In the Asia Cup group-stage match held on Sunday between India and Pakistan, India won by 7 wickets. Chasing a target of 128 runs, captain Suryakumar Yadav played an important role in the win with an unbeaten 47. However, more than the victory, the highlight of the match was that the Indian players went straight to the dressing room and did not exchange handshakes or interact when the match was over.
Players walked straight to dressing room
Usually, players from both teams exchange handshakes and engage in conversation after the competition. But on Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, things were different — both teams went directly to their dressing rooms. Yadav ended the match with a six, and then Shivam Dube and Suryakumar Yadav walked straight to the dressing room.
As per reports, this attitude of the Indian players was not liked by Pakistan’s head coach Mike Hesson, who headed to the Indian dressing room right after the match.
Win dedicated to armed forced and Pahalgam victims
At the presentation ceremony, Suryakumar Yadav dedicated the win to all Indian armed forces. He said, “Just wanted to say something. Perfect occasion, taking the time out, we stand by the victims and families of the Pahalgam terror attack. We express our solidarity. I want to dedicate this win to all our armed forces who showed a lot of bravery. Hope they continue to inspire us all and we give them more reasons on the ground whenever we get an opportunity to make them smile.”
For Pakistan, Sahibzada Farhan scored 40 off 44 balls, but the rest of the team performed poorly. Players like Shaheen Afridi scored 16 off 22 towards the end but failed to set a challenging target.
Indian bowlers Kuldeep Yadav (3/18) and Axar Patel (2/18) were instrumental in restricting Pakistan’s scoring, keeping their total to a bare minimum.
India performed remarkably and chased down Pakistan’s target in just 15.5 overs.
India’s batting performance
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Suryakumar Yadav (c): 47* (37 balls)
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Abhishek Sharma: 31 (13 balls)
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Tilak Varma: 31 (28 balls)
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Shivam Dube: 10* (6 balls)
Other players — Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Varun Chakaravarthy — did not bat.