Virat Kohli was picked as the player-of-the-match for his superb century against Pakistan in India’s first match of the Super 4 stage of Asia Cup 2023 on Monday. Kohli scored an unbeaten 122, 47th of his ODI career, and thus playing a key role in setting up his team’s massive win in Colombo.
However, former India opener and two-time world cup winner Gautam Gambhir differed in his choice, picking left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav for the award ahead of Kohli.
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Kuldeep was the star of the show with the ball for India, taking five wickets in just eight overs as he rushed through the Pakistan batting line-up to limit them to 128-all out in 32 overs (two Pakistan players were unavailable to bat due to fitness issues).
Gambhir argued that since Pakistani batters are typically good players of spin bowling, it was a mighty effort from Kuldeep to outfox them so consistently.
“For me, it’s Kuldeep Yadav. Can’t look beyond him,” Gambhir said while revealing his pick for the player-of-the-match award. “I know Virat got a hundred KL (Rahul) got a hundred. Rohit (Sharma), Shubman Gill got fifties but on a wicket like this where it was seaming swinging, if someone get five wickets in 8 overs, especially against Pakistan batters, who play spin really well, is a game-changing moment.”
“I can understand if it was Australia, South Africa or New Zealand because they don’t play spin that well. This just shows the quality of the bowler. He beat batters in the air and he beat batters off the wicket as well. Going into the World Cup, that is great for Indian cricket because now you have two attacking pacers upfront and Kuldeep… Three bowlers who can take wickets at any stage of the game,” he added.
India were a class apart in the contest as they bossed over Pakistan across departments. They dominated with the bat with Kohli and Rahul hitting unbeaten centuries before their seamers left Pakistan reeling with the new ball.
Jasprit Bumrah provided an early breakthrough but it was Hardik Pandya who produced a dream delivery to land a major blow when he cleaned up Babar Azam.
With their top-order back in the dressing room in quick time, Kuldeep took it upon himself to quicken Pakistan’s collapse, helping India to a comprehensive win.
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