaCup pic.twitter.com/RfPEn7PUB2

— AsianCricketCouncil (@ACCMedia1) September 4, 2022

At times, Pakistan batters looked very good. But, at times, Indian bowlers made them look good. India’s bowling was undisciplined and the Pakistan batters properly exploited the loopholes. To add numbers to the context, three Indian bowlers touched an economy of 10. Pakistan scored 78 runs in seven overs – from 9th to 15th, wherein spinners are required to choke the run flow. India bowled six wides in their innings – one in 17th, three in 18th, and two in 19th. The death bowling truly resulted in India’s death on Sunday. For starters, Rohit Sharma only used five bowlers — including Hardik Pandya. With five bowlers, an off day for even one of the bowlers could have been lethal for the side, whereas two and one-fourth Indian bowlers had an off day.

This game is such a leveller!

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 4, 2022

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Pandya experienced that the highs and lows come one after the other and also gave the world a bit of a live philosophical lesson. Yuzvendra Chahal was not able to pick wickets in Asia Cup, and after he got his first today, he reciprocated giving runs at 10.8 per over. And the above elaborated Bhuvi’s 19th over is the remaining one-fourth. The question that rises here is, why was Deepak Hooda not bowled against Pakistan? If he is not supposed to bowl and since he is not a left-hander either, why was he selected ahead of a proven finisher in Dinesh Karthik? Rohit was probably anxious to give Hooda a bowl with batters smashing even in the middle overs. But an over or two from Hooda could also have been economical. And with his short run up the overs would have completed faster, letting India have a fifth fielder outside the circle in the last over. Read: Derailed batting plan and unimpressive bowling combine to put India at losing end Pandya has shown tremendous improvement in his bowling, but the captain tagging him as a frontline fifth bowler might just add some pressure on him. Again the short balls that gave him immense success in the first match, were pulled and cut toward boundaries this time. And most importantly, the think tank under the previous reign – now re-termed as team management – will have to answer another question – whether Pandya can be taken as a front-line bowler. India’s bowling this tournament is definitely not the best – Bumrah is the biggest miss. Even Harshal Patel would prove vital at the death. And with Avesh “under the weather”, Deepak Chahar might be sent an SOS to join the squad in Dubai. Considering the situation, the decision that also seems precarious is the selection of only three front-line quicks in the 15-member squad.

Getting an extra 20-25 runs on the board could have been a different story, says @imVkohli 🇮🇳 after a narrow loss against Pakistan 🇵🇰#INDvPAK #ACC #GetReadyForEpic #AsiaCup pic.twitter.com/TMlhWYgJYN

— AsianCricketCouncil (@ACCMedia1) September 4, 2022

If it were an exam, Rohit and Rahul Dravid were appearing, the next question would be, Will Ravichandran Ashwin ever be drafted in the starting XI? If Yes, it should be against Sri Lanka. If No, they should reason his selection over a fourth fast bowler. The last one in the question paper, to ensure they have worked hard to clear, would be if Axar Patel was the most suited replacement for Ravindra Jadeja , why did he not walk into the playing XI straight away? Jadeja’s absence will be difficult to fill in even for Axar, but he could have been the handy finisher Kohli rued having at the death. As hopeful as Indians are, the questions will be answered over the next two matches, and with the India-Pakistan bout set at one-all after two rounds, we could possibly have in the third round on the third Sunday of the tournament. Also, the organisers and the broadcasters will be more eager to get the answers. Because if India fails, their business will face a bigger failure. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.