After scoring a golden duck against Pakistan, KL Rahul scored 36 off 39 balls in the match against Hong Kong, scoring some crucial runs. Batting first, India posted a batting average of 192/2 and won the game by 40 runs as the bowlers successfully defended the total score. The Men in Blue also qualified for the Super 4 of the 2022 Asia Cup.
While Rahul’s knock was criticized by the majority of Indian cricket pundits, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan termed his knock as one of the positive aspects for India in the match against Hong Kong.
The knock was meant to give KL Rahul confidence: Irfan Pathan
“From an Indian perspective, there are many positive aspects. Talking about the good start from the batters, KL Rahul scored 36, that should give him a lot of confidence too. He played a bit cautiously at the beginning, but then scored 36 runs” he told Star Sports.
Pathan said that Virat Kohli’s batting was the biggest positive for India in the game. Kohli, constantly struggling for runs, scored an unbeaten 59 off 44 balls with three sixes and a four. He added an unbeaten 98-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav (68* off 26) to take India to 192/2.
Virat Kohli’s half-century is the biggest positive: Irfan Pathan
“Virat Kohli’s half-century is the biggest positive because of his batting and attack rotation. You see the score, but here we see how he played. Was he in control? Yes, absolutely, he was in control. Did he take singles regularly like he used to – yes, he was.” Pathan said about Kohli.
Apart from Kohli, Pathan also praised SKY, who top scored for India in the game. India scored 54 runs in the last three overs with Surya scoring the majority of those runs. The Indian all-rounder said Surya’s innings was first class.
“In between there were a few strong throws that were outstanding, and he didn’t come out that well. So that should drive trust further. It is good to see that he has become the top scorer in the Asia Cup so far as is Suryakumar Yadav’s batting performance which has been top notch.”
India won the game by 40 runs and qualified for the Super 4. The Men in Blue are the defending Asian Cup title holders, having won in 2016 and 2018.
Also Read: IND vs HK: I know my job is to stabilize the innings and build a partnership – Virat Kohli