Pakistan reach Asia Cup final and extinguish India’s hopes

Gulf News

Pakistan beat Afghanistan in the Super 4 clash of the Asia Cup at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium tonight to book their places in Sunday’s final. The win means India have been knocked out of the tournament. Mr. Cricket UAE Anis Sajan and the Gulf News team discuss the match and the consequences of the result…  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/sport/cricket/as-it-happened-pakistan-beat-afghanistan-by-1-wicket-in-sharjah-to-reach-asia-cup-final-1.1662552005709  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #cricketnews #asiacup2022

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to Golf News Straight Back. Match number 10 of the Asia Cup Super 4 was

00:13between Pakistan and Afghanistan, but the whole of India was keenly watching to see

00:18the contest and to see how it would pan out. It was as simple as this. If Pakistan won,

00:23they would play in the final against Sri Lanka. But if Afghanistan won, then it meant all

00:28the teams, including India, who had lost their two Super 4 matches, still had a chance to

00:33get to the final. In the end, Pakistan won by one wicket. It means India are out. Anis,

00:39your thoughts please.

00:40Thank you, Imran. And hello to all the beautiful people. Hello, Ashfaq bhai. Well, it was once

00:48again a cracker of a match which went to the last over. As much as I should feel for India,

00:53I feel for the young Afghani boys. I could see tears in the eyes of Fazal Farooqi after

00:57he went for the two sixes. But you have to give credit to young Naseem Shah, he's just

01:0120 years old, to hit two sixes out of the park in a pressure situation. Because who

01:06knows what would have happened had they gone down today. But in the end, the players kept

01:11his nerve and Afghanistan had to let it go.

01:15Anis, look, if the team loses two matches in the Super 4 stage, it's asking a lot of,

01:20you know, assistance from the others to get to a final. Just sum up how you're feeling

01:25just done in the tournament.

01:27Well, you rightly mentioned, you know, when you lose two back-to-back matches, especially

01:32in the Super 4, then you are at the mercy of other team. And India was at that stage.

01:37So similarly, the same thing happened to Afghanistan. Had they won today, they still would have

01:41had a chance because they could have beaten India. Why would not? They can beat Pakistan,

01:46why cannot they beat India? So they would have believed that they have a chance and

01:49they would have hoped that Sri Lanka beat Pakistan or it would have been a three-way

01:53tie. We wouldn't know what would have happened. But the fact is, it's difficult to come back

01:57in a tournament where you lose two matches. But that's what is the beauty of this tournament.

02:01T20 is all about, you know, nerve-racking. It goes to the wire. And the team which held

02:08our holds is now goes on to win, as we saw with Sri Lanka, we saw with Pakistan twice.

02:13And I'm afraid Afghanistan is so near, yet so far. They are a young team, but they will

02:19learn.

02:20Ash, congratulations. Pakistan have made it to the final. They've had a decent tournament.

02:24How did you enjoy the game tonight?

02:26It was a scary game. I thought we almost lost it. But thanks to confidence by Naseem, who

02:35is like, I would say, the finder of the tournament. He is just 18 and he has the guts to fight.

02:40He had just, he's a brave boy. He went straight away, went for sixes, back-to-back two sixes

02:46is a big thing. But Pakistan, I think, messed it up in the very beginning. Babar Azam not

02:54getting runs and getting LBW cheaply. And the Fakhar Zaman was very lazy in between

03:01the wickets and got, cheaply got run out. That put Pakistan under pressure. But then

03:06Rizwan, brave man, he put his feet down, Rizwan and Iftikhar and they scored some good runs.

03:15And then Rizwan also got out. And then after that, they become very shaky. It became very

03:22difficult for themselves. But it ends well, it's all well. So that's good.

03:30But Ash, the way Afghanistan started, the way the openers in particular, Garbaz and

03:34Zazi, they were, they were smashing the ball around and looking really good. You know,

03:39one of those got two bound, four fours and Garbaz got two sixes. At that early stage,

03:45it looked like they were really up for it. And it looked like it was going to be a tough

03:48night in the end.

03:49Yeah, they started very well. They were very determined today. They wanted to win the way

03:53they walked in and the way the body language. But I think the Pakistani pacers were a bit

03:58too much for them because Haris Rao paced, they were beaten by sheer pace. I think they

04:04didn't face such class fast bowler in any other match. So it was a bit difficult for

04:09them to face them. And then spinners also did their job. So I think the opener, when

04:15the opener got out, their hero, Rahimullah, and then I think the game was out of their

04:20hand, but they got a very good power play. And it was good. But see, the first 10 overs

04:28belonged to Afghanistan, 72 runs in with two wickets, they were all set for a big total.

04:33But the next 10 overs, they could score only 57 runs because of the fast bowling, class

04:39bowling by Pakistan. And if you see in the field, they were so determined, they were

04:44not giving anything away. When they were jumping around, they were very passionate. They were

04:49passionate to win. And Pakistan team, they're looking like on the lower side while batting,

04:55their body language was not that great. So that's why I think they were not trying hard.

