Asia Cup 2022 | Lot of pressure on Virat Kohli, did not look confident event when set, observes Inzamam-ul-Haq

When India took on Pakistan in Dubai for the Asia Cup opener on Sunday, all eyes were on Virat Kohli who was returning after an extended rest from international cricket. The batsman had last plied his trade in England where he had accumulated just 76 runs in six innings, failing to surpass the score of 20 even once. The 33-year-old was called to the middle in the first over itself following KL Rahul's dismissal and looked uncomfortable against the swinging new ball. On the very second delivery, a rash drive saw the ball fly off the edge to the slip cordon only for the catch to be dropped.

Eventually, Kohli played a few trade mark shots of his four boundaries but kept constantly nicking balls or skewing them all over the field. He ended up scoring 35 crucial runs off 34 deliveries and while it bodes well for him on paper, the performance did not inspire much confidence given the expectations attached to the talisman. Pakistan's highest run-getter of all time Inzamam-ul-Haq pointed out the pressure he must be under which was a factor in the way Kohli batted.

"There was a lot of pressure on Kohli yesterday. Usually, it is difficult to dismiss a set batter, but I was surprised to see yesterday that Kohli was not looking confident even after getting set," he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by India Today.

After the Indian top three fell while India was still in a precarious situation in the run chase, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya stabilized the innings before the latter's outburst took India to the finish line. Considering another strong player Rishabh Pant was not even playing, the future looks bright for India. 

"India’s middle order and lower middle order is very strong. That is what sets them apart from the other teams in this Asia Cup. I was surprised that India chose to bench Rishabh Pant. The combination of Pant, Pandya and Jadeja is very dangerous. It was difficult to chase down 11 runs an over on this pitch, but they played really well," the former Pakistan captain said.

Pakistan, meanwhile, struggled to ably support Mohammad Rizwan's 43, managing just 60 runs in the last eight overs losing eight wickets in the process.

"The selection committee and the management should do something about the middle order. The team seems to crumble after Fakhar Zaman gets out at No.3. They need to find proper solid batters for No.4 and No.5 spots. Asif Ali and Khushdil Shah are better suited in the lower middle order," he concluded.