Pakistan suffered a nightmarish start in their Asia Cup 2025 Group A match against India on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium.
Pakistan lost two wickets in the first eight balls of the innings after opting to bat first as Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah wreaked havoc.
Hardik struck in his first legal delivery after starting with a wide ball against Pakistan opener Ayub. After bowling an inswinger in the previous ball, he dished out an outswinger and the batter couldn’t help but go chasing against the back of the length ball outside the off. Ayub punched it on the up and it went straight to Bumrah at point.
Hardik became the second Indian bowler to take a wicket off the first legitimate ball in a T20I match. Arshdeep Singh, who has yet to make an appearance in the ongoing Asia Cup, was the first bowler to achieve the feat last year in the T20 World Cup match against the USA in New York.
Bumrah struck in the second ball of the second over in the innings, putting an end to Mohammad Harris aggressive approach against India. In the first five balls he faced, three were attempted slogs, and the third went straight into the hands of Pandya behind square. It was a back-of-a-length delivery from Bumrah, around off, and Harris looked to heave it through the on-side, but ended up getting a thick top edge, and Hardik collected it comfortably.
The senior India fast bowler almost got a second wicket a delivery later, but Fakhar Zaman survived a scare. A cracking inswinging yorker struck the batter on his boot as the Indian players made a loud appeal for an LBW. However, ball tracking showed the impact was outside leg.