Asia Cup 2022: Is Pakistan peaking at the right moment?

Gulf News

Almost all the pieces in the jigsaw puzzle seemed to have fallen in place for Pakistan during their 155-run win over Hong Kong. Fakhar Zaman returning to form will complement Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan with Khushdil Shah also coming to the party. The bowlers were as menacing as they could with Naseem Shah, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz bundling out Hong Kong for 38. Pakistan have shown that they are ready for the Super 4 challenges.  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/sport/cricket/asia-cup-2022-pakistan-beat-hong-kong-by-155-runs-to-seal-super-4-slot-1.1662118028180  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #cricketnews #asiacup2022

Transcript

00:00Good evening, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Straight Bat with Mr. Cricket UAE, Mr. Anish Sarjan.

00:15And without wasting much time, I'll go straight to Anisbhai. Anisbhai, how did you enjoy the match today?

00:23Well, I was anxiously waiting for this match, especially because Hong Kong was playing Pakistan.

00:30And with due respect to Hong Kong, I did not want an upset. And I'm glad Pakistan won. And not only won, they won it quite easily.

00:39Yeah, true. Ashfaq, our assistant director is gleaming right now. So you must be waiting to talk about Pakistan's performance.

00:51Ashfaq, tell me, what exactly was the most striking point in this match today? Like, what do you like the most?

01:00I see it. I like the way Pakistan batted today, because they read the Shahjah wicket very well.

01:08Because on Shahjah wicket, the ball always keep low. And they made the strategy. Some people were very upset and frustrated.

01:16It was frustrating for some people that why it is not scoring high, not accelerating the run rate in the last 10 overs.

01:24But that was the game plan. They kept it. They wanted to keep wickets. So that's a good strategy.

01:29They kept the wicket 10 overs. And the next 10 overs, they take charge and hit all over the wicket.

01:37So that's a good thing. And the second good thing was Professor Zaman got his form back.

01:41Finally, he scored some runs. And we got Khushdil Shah, who got very nice clean hitting.

01:51That's a good sign for number four batsman for Pakistan.

01:55Very good. Correct. Absolutely. You're right. You're spot on in that sense, because the batting was...

02:01It showed that they are all firing now. That's one thing.

02:06Anisbhai, Hong Kong, we expected good performance from them after a good batting effort and a fairly decent bowling performance.

02:15But for Surik Kumar Yadav's knock against India. What went wrong in your opinion, Anisbhai?

02:23Again, I will come to the same point, Satish. It's about experience. These boys get to hardly play with the big boys.

02:30Once in a while, they get either an Asia Cup or a World Cup, which happens once in two years or once in four years.

02:36That's not good enough for them to get to the level of cricket what the other international teams are playing.

02:41You see, in both matches, they had India in 10 overs 70 and Pakistan probably 60-65.

02:48But in the 10 overs, they ended up leaking 120 runs, which for them to chase 190 is never going to be easy.

02:55Chasing 160 is going to be difficult.

02:57Having said that, against Pakistan today, they folded quite meekly. You have to give credit to Pakistan for that.

03:03There's no doubt about it. But again, I come back to the same point.

03:07If the guys like the Hong Kong, the UAE, the Oman, the Scotland, the Ireland, the associate nations,

03:14if they want to get better, they have to play more games.

03:17Once in a year, they need to play at least 4-5 games regularly so that they brush up their skills.

03:22Ireland is now the test playing nation. So, Ireland will be getting some chances.

03:27But yes, of course, as you said, all these teams, they should be playing more against the biggies,

03:33not against themselves, to get their experience. You are absolutely spot on, Anisbhai.

03:38Yeah, Ashfaq, the bowlers literally ran through the site.

03:43The first, again, Nazeem Shah was quick.

03:47I think that put the Hong Kong team on the back foot straight away, isn't it?

03:53Absolutely, Satish. Nazeem was too hot for them.

03:57Even their best, best man, Hayat, couldn't read him at all.

04:00He just went blindly after the ball and beat him by the pace, sheer pace.

04:05And the ball hit the off-stunt, like a good in-swinger.

04:10And Dhani also played very well.

04:13They executed the plan very well.

04:16Unfortunately, they couldn't get the chance to come back because spinners took over

04:21and Nawaz and Shadab just literally ripped through the batting line.

04:27Nawaz getting the best figure, 3 for 5 runs and Shadab, 4 for 8 runs.

04:32And as Anisbhai said, they lacked experience because they couldn't read Shadab's googly.

04:39They couldn't read the ball.

04:44They haven't faced an experienced bowler like the big boys, as Anisbhai said.

04:51It was too much for them.

04:54But we were not expecting this low total.

04:57But they didn't put up any fight.

04:59None of the best men entered the world figure.

