Asia Cup 2018: 10 Reasons behind India's emphatic win against Pakistan

India beat Pakistan by 9 wickets in the Super Four match at Dubai. This was India’s biggest win in terms of margin of wickets against Pakistan. The margin of victory could have been by 10 wickets if not for for Shikhar Dhawan’s sudden rush of blood which led to his run-out.

There were so many factors which contributed to this emphatic win. In this article, an attempt is made to bring out all the possible factors contributing to this emphatic win.

---

#1. Pakistan’s bizarre decision at the toss

Pakistan made a wrong decision at the toss

Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first. It was a debatable decision as it has been noticed in this Asia Cup that the Dubai wicket has been slow and two-paced in the first innings.

In the second innings, the ball tends to come on to the bat nicely under lights. In their earlier match against Pakistan and Bangladesh, India were successful in chasing down targets at Dubai.

Pakistan, on the other hand, were coming back from their last over win against Afghanistan at Abu Dhabi where they struggled to chase. This would have played on the minds of the Sarfraz Ahmed when he decided to bat first at Dubai. But this was a different wicket against a different opponent who would love to chase.

In hindsight, Pakistan’s decision to bat first played an important role in the final outcome of the match.

#2. Dhoni Review System at work

Dhoni created a wicket for India with his game awareness

Pakistan made a slow but steady start with the bat as they reached 24 in the 8th over. In the 8th over, Imam-ul-Haq tried to flick Chahal and was hit on the pads. The Indians went up immediately but the umpire negated their appeal.

Rohit Sharma had a look at Dhoni who nodded at him to go for the review. With the confidence of Dhoni’s approval behind him, Rohit took the decision to review within 5 seconds.

The replays showed that the ball would have hit the top of middle and leg. Imam-ul-Haq, who scored a match-winning 81 against Afghanistan, was warming up for another big innings before the Dhoni Review System cut short his stay at the wicket.

Imam, the in-form batsman was done in by Dhoni.

#3. Fakhar Zaman’s decision not to review his LBW verdict

Fakhar Zaman was slowly coming back to form when he hit a four and six off Kuldeep Yadav. But Kuldeep Yadav had the last laugh when in his third over, Fakhar lost his balance while going for a sweep and was sprawled all over the pitch.

Fakhar tumbled in front of the middle and leg stump which promoted the umpire to give him out. It looked out from the word go. Fakhar had a discussion with Babar Azam who advised him not to go for the review.

But replays showed that Fakhar Zaman had gloved the ball while tumbling on the pitch. It was weird to note that Fakhar had not felt the impact of the ball hitting his glove. Had he reviewed the decision, he would have been saved by the technology.

#4. Babar Azam’s run out

Babar Azam has been the in-form batsman for Pakistan in this Asia Cup. However, on Sunday he struggled to reach 9 off 25 balls. When everyone thought that he would bat through the innings, Babar was sold down the river by his captain Sarfraz Ahmed.

Sarfraz’s decision to call Babar for a non-existing single resulted in the run out of Babar Azam. That was the turning point of Pakistan’s innings and a crucial wicket for India at that stage.

#5. Tight spell of bowling by the Indian wrist-spin twins in the middle overs

Chahal and Kuldeep were economical and effective

When Pakistan were going great guns in the partnership between Sarfraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik, the Indian wrist-spin twins- Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav showed a lot of patience and persistence.

They were always attempting to do something different to get a wicket. Jadeja was a little bit expensive but Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav made up for that. They were also amongst the wickets.

Chahal finished with 2 for 46 in his 9 overs while Kuldeep Yadav ended up with figures of 2 for 41 off his 10 overs. The fine bowling spells by the spin twin prevented Pakistan from running away with the match.

#6. Pakistan lost wickets at the wrong time

Sarfraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik were involved in a partnership of 107 runs. Just when Pakistan were about to go for the kill, Sarfraz got out trying to play an inside-out shot off Kuldeep Yadav. That wicket fell in the 39th over of the innings with the score on 165.

Again, when Shoaib Malik was in total control of the match, he got out to a leg-side catch off Bumrah immediately after Pakistan had crossed 200. Had Malik stayed the entire duration of the innings, he would have taken the Pakistan total to 275.

