Asia Cup 2018: Five unnoticed things from the India-Pakistan match

India once again decimated Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2018 to cruise to a comprehensive nine-wicket win over their neighbours in the second round of the Super Four stage. Batting first at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Pakistan managed to put up only 237/7 from their 50 overs. India riding on the centuries from their openers achieved the target with 63 balls remaining.

After the failure of top-order, Pakistan’s experienced duo of the captain Sarfraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik stitched a 109-run partnership together for the fourth wicket. Despite Asif Ali’s best attempts in the death overs, India’s accurate pace bowling limited Pakistan’s first innings score to 237.

The Indian opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma was in absolute control of the chase from the beginning and was never in any sort of trouble. Pakistan did drop a catch of Rohit Sharma which added to their misery as the hitman remained unbeaten till the end with a score of 111. Dhawan was run out after a marvellous knock of 114 from 110 balls which ended India’s opening partnership at 210 runs.

Ambati Rayudu knocked off the winning runs. Although this was a high-profile match, a few things might have gone unnoticed. Here are five things which you may have missed from today's India-Pakistan match:

---

#5 Failure of Pakistan’s Top order

Pakistan were reduced to 58-3

Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss and elected to bat today. Opener Imam-ul-Haq got out lbw for 10, his partner Fakhar Zaman scored a sedate 31 while number Babar Azam was out for nine as Pakistan found themselves in trouble at 58/3.

The very situation is not a frequent phenomenon for Pakistan. Their top three batsmen have been in incredible form leading to the Asia Cup and the only other top order to average better than that of Pakistan’s is India’s top order.

In the last 12 months, Fakhar Zaman (868 runs at an average of 62), Imam-ul-Haq (686 runs at an average of 62.36) and Babar Azam (673 runs at an average of 51.76) have been the leading run-getters for Pakistan. Their failure today hurt the nation severely.

#4 Fakhar Zaman’s consecutive mistake of not reviewing

Zaman was second-time unlucky

In Pakistan’s first Super Four match against Afghanistan on Friday, they came out, having been set a target of 258 runs. Fakhar Zaman, Pakistan's young opener, was trapped lbw by the mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rehman for a duck. After consulting with his partner, Zaman decided not to review the decision. However, the replays suggested that the ball's impact was outside off-stump.

In today’s encounter versus India, Fakhar Zaman grafted his way to a cautious 31 run cameo before he attempted a sweep shot off Kuldeep Yadav. Zaman slipped in his attempt and was adjudged lbw.

The replays showed that the ball’s first contact was with his gloves, which rules out the lbw decision. Zaman, however, decided not to review and went back to the pavilion.

After a brilliant run this year, Zaman’s form is tapering off. He could have used reviews to his advantage and gain another life, but it was not to be.

#3 India’s fabulous death bowling effort

Bumrah was excellent during the death overs

After the devastating loss in the league stage, Pakistan began cautiously today but once again lost early wickets. Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik batted steadily and by the end of 40 overs, Pakistan had reached 169/4 with the big-hitter Asif Ali present in the middle.

The Indian bowling attack came into their own and conceded only 68 runs in the last ten overs. There was one over of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar where he was hit for 22 runs, apart from that, no other over went for more than 10 runs. In the last five overs, Pakistan could gather only 26 runs.

The credit belongs to the amazing pair of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. Both bowling at full tilt managed to land the ball into the blockhole repeatedly and made life difficult for the Pakistani batsmen. Chahal and Kuldeep, who also bowled at the death, kept the pressure mounting.

#2 Mohammad Amir ending wicketless

Amir had an economy rate of 8.20 today

Mohammad Amir has not been the same bowler he was before he was found guilty in the spot-fixing scandal. Since his return, he has evoked fear in only a few matches and has not been consistent at all. After being dropped for the last match against Afghanistan, Amir was included in the bowling unit today against India.

Including Amir’s fruitless spell of 5-0-41-0 today, the left-arm pace bowler has taken only two wickets in the last nine ODIs. His last ODI wicket was five matches ago against Zimbabwe. Since then, Amir has played two ODIs against Zimbabwe, one against Hong Kong and two against India without capturing a wicket.

If we add the number of overs bowled by Amir since his last wicket, the tally comes out to be 35.4 overs which is equal to 214 balls. The inability to take wickets will force Pakistan into the pondering over the future of this bowler.

#1 The Super pair of Rohit and Dhawan

Dhawan-Rohit managed a 210 run stand

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, India’s openers, out-batted Pakistan in the 238-run chase. The duo was formidable and stitched together a match-winning partnership of 210 runs to complete India’s fourth successive win in the Asia Cup.

The pairing of Rohit and Shikhar has been extremely profitable for India and with Virat Kohli to bat at number three, India’s top order can strike fear in any bowling attack. In 82 ODIs that Rohit and Shikhar have opened, they have scored 3846 runs at a splendid average of 47.48.

In the process, the left-right combination of Rohit and Shikhar raised their 13th-century stand. The tally puts them fourth on the all-time list behind the great opening pairs of Sourav Ganguly-Sachin Tendulkar (21), Adam Gilchrist-Matthew Hayden (16) and Gordon Greenidge-Desmond Haynes (15). This is a remarkable achievement for a pair that came together five years ago.