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India won the toss and elected to bowl. Dhoni explained his decision to bowl, saying the pitch was harder and had more grass than the one in India’s first match against Bangladesh.
India bundled out Pakistan for a paltry 83 in their Asia Cup T20 match at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, in Dhaka on Sunday. India had beaten Bangladesh in their first match.
The much-awaited match between the arch rivals began shockingly disastrous for Pakistan, with them losing six wickets within the first eight overs.
On a green, not-so-blessed wicket for batting, Ashish Nehra drew the first blood, striking in the very first over to remove Mohammad Hafeez for four. Soon, Pakistan suffered another jolt as Jasprit Bumrah eliminated Sharjeel Khan for seven.
The third wicket came in the form of a run out. Virat Kohli hit the bulls eye as Khurram Manzoor was sent back very late by Shoaib Malik after some confusion.
Malik, however, couldn't last long as Dhoni caught him out in an over bowled by H. Pandya, plunging Pakistan into a huge trouble. Yuvaraj, who was brought in the attack in the seventh over, struck in the very first ball, sending Umar Akmal walking back to the pavilion.
Then came another run out. Afridi, attempting for a second run, was a few feet shy off the crease when, Dhoni, collecting a fiery throw for R. Jadega, whipped off the bails in a flash.
Earlier, winning the toss, Dhoni explained his decision to bowl, saying the pitch was harder and had more grass than the one in India’s first match against hosts Bangladesh, which they won by 45 runs. He also stressed on the need to give respect to the bowlers early on in the innings even in the shortest format.
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi says his team wanted to bat first as that was the chat in the team meetings. He said his side were playing with four genuine quick pacers and seven batsmen.
Teams
Pakistan: Sharjeel Khan, Khurram Manzoor, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi (c), Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Irfan.
India: Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (c&wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra.
