India realized why Jasprit Bumrah is their most valuable asset as India failed to defend their total in a nailbiting thriller against Pakistan. It was India’s death bowling that let them down. Furthermore, the Indian bowling unit failed to pick wickets at crucial junctures and let the game slip away from their hands.
India and Pakistan locked horns for the 2nd time in the competition as they meet at the Dubai International Stadium in the Super 4 fixture on Friday. Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and invited Rohit Sharma and co. to bat first. The Indian openers came out all guns blazing and smashed the Pakistan bowlers all around the park. However, they failed to keep going for long as both Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul got dismissed in a quick span.
Meanwhile, former Indian skipper Virat Kohli got back to his old groove and smashed a beautiful fifty while holding the one end. However, in their bid to score quick runs, Men in Blue kept losing wickets on the other end. In the end, India managed to post a fighting total of 181/7 in 20 overs.
India miss Jasprit Bumrah as pacers fail to deliver in the death
Defending the total, India began well as Ravi Bishnoi dismissed Pakistan early in the innings. The bowlers were brilliant in the first ten overs as they kept the run-scoring in check while scalping two wickets. However, the pinch-hitter Mohammad Nawaz counter-attacked India and the bowlers had no answers.
The Indian bowling unit did pull the game back with the wickets of Nawaz and Mohammad Rizwan but they failed to defend 26 runs in the last two overs. The senior pro Bhuvneshwar Kumar went for 19 runs in the 19th over as Pakistan completed the chase with a delivery remaining and five wickets in hand.
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Meanwhile, the Indian fans dearly miss Jasprit Bumrah as the story could have been different with his lethal death bowling.
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