Mohammad Rizwan in action against India in Asia Cup© AFP
Pakistan defeated India by 5 wickets in an Asian Cup Super 4 meeting in Dubai to tie it all up between the two arch-rivals in the tournament, having previously lost to India by the same margin in the round robin stage . Mohammad Rizwan led the ‘Men in green’with the bat as he scored 71 in a thrilling 182 run chase.
Pakistan went on to win the match with one ball left, which sparked cheers from the Pakistani locker room, including Rizwan.
In a post-win interview, Rizwan said it is always important for any player to perform in a crucial clash between the arch-rivals as so many people around the world are watching.
“It’s always a special match when India and Pakistan play. Not just people in Pakistan and India, but people from all over the world are watching and that makes the occasion special. The value of a match between India and Pakistan is that of a final and players are trying their best to do well in this match.
“Pakistan won today and I don’t feel like it,” said Rizwan.
“The captain and I planned to target the new bowlers, score runs against the new ball and one of us plays long innings. As Pandya said in the last game, he tried to be easy. I also tried to be easy. I was trying to take advantage of casual bowling.
“We knew that our depth of strike and power-hitting gave us confidence that we could hit 45-48 in the last four overs. There wasn’t much panic,” he added.
It is possible that the two teams will face each other in the 2022 Asian Cup final, but for that to happen, India must beat Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in their remaining Super 4 matches. Pakistan will also try to win their next two matches to advance to the final.
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