Team India captain Rohit Sharma smashed his 50th ODI half-century in the big-ticket clash against arch-rivals Pakistan in the Super 4 clash of Asia Cup 2023. The swashbuckling openers struggled at the start a bit against Naseem Shah but when he got settled the Pakistan bowlers were on the backfoot. He smashed the Pakistan bowlers for 6 fours and 4 sixes to stamp his authority over them before getting out on 56 by Shadab Khan. Rohit hit Shadab for three sixes before getting out to him.
IND vs PAK Aisa Cup 2023 Super 4 Live Score
The Indian captain joined the elusive list of Indian players to hit 50 ODI half-centuries. He became the 8th Indian batter to achieve the feat after Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, Mohammad Azharuddin and Yuvraj Singh.
Meanwhile, he is sixth on the list of most 50-plus scores in ODIs for India.
Sachin Tendulkar - 145 (49 centuries and 96 half centuries)
Virat Kohli - 111 (46 centuries and 65 half centuries)
Rahul Dravid - 94 (12 centuries and 82 half centuries)
Sourav Ganguly - 93 (22 centuries and 71 half centuries)
MS Dhoni - 82 (9 centuries and 73 half centuries)
Rohit Sharma - 80 (30 centuries and 50 half centuries)
Meanwhile, the Hitman failed to convert his half-century into a triple-digit score as he went for a big shot and got caught by Faheem Ashraf near boundary line.
He shared a solid 121-run stand with young Shubman Gill as the duo stamped their authority over the Pakistan bowlers who failed to replicate the same performance as they did in the group-stage clash versus India.
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Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in Colombo. India made a couple of changes in their playing XI as Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul got included in place of Mohammed Shami and Shreyas Iyer. It was unfortunate for Iyer to miss out as he sustained a back spasm before the match and missed out on playing XI.
“Looking to bat first. There will be a challenge upfront, but the way we guys batted last time around gives us confidence. Every game is important for us, but one thing at a time to focus on. (On rain delays) That’s the nature of the sport, it gave us good time to prepare and now we’ll look to play well. Two changes - Bumrah is back and one forced change, Shreyas Iyer just got a back spasm so KL Rahul comes in for him," Rohit said at the toss.
