Asia Cup 2022, India vs Pakistan Highlights: All-round Nawaz helps Pakistan beat India by 5 wickets in a thrilling Super 4 clash

Chasing 182, the left-arm spinner came out to bat at No. 4, after returning figures of 1/25 with his left-arm spin, in the ninth over with the scoreboard reading 63/2. With Mohammad Rizwan batting like a rock at the other end, Nawaz launched a brutal counter-attack on the Indian bowlers to score a 20-ball 42, hitting six boundaries and two sixes in front of the wicket, and put India on the backfoot. He nullified India’s middle-over trump card Yuzvendra Chahal, milking him for 1/43 in his four overs. As It HappenedEven as Rizwan fell for a 51-ball 71 moments to Pandya’s slower ball at long-off after Nawaz went the same way off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the Indian team cracked under pressure. Arshdeep Singh dropped a sitter offered by Asif Ali at short-third in the 18th over.

Needing 26 off 12, Khushdil Shah and Asif got stuck into India’s most experienced seamer Bhuvneshwar, whose death-bowling abilities got exposed, to pick up 19 runs off the 19th over. Arshdeep’s effort to make amends for the dropped catch was always going to be tough with just seven in the bank.

Nawaz’s sterling show put Virat Kohli’s return to form in the shadow. Kohli turned back the clock with 60 off 44. The magical form which kept distancing itself from him in empty stadiums during the pandemic here in UAE in 2020, came back in front of a packed Dubai International Cricket Stadium against fiercest of rivals. Kohli’s innings may not come across as the most astounding of T20 innings in terms of statistics, but its significance in the larger context is much greater than helping India post a challenging 181/7. Perhaps he was crippled by the lack of support from the middle-order which undid all the good work done by the top-three batters Rohit Sharma, Rahul