A strong bowling performance followed by some power packed batting saw India thrash arch-rivals Pakistan by eight wickets in their Group A clash of the Asia Cup in Dubai on Wednesday.
Asked to field first, three-wicket hauls from pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and part-time off-spinner Kedar Jadhav enabled India to restrict Pakistan to a paltry 162. Bhuvneshwar returned figures of 3/15 while Jadhav got 3/23.
In reply, a quickfire half-century by Rohit Sharma and his 86-run opening stand with Shikhar Dhawan saw India overhaul the target with a whopping 21 overs to spare.
Rohit plundered 52 runs off 39 deliveries, hitting six boundaries and three sixes along the way.
Here’s what the players and experts said about the match:
Rohit Sharma: Right from the start, we were quite disciplined. We wanted to learn from the mistakes which we made in the last game. Today was a great game for the bowling department because I knew the conditions weren't great for it. But we kept the conditions aside and did the job. We stuck to our plans. Lot of improvement from the last game, spinners kept it tight, got the odd breakthroughs. We haven't played here much and the two games that we have played now, we have understood how to create partnerships and achieve targets that we have set for ourselves.
Sarfraz Ahmed: The start was not at all good. We lost two wickets in the first five overs. We got some momentum in the middle but again lost wickets and could not recover. We batted poorly and all of us played poor shots to get out. And so many of them were soft dismissals except Babar, who got a good ball. We had prepared for the two spinners but the third one chipped in with wickets. It is nice to get a wake up call early on in the tournament and we would not want to commit the same mistakes. We will come back better prepared next time.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: Always need initial wickets to get any team to a low total. It was a great bowling effort. Great to see Jadhav step up in the absence of Hardik Pandya. Great team effort.
Virender Sehwag: Congratulations India on a very comprehensive victory. Wonderful team effort and great contributions from everyone
VVS Laxman: A resounding win for India, especially considering playing back to back matches in this heat. The bowlers were brilliant and Rohit led the team brilliantly. Congratulations!
Harbhajan Singh: Congratulations India! Overall a great team effort by bowlers and batsmen.. well played!
Yusuf Pathan: A commanding effort by the Indian team to beat Pakistan by 8 wickets. What a start by Bhuvi, he's back in form and so is India. After the Hong Kong game, this was much needed.
Aakash Chopra: Two ODI wins on the same day for India. Who would’ve thought it was possible!!! Clinical vs Pakistan. It felt as if HK never pushed India to the brink....well played.
Harsha Bhogle: Fabulous, overpowering performance from India.
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