India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar, center, reacts after taking the wicket of Pakistan's Naseem Shah during the T20 cricket match of Asia Cup between India and Pakistan, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)Bhuvneshwar Kumar recorded the best bowling figures for an Indian against Pakistan in T20Is with figures of 4/26 on Sunday in the Asia Cup. With this, he overtakes teammate Hardik Pandya who had taken 3/8 in the 2016 edition of the Asia Cup.
“Before bowling the first ball, I thought it was going to swing. There was no swing but there was a bit of bounce. We knew we had to bowl wicket to wicket, so bowling short was the plan. The pitch was a bit skiddy, and lets be honest 147 means we gave a bit too many runs in the end. I think if we can bat well in the first six overs, because the pitch is a bit streaky. There is no swing but there is a bit of bounce, so we need to combat that nicely, ” Bhuvneshwar said after the Pakistan innings.
Bhuvneshwar’s haul included the prized scalp of Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali and Naseem Shah. Young seamer Arshdeep Singh also returned decent figures of 2 for 33 in his first ever appearance in an Indo-Pak clash as all 10 wickets were snapped by speed merchants, a first for India in shortest version.
Hardik Pandya showed his high value under extreme pressure as his well-directed short balls helped India limit Pakistan to 147 all out after Rohit Sharma decided to chase after winning the toss. Pakistan opener Mohammed Rizwan was the top-scored with a sedate 43 off 42 balls.