India and Pakistan squared off in the much awaited matchup of the Asia Cup 2023.
Pakistan chose to field first after winning the toss. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, the Indian side’s opening pair, gave their team a great start by playing some spectacular strokes that made the Pakistani bowlers struggle. On September 10, however, the game was halted by rain. On September 11, it was resumed.
KL Rahul and Virat Kohli created a solid partnership for the fourth wicket after the Indian openers were dismissed. Rahul scored a fantastic 111 runs, and Kohli chipped in 122 runs. With Kohli hitting nine fours and three sixes and Rahul slamming 12 fours and two sixes, their combination amassed an impressive total of 233 runs.
Pakistan had a difficult task if it wanted to meet the goal that India had set. Their openers battled against India’s new ball bowlers’ outstanding bowling, especially Jasprit Bumrah, who made excellent use of his swing, pace, and bounce. In adverse circumstances, the Pakistani batters found it challenging to handle these.
India’s star bowler was Kuldeep Yadav in the Asia Cup, who took five wickets while only allowing 25 runs to be scored in his eight overs. Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Shardul Thakur each took one wicket in addition. Fakhar Zaman, who scored 27 runs off of 50 balls, including two fours, was Pakistan’s top run scorer, but they were unable to provide much opposition to India’s potent bowling attack.
Due to Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf’s injuries, Pakistan’s innings was only able to score 128 runs. India easily defeated the opposition by a score of 228 runs.
Looking ahead, Pakistan will wait until their match against Sri Lanka on September 14 while India plays Sri Lanka on September 12.
Losing skipper Babar Azam said:
Weather was not in our hands but we tried our best. We were not up to the mark with our batting and bowling. They (Indian openers) had plans for our bowlers and started well and that was followed up by Virat and Rahul. Jasprit and Siraj bowled well in the first 10 overs and swung the ball both ways, but our batting was not up to the mark.
Winning skipper Rohit Sharma said:
We just wanted to get out on the park, to get some game time. Lot of guys haven’t had that. That could only happen thanks to a great effort from the groundsmen. I know how tough it is to cover and remove covers from the whole ground. On behalf of the entire team, we would like to thank them. (On batting) Fantastic performance, right from yesterday. When we started, we knew the wicket was good and we had to adjust with the rain, the two experienced (Kohli an Rahul) guys we knew they’d take time to get their eye in and then we can get going.
(On Bumrah) Looked good, he swung it both ways and he’s worked really hard for the last 8-10 months. Bumrah is only 27, for him to miss games isn’t ideal but the way he bowled showed what he is all about. Looking at how we batted, there were lots of positives with the openers and then Virat and KL. Virat’s innings was brilliantly paced. And then KL, to get back from injury and then to know 5 minutes before the toss he’s playing, to play that way shows the mindset of the player.
POTM Virat Kohli said:
I was going to ask you to keep the interview short, I’m very tired. I’m always prepared to help the team in different ways. Today, KL got a great start and my job was just to rotate strike. I take a lot of pride on trying to push for easy runs, pushing for a double is as easy as they come. (On the reverse ramp boundary) Because I crossed the 100, there was a bit of respect for that shot. I don’t play shots like that and I looked very bad playing it. Me and KL are both conventional cricketers, we don’t try fancy stuff but we can get a lot of purchase through good cricket shots.
Great partnership and good signs for Indian cricket. Very happy for him to come back to ODI cricket in that manner. (On playing again tomorrow) I was pushing for those runs and happy for it, but I was thinking I need to play at 3 pm tomorrow. Luckily, we are Test players, I’ve played over a 100 Tests so I know how to come back and play the next day. It was really humid out there, I’m 35 in November so I need to be taking care of that recovery as well (chuckles). A big shout out to the groundsmen from my side, I think they did a fabulous job.
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