IND vs PAK 2022: "He was on the floor when he dropped the catch in Dubai" - Aakash Chopra lauds Arshdeep Singh's spell

Aakash Chopra has lauded Arshdeep Singh for delivering a penetrative spell in India's T20 World Cup 2022 opener against Pakistan in Melbourne on Sunday, October 23.

Arshdeep registered figures of 3/32 in his four overs as the Men in Blue restricted their arch-rivals to 159/8 after asking them to bat first. The Punjab left-arm seamer got rid of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in his first spell to give India an early ascendancy in the game.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra reflected on India's bowling performance against Pakistan. Regarding Arshdeep, he said:

"Arshdeep came and dismissed Babar right at the start and after that Rizwan. A full delivery to Babar and a bouncer to Rizwan. He was on the floor when he dropped the catch in Dubai but now he is once again at the top. Deep had to shine today because it was Choti Diwali."

Chopra also praised Bhuvneshwar Kumar for bowling a miserly first spell. The former India batter elaborated:

"He got another wicket later. He made Asif Ali duck and dismissed him. I was absolutely stunned by the way he bowled. Bhuvneshwar Kumar started very well, let's be very honest, swung the ball both ways. He didn't get the wickets but he kept the batters in check."

Arshdeep put down Asif Ali's catch at a crucial juncture in the Asia Cup Super 4 game against Pakistan. India went on to lose the match and were eventually knocked out of the tournament. Ali was one of the left-arm pacer's three victims on Sunday, caught by Dinesh Karthik behind the wickets after getting into an awkward position against a bouncer.

---

"It was the difference between India and Pakistan" - Aakash Chopra on Hardik Pandya as the sixth bowler

Hardik Pandya picked up three crucial wickets in the middle overs.

Chopra reckons the presence of Hardik Pandya as a fourth seam-bowling option was the game-changer for India. He stated:

"You had a sixth bowling option in the form of Hardik. It was the difference between India and Pakistan, they didn't have that. In the end, Pakistan made 159. There were some good knocks but the Indian bowlers kept them in check."

Chopra concluded by observing that Pakistan set a decent 160-run target for Rohit Sharma and Co. The renowned commentator said:

"Runs were scored in the 19th over but 159 runs is not that bad a total. Iftikhar and Shan Masood, who remained unbeaten till the end, scored half-centuries. Three wickets for Arshdeep and three wickets for Hardik Pandya."

India did not have a great start to their run chase as they were reduced to 31/4 in the seventh over. Virat Kohli (82* off 53) and Pandya (40 off 37) then played telling knocks to help them scrape through to a four-wicket win off the final ball of their innings.