India vs Sri Lanka, Asia Cup 2023: 'He looked like taking a wicket off every ball', Rohit praises Hardik after win

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma on Tuesday admitted that their Asia Cup Super Four match against Sri Lanka in Colombo was “challenging” on many aspects, while also praising Hardik Pandya for his brilliant spell with the ball.

India defeated Sri Lanka by 41 runs in their second Super Four contest, and this win took them to the final of the 2023 Asia Cup.

However, the win did not come that easy after the Men in Blue were bundled out for 213 on a different pitch of that from the Pakistan match. This pitch had lesser grass cover, which made it difficult for the batters to bat on.

Rohit, however, got off to a good start, scoring 53 runs off 48 balls.

“Was a good game. For us also to play a game like that under pressure on a slightly challenging pitch. Challenging in a lot of aspects. Definitely looking to play on pitches like this to see what we can achieve, we might as well come here and play on pitches like these,” Rohit said at the presentation ceremony.

Rohit said that Hardik bowled in a manner as if he was about take wickets off every ball.

“He has worked really hard in his bowling for the last couple of years. It doesn’t happen overnight and it’s pleasing to see. He looked like taking a wicket off every ball. Was not an easy target to defend as the pitch got easier at the end and we had to put it consistently in one area and I think we did quite well.”

Hardik finished with figures of 1/14 from five overs.

Rohit also hailed Kuldeep Yadav for his hard work. Kuldeep finished with figures of 4/43, a day after he claimed a five-fer against Pakistan.

“For the past year or so bowling really really well. He has done a lot of hard work on his rhythm. He went back to the drawing board and worked on it. The ball is coming out nicely and you can see the results in the last 10 ODIs,” said Rohit.

Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka skipper, expected it to become a batting wicket, but credited the way Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka and Wellalage handled the situation.

“We didn’t expect this kind of wicket, I thought it was a batting wicket but we adjusted well, especially Wellalage, DDS and Asalanka. The luxury of two genuine batters, they have been bowling in the nets and I know their real potential, today I had the option of using them today,” said Shanaka.

Despite ending up on the losing side, Wellalage won the Player of the Match for his all-round heroics. He took a five-fer, while also remaining unbeaten on 42 in the chase.

Wellalage said he tried to play his game with a more positive outlook.

“I tried to play my normal game with a positive mindset. I want to thank my team-mates and my coaching staff – they gave me great support,” said the 20-year-old.