India won by five wickets after bowling their arch-rivals out for just 83 to make it two wins out of two in the Asia Cup.
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Though 90% games finished in the first Innings, but this is the historic India-Pakistan battle on cricket. We made some mistakes, we did not know what the conditions here would be.
“Yes, it was tough to bat yesterday, but we had miscalculated somewhat, because we had no idea about the conditions. Obviously, you learn from your mistakes, and that’s why we are here doing practice”, Malik added.
But the Pakistan v India Asia Cup match on Saturday was the first chance for many people to watch Amir in action, to see if the five years of self-inflicted ostracism had taken away the edge that had made him the hottest fast bowler in the world at the turn of the decade.
Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh were then able to rebuild, and they adopted a circumspect approach after coming together with India on eight for three and chasing a paltry target.
What was disappointing about Pakistan’s batting was that they struggled against Indian pacers and failed to put on partnerships, most of the batsmen fell due to lose shots. Batsmen have to take responsibility. “The rest of the pace bowlers are also in good form so we are looking at a comeback in this tournament”.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had sought permission from the government to play World T20 matches in India earlier this month.
“We have one of the best bowling sides in the world and there is no doubt about that. You can not learn anywhere better than out in the middle when you are in that situation and dealing with it. There is no better lesson than that”, Kohli said on Sunday.
Amir was unlucky not to get a favourable leg before decision with the very first ball of the Indian innings. We have all our bases covered in the pace department.
Ravindra Jadeja (2/11) also bowled well.
For UAE, the only silver lining is that it has former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed as its coach. “I spoke to the players and I have tried my best to encourage them and raise their morale”, Rasheed told. He asked me if I was interested in this role and I said yes in the blink of an eye. “This was not a pitch to try to get 150 or 160 our approach was all wrong”.
The experienced campaigner remained 14 not out facing 32 balls.
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Yousuf said he had always been making the point that Pakistani batsmen were weak technically on demanding pitches and this was proven again on Saturday. Shahid bhai (Afridi) came to me and said that it is a big wicket. “Amir would need support from the other end and Wahab needs to step up”, 40-year-old Akhtar seemed happy talking about Pakistan’s bowling future.
