Hardik Pandya was dropped for India’s second Asia Cup 2022 clash against Hong Kong and the all-rounder went onto reveal why the team management did so ahead of the toss at Dubai International Stadium which is the venue of the second India vs Pakistan clash.
Earlier Pandya played his part to the full in the opening match of the tournament against arch-rivals where he picked up three wickets and also came back and scored 33 runs in just 18 balls. But then he was benched as Rishabh Pant made his way.
Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and elected to field against arch-rivals India in Super 4 game of the Asia Cup here on Sunday.
India made three changes from the last Pakistan game with Rishabh Pant coming in place of Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya returning in the playing XI after the Hong Kong match, while spinner Ravi Bishnoi got his first-look-in.
Avesh Khan is out with fever, while Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the tournament with knee injury.
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Coming back to Pandya, the all-rounder said that team wanted to help him recover and therefore put a block of training.
“We thought we could get in a couple of sessions and train. We thought it will be helpful on focusing on the recovery. So we focused on putting a little block of training that can help me to play with the same intensity as I played last Sunday,” he told the broadcasters ahead of the toss.
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Last Sunday, it was Hardik Pandya’s one-man show that got India over the line in a thrilling final-over finish, and Rohit would expect that the intensity is maintained in this game too.
However, the Indian team, despite being a minefield of talent, does have a soft underbelly, and the top-order’s cautious approach in powerplay overs is one of them.
Neither Virat Kohli nor Rohit looked comfortable against the Pakistani attack and as the pitch got slower, their problems seemed to have compounded.
It was Suryakumar Yadav’s sheer brilliance that saved India from what was turning out to be an embarrassing batting display against minnows Hong Kong, with an out-of- sync K L Rahul playing his slowest ever (36 off 39 balls) innings.
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