Asia Cup 2023: Key takeaways from India's campaign
India clinched their eighth Asia Cup title after beating Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in Colombo. The Men in Blue chased down 51, with openers Shubman Gill and Ishan getting them home in 6.1 overs. Mohammed Siraj ripped through SL's batting order as they perished in 15.2 overs. There were a lot of positives for India in the campaign. Here are the takeaways.
Here's how the final panned out
SL skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and elected to bat first. Jasprit Bumrah struck early, while Siraj took four overs in an over to reduce SL to 12/6. Hardik Pandya then took three wickets as the Lankan innings folded for a mere 50 (15.2). Ishan and Gill came out all guns blazing as India chased it down in the first Powerplay.
Shubman Gill finishes with most runs
After recording a couple of low scores on the West Indies tour, Shubman Gill was back to his best. He finished as the top scorer in the Asia Cup, having amassed 302 runs from six matches at 75.50 (100s: 1 50s: 2). Gill showed resistance against both pace and spin. In the process, he also became the fastest Indian to 1,500 ODI runs.
Rahul shone on ODI comeback
Shreyas Iyer was India's designated number-four batter for the Asia Cup. KL Rahul, who wasn't fully fit at that time, missed the first two matches. However, Rahul replaced Iyer minutes before the start of the Pakistan game after the latter was ruled out with a back spasm. The former, who batted at number four, made his comeback memorable by slamming his sixth ODI century.
Bumrah's swing outfoxes batters
While Siraj stole the show in the final, Bumrah's comeback to ODIs also made headlines. The latter, who returned from a long-standing injury, perturbed Pakistan and Sri Lanka with his unplayable balls early on in the match. Bumrah continued to swing the ball both ways as the top-order batters couldn't pick him. Pakistan skipper Babar Azam was completely outfoxed by Bumrah's pace and swing.
Kuldeep Yadav averaged just 11.44
Kuldeep Yadav was India's frontline spinner in the Asia Cup. The left-arm wrist-spinner comprehensively exploited the conditions in Colombo and Pallekele. Kuldeep finished with nine wickets from five games at an incredible average of 11.44. He became the fastest Indian spinner to 150 wickets in ODI cricket. Kuldeep became just the third Indian spinner with a five-wicket haul against Pakistan in ODIs.
Eighth Asia Cup title; 35 match-wins
India, who were already the most successful side in the Asia Cup, won their eighth title (ODIs and T20Is combined. They won the Asia Cup in 1984, 1988, 1990/91, 1995, 2010, 2016, 2018, and 2023. SL have clinched six titles (1986, 1997, 2004, 2008, 2014, and 2022). India have the second-most Asia Cup match-wins (35), only behind the Lankans (38).
