Talented opener Shubman Gill displayed his class with the bat in the Super 4 clash between India and Pakistan in Asia Cup 2023. Shubman, who is the highest-ranked Indian batter in ODIs at the moment, batted fluently against arch-rivals Pakistan and gave his team a solid start at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.
Shubman, who failed to score big in the group-stage clash against Pakistan, looked in imperious touch on Sunday as he stamped his authority over the bowlers, especially Shaheen Shah Afridi.
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The 23-year-old batted in contrasting fashion to his last outing against Pakistan and scored boundaries at regular intervals. He smashed Shaheen for 6 boundaries in his first spell of three overs. With his supreme shot-making display, he became the first batter to hit 6 boundaries against Shaheen Afridi in an ODI. Interestingly, he smashed all those fours within 12 deliveries he faced against him.
Meanwhile, Shaheen got the last laugh and got the better of Shubman for 58. It was a slower one from the left-arm pacer which deceived the Indian opener as he pushed the ball straight to Salman Agha’s hands at the cover.
Shubman shared a solid 121-run stand for the opening wicket alongside skipper Rohit Sharma who scored 56 runs. The duo stamped their authority over the Pakistan bowlers by smashing boundaries at regular intervals.
IND vs PAK Aisa Cup 2023 Super 4 Live Score
Earlier, Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in Colombo. Despite losing the toss, Rohit said his wish was 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. That’s the nature of the sport (of rain playing spoilsport), it gave us good time to prepare and now we’ll look to play well.”
Jasprit Bumrah makes an expected return in place of Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer suffered back spasms in the practice session ahead of the game, with Rahul given an ODI game in a last-minute decision. Both Iyer and Rahul were coming back into international cricket after long-term back and right thigh injuries needing surgical intervention.
