Asia Cup 2023 Super 4: India versus Pakistan: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill shine; take Opposition attack to task

The first powerplay was all about India’s poised but sustained aggression and a smarting arms department of Pakistan, so much so that Rohit Sharma’s powerful and masterful shots drove even the clouds away, making it all sunny side up for India. Writes ETV Bharat's Meenakshi Rao.

Colombo (Sri Lanka): The stands were near-empty and the clouds were all dark and ready to dampen the big fight of the Asia Cup. But down below there was a refurbished and sure-footed Rohit Sharma and his youthfully ardent partner Shubham Gill determined to polish their blades against Pakistan, a team which prides on its fierce quicks and singular mission to reach the pinnacle of any ICC tournament, trouncing India on the way.

The conditions were tough. The ball swung like a yo-yo, sometimes kept low and almost never compromised on speed and guile just outside the off stump. But after being put to bat by Pakistan, India constructed a start that they desired with an opening partnership decking itself up with regular boundaries, lending a rare ordinariness to the Pakistani speed masters.

It all started when the Indian skipper made his intentions clear with a handsome six over square leg at the mouth of the contest, startling the silence in the stands. Not that Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi, at the receiving end of Gill and Sharma, compromised in any way. Naseem mostly bowled tantalizingly close to the off stump, trying to engineer a leading edge. He did manage to lure the bat into committing errors but was not backed up by his men in the slips with two catches being misread and dropped.

The result was 13 boundaries in 10 overs and a CBM getting added to India’s armoury. The first powerplay was all about India’s poised but sustained aggression and a smarting arms department of Pakistan, so much so that Sharma’s powerful and masterful shots drove even the clouds away, making it all sunny side up for India.

Gill, despite the vulnerability and all the edging, reached his 50 in 37 balls off seven overs, an effort his skipper saluted with two of his favourite over mid-wicket pull shots sixes off Shadaab and a boundary to follow up and casually make the obvious more clear – India was in plunder mode.

Starting on the slower side, and then braving Naseem’s off-side wonders, Rohit got to his 50 off 43 deliveries, his half-ton coming with a massive muscular six again over mid-wicket. Shadab started experiencing his worst panic attack in a long time as India reached their 115 within 15 overs.

India’s commencement speech for team Pakistan was pegged on seasoned aggression which expanded into flamboyance, audacity and sheer delight. The boundaries were in full attendance and well dressed but Pakistan’s decision to stick with a bowler like Shadab despite him leaking runs paid put. Sharma messed up his flighted delivery outside off, chipping it over wide long off and ending up in a simple catch by Faheem Ashraf who did not let go despite a 10-meter run to the left.

The despair on Sharma’s face needed no interpretation after being felled by his own folly that too in his fiery prime. He had scarcely reached the pavilion when his partner Gill followed him out at 58, giving an awkward catch to the man at cover. By now the fire had crossed the border to fuel a fightback by the opposing team and finally gave Shaheen Afridi his reason to be and a wicket that slowed down proceedings at the India end.

Virat Kohli and K L Rahul opted for caution over valour in the next round of the contest, giving the Pakistani bowlers time to reassemble their wits. Rahul pulled a boundary off Rauf, three overs after Gill departed, bringing the run rate down from a mounting 7.6 to an ebbing 6.5. Soon after, the clouds decided to pour down their disappointment and the covers coming on to a fast-drenching outfield.

The rain break came in the 25th over and at a juncture when Pakistan were just about ploughing their way back into the match with India preparing to doggedly counter the re-knitted cordon of a fearsome bowling department.

This is the rain nugget

Rain! Colombo, too, is getting drenched, the same way as the league match at the Pallekele International Stadium in Kandy, of the two biggest rivals of the subcontinent got washed out with all the excitement getting absorbed by the motley super soppers the island nation has.

The rain break in the Super Four match came in the 25th over and at a juncture when Pakistan were just about ploughing their way back into the match, with India preparing to doggedly counter the re-knitted cordon of a fearsome bowling department.

Rain in Lanka is like cocoa in a chocolate factory. Omnipresent. So holding any outdoor tournament comes with the knowledge of a 90 per cent chance of a cloud spoiler, and the Asia Cup can be no exception. Much of the empty stadiums that have stared down the live screens in the global cricket living rooms have been triggered by washout fears at a time when the Sri Lankan populace, whether of Indian or Pakistani origin, is battling a killer economic crisis in its tail-end. No one wants to buy tickets of any kind other than food and sustenance for now.

Though the Pallekele game had to be abandoned after India was largely tamed by the Pakistani bowling quartet, for Colombo’s Premadasa Stadium, it had contentiously decided by the organisers at a last-minute meeting that this India-Pakistan Super Four match would be given a reserve day, a measure accorded to no other teams.

So, there is still hope that the match will reach its conclusion the next day, but disruptions change courses for either team and the steam gets dissipated due to the lapse of time and change of playing conditions. So, what’s the rain prediction for tomorrow? Thunderstorms and showers are expected round the day and well into the night with 90 per cent precipitation and 83 per cent humidity making rain an undoubtful eventuality.

As for today, as per a BBC weather report, there is 40 per cent to 59 per cent rain all through the day between 3 pm and 9 pm. So expect a delay with hope and a calling off at worse.