05:00They shouldn't have brought the match to this 20th over. I think they should have tried

05:05earlier to finish the match. When Rashid was off, they should have taken chances on other

05:10bowlers and finish the match on 15th, 16th over. But they just drag it on, drag it on.

05:14They were playing very slow. But that put Pakistan in a lot of trouble. Thank God,

05:20thank God.

05:21Yeah. And it's just going back to the way Afghanistan started. How important was it

05:27that it was Ralph and I think Hasnain who got the wickets of Zazie and Garbaz. How important

05:33was it for them to break that early partnership? Because they were starting really well, weren't

05:37they? Like Ash says, they walked onto the pitch really confidently. The tails were up,

05:41the tails were up for tonight. And that partnership was looking really good too.

05:45Oh, yes. Imran, I was in the stadium and I was watching because when they were giving

05:49pace on to the batsmen, it was easy to hit. And the moment they took off some pace, because

05:55I saw both the wickets, one was a cross-hiked by Garbaz. And the second one, Harisrov really

06:00beat him. Actually, not Harisrov, I would say it was Hasnain who clean bowled Zazie.

06:05These are both dangerous players. And in the end, in the middle order, you have to give

06:09credit to Nawaz and Shadab. They put a tight nose around the Afghani batsmen. They did

06:15not have the experience. When I say did not have the experience to read the wicket, what

06:18is a pass score? Probably they went to think about 160, except for one guy, Zadran, who's

06:24a very smart cricketer who knows how to rotate the strike. Other guys were trying to go for

06:29glory. In the end, they realized that even 130 was defendable. So had they thought about

06:33145, 150, but now it's easy to say sitting outside. When you are inside, you feel you

06:38are edgy. Oh, no, runs are not coming. And mind you, like Ashfaq bhai said, Pakistan

06:42did not give any easy balls or freebies to the Afghanistan batsmen.

06:46But Anis, you mentioned the spinners there, Shadab Khan and Nawaz. How frustrating is

06:52it for the batsmen when the spinners come on and they just can't hit the ball? The overs

06:57are ticking over, the pressure starts to build. How frustrating is it for batsmen when the

07:02spinners get a stranglehold of the match?

07:06You know what, I was reading an article about the Asian batsmen this year struggling, whether

07:10it is from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, to play against spinners. It is frustrating because

07:15they don't use their feet. They don't use the sweep shot well, which is a hallmark of

07:20a good player of spin. If you cannot hit the big boundaries on a slow wicket, what is important

07:25is to rotate the strike. Because when you rotate the strike, then the bowler bowls to

07:29your strength. But if you're able to bowl dot balls, that means he's able to bowl to

07:34his strength. And that is what has been happening to most of the players we saw with Indian

07:39teams struggling with the spinners. So Pakistan, of course, Rashid Khan is a different act.

07:43But even Afghanistan players, they couldn't play the spinners. Even though Sharjah is

07:48a small ground, you cannot hit sixes at will. So if you take pace out of the ball, you're

07:53not able to get the length to hit the ball out of the park. And I remember when Shadab

07:59was brought on to bowl to the dangerous Zadran, he went for glory. He hit already one six.

08:04What was required, still smart cricketers move the ball around. But as I said, experience

08:09will teach them. When the big boys can't do it, you can't blame the Afghanis.

08:12Ash, I think the big blow came for Afghanistan when the captain Nabi was bowled out for a

08:18golden duck by, I think it was Shah who got him out. I think it must have been, Afghanistan

08:24probably knew then that all hope has been lost, isn't it, when he went out?

08:28No, see, I won't say this because they knew they have world-class spinners. They could

08:34defend the title. But they were hoping 160, 150, 160 runs. They were not hoping more

08:40than that, I feel. But they couldn't manage because of the top-class bowling. And even

08:47Fakhar Zaman, who made catches against India, he took two catches. Pakistan didn't drop

08:53any catches today. That was a good sign. And so I think the Pakistani bowler was spot on.

09:01And the other way, you talk about the spinners' frustration. You could see that frustration

09:06while Pakistan was batting as well. When their spinners were bowling, it was very difficult

09:14to hit. It was very difficult to rotate the strike. And hats off to Shadab Khan, who hit

09:18four sixes due to Rashid Khan and the two others. He made the match, basically. He is

09:24the hero today. Though Naseem Shah, at the end, he took sixes to win. But Shadab Khan

09:31is the one who took the match to this point. Otherwise, it would have been disastrous.

09:36Yeah. Okay, so Ash, Pakistan were chasing 130 for the win. And a lot was expected from

09:41the captain, Babar Azam, who's been struggling a lot for some time. And he flopped once again.

09:48He was out for a golden duck. Why has he been in such bad form?

09:53No idea. It's a bad patch. It comes to every best man. He's the world's number one best

09:59man. But this is a bad patch. Remember this. I think the Asia Cup is not good for him.

10:03I think maybe he should rest in the next match against Sri Lanka and give it some thoughts.

