Asia Cup 2022: Mohammad Nawaz - The man who turned the Super 4 match vs India on its head
Nawaz was sent out to bat at number 8 in the league stage match vs India in the ongoing Asia Cup, which India won. On that occasion he managed to score just 1 off 3 balls. On Sunday though, after Pakistan lost two if their best batters in captain Babar Azam (14) and Fakhar Zaman (15) and with the scoreboard reading 63 for 2 in 8.4 overs, Pakistan head coach Saqlain Mushtaq and skipper Babar decided to promote the hard-hitting Nawaz up the order. It was a gamble. And it paid off handsomely for Pakistan. The reasoning behind this was to counter the two Indian leggies and Nawaz, who before this match had scored a total of 124 runs in 14 innings, played a knock that turned the match on its head, completely swinging the momentum Pakistan's way. When Nawaz walked out to bat the equation for Pakistan read - 119 needed in 68 deliveries. This was the stage where Rohit Sharma would have liked to really apply the brakes on Pakistan to make sure that the required run rate inched into the realm of the almost impossible. But that's exactly what Nawaz didn't allow the Indian bowlers to do.
