India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2023: How Group A encounter between arch-rivals in Pallekele played out

Less than 24 hours remain for a second meeting between India and Pakistan in the 2023 Asia Cup, with the two arch-rivals hoping to get a result this time after their previous meeting ended in a washout.

Group B witnessed a proper scrap between defending champions Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan for the Super Four places, with the Afghans ultimately falling short of qualification by a whisker. In Group A, India and Pakistan were heavily favoured to advance to the Super Four stage given they were paired with debutants Nepal.

An easy qualification was indeed the case for both India and Pakistan. They split points in their match in highly-anticipated encounter in Pallekele, both teams registered comfortable wins over Nepal. Pakistan would thrash the ‘Rhinos’ by a record 238 runs after posting 342/6 on the board and bowling Nepal out for 104.

The Rohit Paudel-led side came up with a much better response with the bat against India, getting bowled out for 230. In response, India skipper Rohit Sharma and partner Shubman Gill managed to chase down the revised 145-run target, following a long rain delay, without losing a single wicket.

As we build towards the second Indo-Pak meeting of the continental event, which faces another rain threat with 90 per cent chance of rain in Colombo on Sunday, we recap the events of the group-stage encounter.

Another top-order collapse

India’s star-studded top-order hasn’t fared too well against the Pakistan attack in recent years and it was the case once again with Shaheen Shah Afridi striking early. Skipper Rohit got off to a promising start before the heavens above Pallekele opened up, resulting in the players marching back to their respective dressing rooms. The rain break appeared to have benefitted Pakistan as Afridi soon breached Rohit’s defence to dismiss him for 11.

Virat Kohli managed to open his account with a boundary and would become Afridi’s second victim soon after, chopping the ball onto the stumps to depart for 4.

Read | ‘Rohit and Virat could have used their feet better’: Sunil Gavaskar

Shreyas Iyer would get off to an impressive start with two boundaries in three deliveries off Haris Rauf’s bowling in his first outing since March, but would end up holing out to Fakhar Zaman at midwicket off a short-pitched delivery. Rauf then castled Shubman Gill, who looked completely out of sorts during his 32-ball 10, to leave India reeling at 66/4.

Kishan-Pandya to the rescue

India would have been shot out for less than 200 had it not been for the 138-run partnership between wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan and vice-captain Hardik Pandya for the fifth wicket.

Kishan signalled his intent at the crease with a six off Rauf’s bowing, upper-cutting a short-pitched delivery outside off that ended up clearing the deep backward square leg fence. Kishan would then assume the role of the aggressor, ensuring boundaries kept coming in at regular intervals to prevent the Pakistani bowlers from building up pressure again. Pandya, meanwhile, was happy to play second fiddle during this partnership and gave Kishan the support that he needed from the other end.

What also helped India’s cause was the fact that Pakistan had deployed spinners Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz in tandem, and both looked off-colour on the day, resulting in Kishan taking full toss. Pakistan captain Babar Azam introduced Rauf in the middle overs, but he proved expensive.

Read | Ishan shines in trial by fire, question marks over India’s top order persist

Eventually Rauf managed to break the partnership after Kishan ended up getting a thick top-edge while attempting a pull, departing for an 81-ball 82. Pandya tried accelerating after Kishan’s departure, but would also miss out on a ton, getting foxed by a slower ball from Afridi. The left-arm pacer would then dismiss Ravindra Jadeja to grab his fourth wicket, while Naseem Shah grabbed the remaining three wickets to polish off the tail. India though, managed to go past the 260-mark thanks to Jasprit Bumrah’s cameo of 16 off 14 deliveries.

Rain has the final say

Rain had made several appearances during the day; not only did the players make frequent trips between the pavilion and ground on the day, the Pallekele groundstaff also got plenty of exercise bringing the covers out and taking them off.

Read | Ex-PCB head Najam Sethi slams ACC after IND-PAK match washed out

After a series of passing showers, the drizzle transformed into a downpour shortly after India were bowled out for 266, and it would refuse to relent for quite some time. Pakistan dressing room wore a glum look, knowing they had good odds of chasing down 267 given the current form of their top and middle order, while the Indians looked relatively relaxed in the balcony.

Though the rain eventually subsided close to 10 pm local time, the umpires decided to call the game off as it would have taken a while for the Pallekele staff to get the ground ready, and play had to start by 10.27 pm local time for a 20-over contest.

The two teams shook hands in the end, hoping to have a fuller contest in the Super Four round.