India lost their opening 2022 Asia Cup Super 4 clash against Pakistan at Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. Pakistan managed to chase 182 with five wickets and a ball remaining after brilliant knocks from Mohammad Rizwan (71) and Mohammad Nawaz (42) as the Indian bowlers put a poor display.
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India were forced to make some changes to their bowling unit with Ravindra Jadeja's injury and Avesh Khan's illness. While many expected Ravichandran Ashwin will replace Jadeja in the first Super-Four fixture but Indian management went ahead with Deepak Hooda and Ravi Bishnoi instead.
When Hafeez was asked about the possible reason behind Ashwin’s exclusion, he credited Shahid Afridi for keeping him away.
“I think the credit goes to Shahid Afridi, who hit two successive sixes on Ashwin’s bowling in the Asia Cup 2014. He is not playing because of that hitting,” said Hafeez.
The match Hafeez is referring to was the sixth match of the 2014 Asia Cup. India had scored 245 runs for eight wickets. In reply, Pakistan chased down the target for the loss of 9 wickets in the last over.
Pakistan needed 10 runs to win in the last over and Ashwin was given the ball by then captain Virat Kohli. Ashwin took a wicket on the first ball and on the next ball Junaid took a single and gave the strike to Shahid Afridi who sealed a historic win for his team by hitting two consecutive sixes.
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Meanwhile, Ashwin has picked 13 wickets in as many white-ball matches against Pakistan at an average of 36.61, an economy rate of 5.08 and a strike rate of 43.2. The 35-year old player hasn’t faced Pakistan since ICC Champions Trophy 2017 final at The Oval.
The current score between the two teams is a tie (1-1). While India defeated the Rohit Sharma-led squad by five wickets in the group stage encounter, the Men in Green defeated them by the same margin in the Super 4 round.
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