10:10Because that's an insignificant match. So he can take a rest and sit outside and watch

10:17the other players do and maybe come back. Then it sometimes gives you confidence.

10:23And do you think that's a good idea for him to do? Sit out the next game,

10:26prepare himself for the final and to think ahead for the T20 World Cup is around the corner?

10:32There are two ways of looking at it. You see, there are different minds, different thinking.

10:35I wouldn't blame what my dear friend Ashfaq Bhai is saying. If I would be Babar Azam,

10:41I would probably take the bull by the horns. Get some match factors because I don't want

10:46to be coming without any score on the back in the final of a match of a tournament.

10:51So I would take my time. I wouldn't bother about my strike rate. A lot of people talk about Babar

10:56Azam's strike rate. But if you've seen the last two years, Pakistan had been winning

11:01T20s because of Babar Azam and Rizwan. Rizwan has been scoring at a little bit of pace,

11:06but you need support on the other end. And whenever Babar Azam fails,

11:09Pakistan generally tend to struggle. He's like now what Virat Kohli used to be for India. So

11:14he's the linchpin of the batting. So I would not ask him to rest. I would probably want him to

11:20play, get his eye in. And I hope they bat first, because in the finals, generally we've seen

11:26it's difficult to defend. So if I am Babar Azam, I think what I would do is that I would win the

11:32toss, bat and see how I can be in a situation of defending a total in a final. Yeah, that's

11:38another way of looking at things. Absolutely. It'll be interesting to see what they do,

11:42because obviously they've played tonight, they've got the game on Saturday, then obviously the final

11:46on Sunday. So maybe they'll rest a few players or like Anis says, maybe they'll all play.

11:50Rest the fast bowlers. There's nothing wrong. But a captain has to lead from the front,

11:56I would put it this way. Captain has to probably carry on. OK, so look, Azam was out for a golden

12:01duck, Fakhar Zaman was run out for five. It was a great start by Afghanistan, you know,

12:06defending that modest start. Ashfaq, they couldn't have asked for a better start, right?

12:11Absolutely, they couldn't have asked for more. That was the best start they should have,

12:16and they got it. It was like a wish come true. But as you said, as we said in the last chat also,

12:23that Pakistan has depth in the betting lineup now. You could see that even the 11th man coming

12:30hitting. But you have, after Fakhar Zaman, you have Shadab, you have Iftikhar, then you have

12:37Asif Ali, then you have Hushdale. And it's a long better lineup. It was not a worry.

12:47They knew it's a small total they can manage. So they did it with great difficulty,

12:53but finally they did it. They provided a real spectacle. That's what they did.

12:58Yeah, it's a real spectacle, yeah. It's Naseem Shah's day.

13:02Yeah. In fact, Anish just mentioned the Sharjah Stadium, the small boundary.

13:08Anish, was it a tough wicket to bat on as well tonight?

13:12Yes, it was not easy. The ball was not coming onto the bat. When you give pace,

13:16that's what the fast bowler did in the last over. He tried to go for the yorker rather than slowing

13:20down the pace. The tail ender had to just swing his bat. So again, I would not blame the fast

13:26bowler because, you know, he had picked up three wickets, so he was on a roll. And Naseem Shah had

13:31nothing to lose. He had to swing. And he caught it in his arc and he pulled it out of the park.

13:36I remember Miyadhar Singh for a mid-wicket of Chetan Sharma.

13:39Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right.

13:43Okay. So tomorrow night, India is playing Afghanistan. It's going to be a chance,

13:47I suppose, for both teams to get a little bit of practice ahead of that T20 World Cup.

13:52Anish, should there be any major changes in the Indian team tomorrow? Will they try something

13:56new, experiment with some players or batting orders or something?

14:00They should. Why not? Now, they haven't tried DK, they haven't given an opportunity

14:05to young Vishnu enough. So they should. And I think that Deepak Chahar might come into play

14:10tomorrow because their fast bowlers still not recovered if they decide to replace.

14:14Because India has been winning with three fast bowlers and one all-rounder in Pandya,

14:18four fast bowler and two spinners. So you need six bowlers to win a match. You can't play with

14:23five bowlers. So they would definitely like to sign off with a win and so would Afghanistan

14:29because Afghanistan, as Ashfaq said, is a dangerous team. They have world-class spinners.

14:33And mind you, if they are able to put again India in a spot by picking up early wickets,

14:39who knows, Afghanistan might spring a surprise because they have nothing to lose.

14:42India has everything to lose, I'd put it this way.

14:45Okay. And Ashfaq, Pakistan have made it to the final. Can they win the final now?

14:51I think they should win. They have the capability now since India is out,

14:55so they have the capability. But Sri Lanka is not an easy team. But I think Pakistan has an

15:00edge on that. And they should take the trophy home now. Since India is not there, so no worries.

15:07We'll see. We'll see what happens on Sunday. I think that's all from us for tonight. Remember

15:11to head to gulfnews.com for all the latest news and reviews and everything else. We'll be back

15:15with another episode of Gulf News Straight Back. But for now, good night.

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