Asif Ali was looking dangerous when he scored 30 off 21 balls with the help of 1 four and 2 sixes. He took a special liking to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. But he too got out at the wrong time to Chahal in the 45th over itself. Another 5 overs of Asif Ali would have shifted the momentum distinctively towards Pakistan.

Losing crucial wickets at the wrong time didn’t help Pakistan in posting a challenging total.

#7. Bumrah’s terrific bowling at the death

Bumrah was brilliant at the death

Bumrah was brilliant at the death with his deadly yorkers. He never allowed the Pakistani batsmen to get on top of him. The batsmen were not given the room to cut or pull. Besides, he took the crucial wicket of the well-set Shoaib Malik and saved India 25 runs, if not more, in the process.

Bumrah gave away just 14 runs in his first 6 overs. He ended up conceding the same number of runs in his last 4 overs at the death apart from taking two wickets. Because of Bumrah’s terrific bowling, Pakistan could manage to add a mediocre 44 runs in the last 8 overs. Pakistan hit only one four in the process.

Bumrah played a big role in this emphatic win.

#8. Shikhar Dhawan’s scintillating knock

When India began their reply, Shikhar Dhawan was in tremendous touch from the first ball he faced. He was playing everything from the middle of the bat and was able to pierce the gaps in the field at will.

Dhawan first got into Mohammad Amir. Later he turned his attention to Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali. Amir was taken out of the attack after just 2 overs while Afridi and Hasan Ali went for plenty. Amir came back to bowl the 10th over of the innings and Dhawan hit him for 2 fours.

The spinners Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz were treated with scant respect. Dhawan raced to his 50 off 56 balls. He changed gears after reaching his fifty. Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan were hit out of the attack. Finally, Dhawan reached his 100 off 95 balls by thumping Afridi to the cover boundary. He celebrated his hundred by hoisting Afridi for a huge six over mid-wicket.

Dhawan was more aggressive after completing his century, and at one stage, the chances of Rohit Sharma reaching his century was threatened. However, Dhawan ran himself out just before the target was reached.

Dhawan’s 114 came off 100 balls with the help of 16 fours and 2 sixes. His brilliant innings put to rest any hope of Pakistan coming back into the match.

#9. Rohit Sharma’s chancy hundred

Rohit and Dhawan scored hundreds

Unlike Dhawan, Rohit Sharma was tentative to start with. He very nearly got out in the first over when the ball fell short of Shadab Khan at point. That made him tentative in his approach. Twice he got beaten in the second over of the innings bowled by Shaheen Afridi.

Luckily for Rohit Sharma, Dhawan at the other end was in full flow an there was no real pressure on Rohit Sharma to worry about the run rate. The introduction of Hasan Ali into the attack allowed Rohit Sharma to get going with a boundary. In the sixth over of the innings bowled by Afridi, Rohit pulled a short ball over fine leg for a six. He was dropped in the same over by Imam and he once again went into his shell.

Rohit reached 24 off 37 balls. He took off from there to reach his 50 off 66 balls. Despite a slow start, Rohit reached 81 when Dhawan was on 82.

When on 94, Rohit Sharma completed 7000 runs in one day cricket, a tremendous achievement. He is the fifth fastest to reach 7000 runs. Finally, Rohit Sharma reached his hundred off 105 balls. He remained not out on 111 off 119 balls with the help of 7 fours and 4 sixes.

The 210 run opening partnership for Team India sealed the match in India’s favour.

#10. Butterfingers of Pakistani fielders

The Pakistani fielders were just ordinary in the field. Shadab Khan failed to dive forward at point in the very first over when Rohit Sharma played Amir uppishly. Rohit Sharma was once again dropped by Imam when on 14 off the bowling of Shaheen Afridi. It was a sitter which Imam dropped.

Sharma got another life on 81. Apart from the dropped catches, Pakistan missed so many straight hits which would have resulted in run outs. Pakistan's poor fielding made India’s job easy.

By virtue of their emphatic win against Pakistan, India stormed into the final of the Asia Cup where they will meet either Pakistan or Bangladesh. India wouldn’t mind either of the teams.