India lost their opening game of the Super 4 stage against Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium. The Men in Green completed the chase in the last over with five wickets in hand.
Batting first, India was given a flying start by Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, who added more than 50 runs in 5 overs. However, their dismissals restricted India’s run flow as the team managed 181/7 in 20 overs, with Virat Kohli amassing 60 off 44 balls.
Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, and Deepak Hooda failed to deliver. Pant got out for just 14 runs from 12 deliveries after he tried to play a premeditated reverse sweep.
Former players Gautam Gambhir and Wasim Akram were unhappy with Pant’s shot selection. According to them, there was no need to go for that shot, and Pant’s strength is not reverse sweep.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri also criticized Pant for not following what Rohit, Rahul and Virat did in their innings.