After a couple of scratchy outings in the Asia Cup group stages, India finally got going in thumping fashion as they hammered Pakistan by 233 runs in the Super Fours match in Colombo on Monday.
India were at their rampaging best as they dominated Pakistan with both bat and ball in the rain-hit match which took two days to complete because of the wet weather in the Sri Lankan capital.
It was a complete performance by the Indian batters as they piled on a huge score of 356/2 in their 50 overs with each of their top four making decisive contributions.
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill hit quickfire half-centuries to lay the foundation with a quickfire stand of 121 from 100 balls before the classy duo of Virat Kohli and K L Rahul slammed magnificent centuries to send the Pakistani team on a leather hunt at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
With the ball, Kuldeep Yadav proved to be too hot to handle as he took 5/25 to send Pakistan collapsing for a lowly 128 in 32 overs.
Jasprit Bumrah, bowling in his first ODI match after nearly 14 months, took no time to find his rhythm with the new ball.
He struck the first blow for India with the wicket of Opener Imam-ul-Haq, caught in the slips for nine, while Hardik Pandya produced the ball of the tournament — a cracking inswinger — to clean up Captain Babar Azam for 10.
India hardly have time to rejoice after their biggest win against Pakistan in ODIs in terms of runs as they will be taking on Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
The controversial decision to have a reserve day only for the India- Pakistan match means that India will be playing three days in a row.
The best part about India’s win was that they didn’t need their pacers to exert themselves too much. Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Hardik Pandya bowled five overs each, while Shardul Thakur sent down four overs.
India are likely to retain the same combination against Sri Lanka as they seek to continue the winning momentum.
But if they think someone like Bumrah can’t be risked with bowling two days in a row, they have a very good back up option in Mohammed Shami.
Should Rahul, who has just made a comeback from a serious thigh injury, keep wickets two matches in a row?
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, K L Rahul (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.
Who do you think should be part of India’s playing XI for the Asia Cup Super Fours match against Sri Lanka?
Please select your team from the list and do post your playing XI in the message board below:
- Asia Cup 2023
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