India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2023: Kohli, Rahul and Kuldeep lead Men in Blue to a record 228-run win

Team India were at their clinical best and produced an all-round performance to thump Pakistan by 228 runs in a rain-marred Asia Cup Super Four encounter in Colombo on Monday.

Their 228-run win over the Men in Green was their biggest margin of win over Pakistan in ODIs, surpassing their 140-run win in Mirpur in 2008.

What started off as a highly-anticipated clash in Colombo on Sunday, ended up being a one-sided affair on Monday.

On Sunday, Babar Azam had won the toss and said that Pakistan had opted to bat. However, he would have regretted that decision later.

Shubman Gill’s form in ODIs had been fluctuating since IPL 2023 with Gujarat Titans (GT), but he finally seemed to have regained his rhythm with an aggressive knock of 58 from 52 deliveries, that included 10 fours.

He was involved in a 121-run opening stand with skipper Rohit Sharma, who brought up his 49th ODI fifty.

However, both openers were dismissed in quick succession after the century-plus stand and it was upto Virat Kohli and KL Rahul to take off from where they left off. Rahul was only in the India playing XI after Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the game with a back spasm.

India were 147/2 from 24.1 overs when rain played spoilsport on Sunday and had to be later called off for the day.

However, with a reserve day in place just for this Super Four match, there was still hope for a result on Monday.

Kohli-Rahul onslaught

On Monday, Virat Kohli (122 not out) continued doing Virat Kohli things, while KL Rahul (111 not out), who was a last-minute inclusion in the playing XI after Iyer’s injury, announced his return to international cricket with a fine century.

Prior to this, the last competitive match that Rahul played was Lucknow Super Giants’ IPL match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in May, the match where Rahul sustained a thigh injury while fielding.

However, it was like he never left, nailing those pull shots for boundaries while also mastering his cover drives.

Rahul eventually reached his fifty in 60 deliveries with five fours and a six, and he did not need as many deliveries to get to his century, reaching the milestone in exactly 100 deliveries.

Meanwhile, Kohli could have been out for 60 had Naseem Shah near the deep third man position been aware of the situation and taken the catch off Shaheen Afridi’s bowling. Kohli got an edge off the bat as the ball flew towards Naseem, but it eventually landed a few metres before Naseem, who did not seem committed enough to grab the opportunity.

Into orbit!