05:02Extra of the highest score.

05:04It's a shame to say, but that's the fact.

05:07Pakistan got the highest ever win.

05:10155 runs win.

05:12The last highest win they had against West Indies in 2018.

05:1643 runs against West Indies.

05:19So this was the highest win.

05:21And lowest total, as you know the statistics,

05:24lowest total in Hong Kong, lowest total in Sharjah, lowest total in UAE.

05:29So a lot of records were made.

05:31A lot of records are there.

05:33And of course, yeah.

05:35Now, moving on.

05:37Again, we are getting back into the India-Pakistan clash next month.

05:42But more than that, I would like to even look at the future.

05:46It seems like these are the two best teams, isn't it, Anisbhai?

05:51On paper, what do you think?

05:53Who do you think will be another contender who can give them a fight?

06:01You know what, Satish and Ashfaq,

06:04by as much as I would like to say India-Pakistan,

06:07came as the better teams.

06:10It's Afghanistan who has shown India and Pakistan.

06:14They beat Sri Lanka and Bangladesh quite convincingly.

06:18And I would not say that it was just one fluke game or two fluke games.

06:22They've shown that they're better in the pace department.

06:25They've shown they're better in the spin department.

06:27And well, batting, they're not depending on one or two players.

06:31They have shown in the last match the two Zadrans getting them the wins.

06:34So if you have to ask me very honestly,

06:37as much as I want an India-Pakistan final,

06:39I wouldn't discount Afghanistan.

06:45Ashfaq, quickly, what do you think in the next match, India-Pakistan?

06:53Satish, I think the big win against Hong Kong

06:56must have given a lot of confidence to Pakistan

06:59because if you have a close game against a small team,

07:04then the confidence level goes down.

07:07But this has given a lot of confidence to the Pakistan team.

07:10And the other thing is, Fakhar has got a form,

07:15but my worry is Babur Zaman.

07:17Babur Zaman is not getting runs.

07:19That's a big worry.

07:21He should get a run against India if we have to win.

07:24He's a class player anyway.

07:26He's a class player, so he doesn't have to worry about his form.

07:29If he gets a run against India,

07:32I think there will be a very close match,

07:35a very interesting match.

07:37But who will win?

07:39Your guess.

07:41I would say Pakistan should win

07:43so we can have a final as well.

07:49But again, as Abhishek said,

07:51Afghanistan can be a dark horse as well

07:53because they're in good form

07:55and they have nothing to lose.

07:57They're going all out to win.

07:59It's going to be an interesting round of four.

08:07You know what Ashfaq bhai said?

08:09A good point that the runs on the back of Fakhar Zaman

08:12as well as Rizwan would give them confidence

08:14in the wickets by the bowlers.

08:16Similarly, Surya, as you said, scored a hundred.

08:18But I would look at the performance point of view.

08:21It's good.

08:23Without taking anything away from both India and Pakistan,

08:26I want to see how they play each other

08:28when they meet again.

08:30And if India are put into bat first,

08:32I want to see a good fight

08:34like how Pakistan gave a good fight

08:36when they were put into bat.

08:38So this toss plays a very crucial role.

08:40We'll have to wait and watch

08:42how this match pans out

08:44because when you win the toss,

08:46you get that little bit of edge

08:48because the wickets are a bit difficult to start off.

08:50It is very difficult to pick a winner

08:53as much as I would like to pick India

08:55but I wouldn't pick any winner

08:57just on the basis of the performance against Hong Kong.

08:59And the first match was so close.

09:01It was just India's luck.

09:03I wouldn't say luck, but India had their better days

09:05so India won.

09:07But coming to the final question,

09:09maybe Jadeja is not going to be there

09:12because he was the main performer

09:14against Pakistan in the first game.

09:18Big blow for India, to be very honest.

09:20Javindra Jadeja is three-faceted.

09:22We talk about always his batting,

09:24his bowling

09:26but the fielding has an edge

09:28over all the rest.

09:30If you compare Pakistan's 11 players

09:32and India's rest 10,

09:34he's better than 21 players.

09:36I'm sure Ashfaq will agree.

09:38He saves at 10, 15 runs,

09:40one good run out,

09:42it makes a huge difference.

09:44He definitely missed

09:46but this boy coming into the Aksar Patel

09:48has shown off late that he's a good player

09:50and we have to see how he is able

09:52to deliver with the bat

09:54as much as with the ball.

09:56His fielding is not up to the standard

09:58of Javindra Jadeja.

10:00It's going to be an interesting Super 4

10:02starting from tomorrow

10:04between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

10:06Afghanistan could be a dark horse.

10:08Thanks for joining us.

10:10Please do log in

10:12to all the news channels

10:14and social media channels.

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