Kedar Jadhav’s beauty and MS Dhoni’s clinical work trumps Shadab Khan

Dhoni came under criticism for dropping Malik off Hardik Pandya but his clinical touch when it came to stumping Shadab Khan showed that the man still means business.

Published - 19 Sept 2018, 22:59 IST | Updated - 19 Sept 2018, 22:59 IST

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Pakistan were found wanting in their encounter with India in the Asia Cup at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday as their batsmen failed to rise to the occasion. The Men in Green led by Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and elected to bat but barring a solid partnership between Babar Azam and Shoaib Akhtar, they could not deliver and were all out for 162 inside 44 overs.

One among the dismissals of the Pakistani batsmen was that of Shadab Khan. It was in the 33rd over when the all-rounder tried to effect a cover drive by coming forward to off-break bowler Kedar Jadhav but missed it completely as the delivery drifted outside off. Shadab failed to reach the ball and it was far too easy a task for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to complete the formalities behind the stumps.

The Indians went up in appeal as Dhoni whisked off the bails but the batsman did not wait for the umpire’s verdict. Pakistan were reduced to 121 for 7 with that dismissal. Pakistan were off to a disastrous start in the game as both their openers – Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman – were dismissed with just three runs on board. Azam (47) and Malik (43) added 82 runs for the third wicket.

However, once Babar was castled by Kuldeep Yadav with a beauty of a delivery in the 22nd over, Pakistan fell like nine pins. The Indian bowlers had a far improved show compared to that against Hong Kong on Tuesday night with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jadhav taking three wickets each. Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets.

MSD makes up for the dropped catch

Dhoni came under criticism for dropping Malik off Hardik Pandya but his clinical touch when it came to stumping Shadab Khan showed that the man still means business. He also took two catches.

Both India and Pakistan have qualified for the Super Four stage in the tournament from Group A and will meet each other again on September 23. Bangladesh and Afghanistan have qualified from the other group with former champions Sri Lanka losing both their matches.