ICC T20 rankings: Tilak breaks into top-10; Pandya reclaims No.1 all-rounder’s spot
It is Pandya’s second time at the top of this list this year, the first time following India’s T20 World Cup victory in the USA and West Indies.
Asia Cup 2023, India vs Pakistan: The much-awaited India vs Pakistan Asia Cup encounter at the Pallekele International Stadium on Saturday was called off due to rain. As soon as the India innings ended, it started pouring and the second innings could not start. Both teams will now share equal points from this match.
Earlier, India rode on calculative half centuries from Ishan Kishan (82) and Hardik Pandya (87) to recover from a shaky start and post a competitive 266 against Pakistan in their Asia Cup opener at the Pallekele International Stadium on Saturday.
Electing to bat on a cloudy afternoon with 70 percent predictions of rain, India were tottering at 66 for 4 after losing the top four in Rohit Sharma (11), Virat Kohli (4), Shubman Gill (10) and Shreyas Iyer (14) against a high quality Pakistani pace attack led by the lanky Shaheen Shah Afridi (4/35), along with Haris Rauf (3/58) and Naseem Shah (3/36).
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Two rain interruptions in the middle also added to lapse of concentration for the Indian batting order, as Rohit departed immediately after the first break that lasted for 33 minutes and Kohli too departed in single digits. The second interruption did not last long but cost India the wickets of Shubman and Shreyas after a promising start.
Reduced to 66/4 by the 15th over, India desperately needed some solidity in the middle, and the 138-run fifth wicket partnership between Kishan and Pandya helped the Men-in-blue arrest the faulty start. Kishan, who arrived at the crease at the fall of Iyer, started off cautiously meddling the odd balls, and went on to register his fourth successive ODI half century. Pandya, on the other hand, took some time to get his eyes in, and allowed the left-handed stumper to open up before registering his half century in style.
The duo departed in quick succession but Ravindra Jadeja (14) and Jasprit Bumrah (16) ensured that the Indian team crossed the 250-run mark before being restricted in the 49th over.
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