India vs Pakistan, T20 World Cup 2022: Arshdeep Singh’s three-for helps restrict Men in Green to 159/8

Arshdeep Singh repaid the faith shown in him by the team with a quality performance during India’s opening game of the T20 World Cup against Pakistan in Melbourne. Arshdeep removed both openers during his spell of 2/10 from two overs after India opted to field in overcast conditions at a sold-out Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. T20 World Cup: Full coverage | Schedule | Results | Points Table | News | Photos Arshdeep would later collect a third wicket after being brought back into the death overs, getting Asif Ali caught-behind for 2 in his third over as the Men in Green lost their seventh wicket. He would, however, end his spell on an expensive note, getting hit for a six and a four off consecutive balls by fellow left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi in his final over of the evening, finishing with figures of 3/32 from four.

This is Arshdeep's world, we all are just living in it! 👑

3️⃣ wickets for our 🦁! 💪

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) October 23, 2022

“I just wanted to enjoy the moment. It will not come again. That was the plan, the straight boundaries were really big. The conditions helped. We came with no expectations, anything we got was an extra,” Arshdeep said in an interview with the broadcasters during the innings break. Six of the eight Pakistani wickets that fell on the day were shared between Arshdeep and seam-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya (3/30), who also kept the Pakistani batters under check with a three-wicket haul and finished with the best figures among the Indians on the day. Both skipper Babar Azam (0) and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammed Rizwan (4), who are the leading batters in the team, departed for single-digit scores as the Men in Green got off to a forgettable start. The left-arm seamer struck off his very first delivery of the evening, trapping Babar LBW for a golden duck, which the Pakistan skipper reviewed in vain. Read: Amid speed rush, Arshdeep reaps rewards for consistency and accuracy Rizwan, meanwhile, managed to open his account with a boundary in the same over, tickling the ball away towards fine leg, but was caught in the same region by Bhuvneshwar in Arshdeep’s second over after top-edging a short ball.

Arshdeep Singh becomes the first bowler to dismiss both Pakistan openers Babar and Rizwan at single digit scores in the same innings.

— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) October 23, 2022

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Pakistan, meanwhile, went slam-bang in the second half of their innings after crawling to 60/2 in the first 10 overs, adding 97 in the next 10 to finish on 159/8. Shan Masood (52 not out) and Iftikhar Ahmed (51) led the Men in Green’s recovery after the early dismissals of Babar and Rizwan, bringing Pakistan back on their feet with a solid 76-run third-wicket stand. Afridi also chipped in in the slog overs with 16-run cameo in which he had a strike rate of 200. Arshdeep earlier had been preferred by the Men in Blue over Harshal Patel, who looked impressive in India’s warm-up match against Australia. While India also picked Dinesh Karthik over Rishabh Pant along largely expected lines, it was Ravichandran Ashwin's selection over Yuzvendra Chahal that raised a few eyebrows. Pakistan had hammered India by 10 wickets in Dubai last year the last time the two South Asian arch-rivals squared off in a T20 World Cup match, with the Men in Green ending their World Cup jinx against India in the process. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.