India will take revenge of Champions Trophy defeat: BCCI president CK Khanna

Acting president of the BCCI CK Khanna said that India will take their revenge from Pakistan after the latter humiliated them in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy last year. Khanna is optimistic about the Indian team’s chances and feels the defending champions can once again clinch the Asia Cup. India registered a convincing 8-wicket victory against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai on Wednesday. Both the teams are through to the Super 4 where they will meet Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

India last played Pakistan in an Asia Cup match in 2016 in a 20-over contest, where Pakistan’s batsmen once again folded for a small total. They were asked to chase just 84 runs and didn’t get there without a few hiccups. Pakistan’s pacers pushed the Indians right onto the back food by snaffling early wickets. However, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh held their nerve and ensured that India got the target with plenty of balls to spare.

Speaking to ANI, CK Khanna lauded Rohit Sharma’s captaincy as well as the overall performance by his team. “They have won by a huge margin. The way they have played today, I am sure they will win the Asia Cup and take the revenge of the Champions Trophy. This was a match-winning captaincy. We are happy with this big win.”

“Bhuvneshwar bowled really well, Bumrah got able to support. The openers, especially Shikhar Dhawan continued his good form. All of them played well as a team,” he added.

Bhuvi and Kedar star with the ball

Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and elected to bat first. But the Indian pacers were economical up front and picked up the key wickets of Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman with just 3 runs on the board. Babar Azam and veteran Shoaib Malik pulled things back for the Pakistanis, but Kuldeep Yadav foxed Babar with a magical delivery. Wickets fell at regular intervals since, and Pakistan was eventually bundled out for just 162. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kedar Jadhav starred with the ball bagging 3 wickets each.

In reply, India’s openers got off to a flyer. The skipper Rohit Sharma showed a sense of urgency to wrap things up as he brought up his fifty off just 36 balls. Although he and Dhawan were dismissed in quick succession, Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik saw India through without any further hiccups. India won the match by 8 wickets with as many as 21 overs to spare.

They will once again take on Pakistan on Sunday in the Super 4. India will first face off against 2016 Asia Cup runners-up Bangladesh on Friday.

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