Flamboyant India opener KL Rahul failed to open his account in the high-octane clash against Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022 on Sunday. Rahul, who was playing his first T20I match of the year, was dismissed on a golden duck by young Pakistan pacer Naseem Shah. The talented India batter is going through a lean patch with the bat after making his comeback to the team after recovering from a sports hernia. He scored 31 runs in two ODI matches against Zimbabwe.
On Sunday, Naseem, who was making his T20I debut, castled Rahul on a duck on the second ball of the innings. The Indian opener tried to defend it but managed to get an edge which deflected and hit the stumps. It was a massive blow for India while chasing the tricky 148-run target against their arch-rivals.
Kl Rahul duck 😂 I have already predicted this. #INDvsPAK #AsiaCup2022 #IndiaVsPakistan pic.twitter.com/H7Nstgjlt6— Dhriti banerjee (@dhriti908) August 28, 2022
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Rahul had a rough time in the last couple of months as he missed cricket due to injuries. Rahul last played competitive cricket in IPL 2022, he suffered a right groin injury ahead of South Africa T20Is and flew to Germany and underwent a sports hernia surgery. He was expected to make a return to West Indies but got infected by COVID-19 and was ruled out.
He led the Indian team to a 3-0 ODI series win over Zimbabwe but he failed to score big with the bat there.
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Meanwhile, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya played starring roles with the ball as India bowled out Pakistan for 147 in 19.5 overs in their opening match of Asia Cup 2022 at the Dubai International Stadium.
While Pandya got India vital breakthroughs with his short balls to pick 3-25 in his four overs, Bhuvneshwar was excellent in starting and death overs to take 4-26 as India used the bounce well offered by the pitch. With left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh taking rest of two wickets, it also marked the first instance of Indian seamers taking all ten wickets in a T20I match.
Number 11 Shahnawaz Dahani hammered two big sixes in the death overs to take Pakistan closer to 150.
India took five wickets in the last 30 balls but also ended up conceding 45 runs.
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