Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya failed to go past the 20-run mark against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 match at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. Former captain Virat Kohli steered the team’s innings to 181 runs in the first innings. 

Batting first, India got off to an explosive start. Openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul smashed the Pakistani pacers all over the park to guide the team to 62/1 after the first six overs. However, the innings only slowed thereafter. 

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While Kohli held on to one end, none of the middle-order batters stayed long enough to impact the game. Surya was dismissed for 13 runs in the 10th over. The star batter hit two boundaries during his 10-ball stay at the crease. 

Suryakumar Yadav was done by Mohammad Nawaz’s extra pace. He holed out to deep backward square leg trying to sweep the Pakistan pacer. Asif Ali took the catch. India were 91/3 after 9.4 overs. 

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Rishabh Pant, who was chosed for the game over Dinesh Karthik, attempted to play a premeditative reverse shot against leg-spinner Shadab Khan. However, the googly outside leg was not timed well and Asif Ali took a catch at backward point. The wicketkeeper was dismissed for 14 runs off 12 balls. He hit two fours. India were 126/4 after 13.5 overs. 

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Hardik Pandya was dismissed for a two-ball duck in the next over. The all-rounder, who guided India to a win in their Asia Cup 2022 opener against Pakistan, walked across to whip a short of length delivery by Mohammad Hasnain. However, he was caught by Mohammad Nawaz at mid-wicket. 

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India were reduced to 131/5. 

Deepak Hooda too could not go big. He was out for 16 runs. Kohli deserves the maximum credit for the total India achieved against Pakistan spinners, especially leg-spinner Shadab Khan (2/31 in 4 overs), who got important wickets of Rahul and Rishabh Pant (14).