Asia Cup 2023: 5 Conclusions from India vs Pakistan Super 4s, 3rd ODI

The much-awaited clash of the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4s stage between India and Pakistan which was played over two days on September 10 and 11 saw the Men in Blue registering a thumping 228-run win over their arch-rivals.

India had posted a mammoth 356/2 in 50 overs with Virat Kohli scoring 122* and adding an unbeaten 233 runs for the third wicket with KL Rahul, who also scored 111*. Earlier, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill had scored fifties and added 121 runs for the opening wicket.

This was a perfect batting performance from the Indian side as the total was way beyond Pakistan’s reach, especially at a venue where 300 had never been chased down.

However, the Pakistan batting crumbled against a brilliant pace bowling showing by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj upfront and then Kuldeep Yadav swooped in with 5/25 as Pakistan was restricted to 128 runs with two of their players absent hurt. India won the game by 228 runs their biggest win over Pakistan ever in ODIs.

While the match was entertaining for fans of one country, it also raised some questions and gave answers to some burning queries as well.

Here are the 5 conclusions from the India vs. Pakistan Super 4s encounter:

1. Pakistan captain Babar Azam’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss

Babar Azam’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss proved to be costly for his team. The decision was mostly influenced by the rain prediction as the DLS method and scores were expected to come into play, which gives the team batting second a huge advantage.

Babar also would have thought that they had restricted India to 266 when they last played in Pallekele in the Asia Cup and expected his bowlers to do the same here. However, the pitch was different and the atmosphere was different. 

Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill took on Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf early on and neutralized the threat of early wickets in their 121-run partnership. It is safe to say that Azam’s decision to bowl first backfired spectacularly.