IND vs PAK 2022: [WATCH] KL Rahul is bowled for 4 as he drags a Naseem Shah delivery onto his stumps

Team India opener KL Rahul was bowled for 4 against Pakistan as the Men in Blue suffered an early setback in their chase of 160 in the T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 match at the MCG on Sunday, October 23.

After Pakistan recovered from early blows to post a competitive 159/8 on the board in their 20 overs, India were looking to get off to a good start. However, it wasn’t to be as young Pakistan pacer Naseem Shah sent Rahul on his way cheaply.

In the second over of India’s innings, Rahul attempted to steer a short-of-a-good-length delivery from Pakistan’s right-arm fast bowler by opening the face of the bat. However, he got his timing completely awry. All he managed was to inside-edge the ball onto his back pad, which then went on to dislodge the stumps.

Rahul’s dismissal came with the score reading only 7. However, there was more bad news in store for Team India as their skipper Rohit Sharma also fell for a single-digit score. Having made 4, he poked at a quick delivery from Haris Rauf and only managed to nick the ball. The thick edge flew to Iftikhar Ahmed at slip, who dived low to his right and pulled off an excellent catch.

India also lost their X-factor Suryakumar Yadav before the end of the powerplay for 15. Yadav tried to steer a back-of-a-length delivery from Rauf to third man with an open face. But he was cramped for room and ended up nicking the ball to the keeper. India were in all sorts of strife at 31/4 as Axar Patel (2) was run out following a mix-up with Virat Kohli.

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Iftikhar, Masood fifties pull Pakistan out of trouble

Earlier, Iftikhar (51 off 34) and Shan Masood (52* off 42) scored fine half-centuries as Pakistan recovered from a poor start after being asked to bat by India. Arshdeep Singh got Team India off to a perfect start, trapping Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (0) lbw with his first ball. He also sent back Pakistan’s other prolific scorer Mohammad Rizwan (4 off 12) with a well-directed short ball.

Iftikhar and Masood, however, added 76 runs for the third wicket to bring Pakistan back into the contest. Shami ended the stand by trapping Iftikhar leg-before. Hardik Pandya then claimed three wickets as Pakistan slipped to 115/6. However, Masood and Shaheen Afridi (16 off 8) ensured the batting side finished with a good total.