Asia Cup 2022: Hooda, Pant, Karthik, and India's technical conundrum that led to their downfall

IND vs PAK: The game of cricket is a great leveler, that is the tale of two consecutive Sundays, two consecutive India-Pakistan clashes. Rohit Sharma-led team India find themselves on the other end of the spectrum now, on the losing end, that too in the all-important Super 4 stage. Team India had started very strong with reaching the 100 run mark at the halfway stage. They were invited by Babar Azam to bat first and irrespective of the outcome of the match, they did not disappoint with their batting prowess. Openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, for a change, showed a lot of intent and then walked it Virat Kohli who just looked in the right touch on the big stage.

 

India had put a massive total of 181 on the board, but Pakistan was just too good with the bat and they chased down this total with one ball remaining. Team India who lost Jasprit Bumrah to a back injury before the start of the Asia Cup has been also forced to rule Ravindra Jadeja out who is suffering from a knee injury. Chennai Super Kings talisman Ravindra Jadeja is crucial to the team's balance as he can contribute equally with the bat and ball. Now with Jadeja missing out, Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma have a good headache at their disposal and they will have to think of something really out of the box to keep the balance of the team going.

There is a lot of talk happening around Arshdeep and the catch that he missed. The Punjab Kings pacer who is still trying to find his footing in the international arena missed out on a sitter, a ball that Pakistan batter Asif Ali mistimed. As a result, Ali went on to score 16* off 8 deliveries with 2 sixes and 1 boundary. Ali scored these runs at a strike rate of 200.00 as he closed out the game for Pakistan. But it is not only about the catch, but it is also about how India picked their team, and it is about how Deepak Hooda was used by skipper Rohit Sharma. Team India headed into the game with 4 proper bowlers and 1 bowling allrounder Hardik Pandya which cost them the game.

Here is everything wrong with how Hooda was used, and if Rohit didn't want him to contribute as a bowler, why was Dinesh Karthik not picked?

Dinesh Karthik vs Rishabh Pant

It is now a fact that when it comes to Rishabh Pant's number, they are a testament to the fact that he is a better match player as compared to the white-ball format. Rohit Sharma tried to promote Pant to the top of the order when they were touring England but Rahul's return to the team ended Pant's hopes of opening the proceedings for India. Everybody was surprised when Pant was left out of the playing XI when India took on Pakistan in the first game on August 28, 2022. But an injury to Ravindra Jadeja forced the Indian team to make a change. Rishabh Pant was called in and surprisingly Dinesh Karthik was dropped just to maintain the balance of the team. With Kohli batting freely on the other end, Pant had a tailor-made situation at his disposal but it is his age-old habit of throwing his wicket away in the white ball format that Pakistan capitalized upon. Pant scored 14 off 12 deliveries before he fell prey to Shadab Khan. Dinesh Karthik on the other hand is in red-hot form and has been rewarded for his stellar run in the IPL. Karthik has been training just to finish games for India and as of now, he seems to be delivering better performances as compared to Pant. When it is time for the world T20I, who will India choose? will it be Pant or will it be Karthik? India certainly has a good headache to address.

Deepak Hooda vs Dinesh Karthik

Ahead of the Indo-Pak Super 4s clash, everybody was quite surprised at India's approach to playing four bowlers alongside one bowling allrounder Hardik Pandya. Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma got their equation completely wrong as they fell short of one bowling option. But the question arises why wasn't Deepak Hooda used? and nobody knows the answer to this. Pakistan in one of its kind move promoted Mohammad  Nawaz up the order and he didn't disappoint. Nawaz scored a brilliant 42 off 20 deliveries and kept the required rate in check which helped Pakistan to win the game later. India committed a very tactical error as they did not choose to bowl Deepak Hooda against the left-hander. With the bowling capability that Hooda has, India could have easily utilized him for 2 or more overs, but team India went the other way around which cost them the match. Now the question arises that if Rohit Sharma never wanted to bowl Deepak Hooda, why didn't he go ahead with Dinesh Karthik who could have given more batting depth to the Indian team? certainly, nobody knows the answer to this too.

When India now takes the field against Sri Lanka, they will like to be more thoughtful in their approach as every game now is a virtual knockout.