New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria shared his blunt views on Pakistan’s loss to India in the Super Four clash of the ongoing Asia Cup, saying the Indian openers left Pakistan’s bowlers clueless with their ruthless counterattack.
Batting first, Sahibzada Farhan top-scored with 58, while Faheem Ashraf’s unbeaten 20 off eight balls gave Pakistan late momentum as they posted 171/5 in 20 overs.
In reply, Abhishek Sharma stole the spotlight with a whirlwind 74 off 39 balls, smashing six fours and five sixes. Alongside Shubman Gill (47 off 28), he added 105 runs inside the first 10 overs to set up India’s six-wicket victory and a strong start to their Super Four campaign.
“Sahibzada Farhan signalled an AK-47, but then Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma launched a BrahMos of their own with the bat — and Sharma even followed it with a flying kiss. That’s how you do it. The Indian openers’ counterattack was so destructive that Pakistan players were left bamboozled. There’s ‘dhulai’ and then there’s ‘maha dhulai’. This was the latter,” Kaneria told IANS on Monday.
He further added, "When you have players like Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill as openers, even 200 can look like a small total against them on such a wicket. Both are class players.”
Kaneria also criticised Pakistan’s tendency to look for scapegoats after a defeat, this time pointing to Fakhar Zaman’s dismissal.
Zaman had made a brisk start, flicking Bumrah for four and then driving him for another boundary. But his innings ended in the third over when he edged a slower delivery from Hardik Pandya to wicketkeeper Sanju Samson, with the third umpire confirming the dismissal.
"Now Pakistan will look for another scapegoat, and they’ve found one in Fakhar Zaman’s dismissal. He’ll cry now, saying he wasn’t out. But it was a clear and clean catch by Sanju Samson — the gloves were clearly underneath the ball. And yet Pakistan will surely cry over it, talking about ‘benefit of doubt’. Fakhar will cling to this excuse," said Kaneria.
India will next face Bangladesh on Thursday, while Pakistan will aim to bounce back against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.
--IANS
bc/
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