India’s captain, Suryakumar Yadav, while speaking with NDTV, said that India beating Pakistan in the Asia Cup was “destined to happen“.
Their triumph over the arch rivals in the Asia Cup final marked three consecutive wins for the Men in Blue against Pakistan in this tournament alone.
“Incredible show from the boys. What I expected from them, they delivered it on the ground. I am very happy,” further added the Indian skipper.
Although he was quiet with the bat in the chase, his bowling rotations proved vital in the death overs, restricting Pakistan to a low score of 146 with 5 balls left in the first innings.
Indian captain talks about not getting Asia Cup trophy
“We didn’t get the trophy at last, but the biggest happiness is India won the Asia Cup, the entire country is celebrating,” stated Suryakumar Yadav on India not collecting the Asia Cup trophy after winning the final, in the said interview.
Mohsin Naqvi, President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), was supposed to hand them over the cup during the post match presentation, but the Men in Blue refused, since the tournament was played in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, and Naqvi also serves as Pakistan’s Interior Minister.
They had also refused to shake hands with Pakistani players during their group stage encounter, which sparked a row of controversies. Then during the Super 4 IND vs PAK match, two Pakistani players, Haris Rauf and Sahibzada Farhan, made controversial gestures.
All of this added to the intensity of the India vs Pakistan Asia Cup final, in which Tilak Varma held the fort, accompanied by Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube, driving the Men in Blue to their 9th Asia Cup title.
Suryakumar Yadav on Abhishek Sharma
Suryakumar Yadav also praised Abhishek Sharma in the interview, While he didn’t score much in the final, his innings were crucial for Indian triumphs early on.
He said, “Sometimes you have to actually let go of people who completely change the course of the game. I have seen him bat before for his state, franchise cricket and for India also. He is a game-changer. People who are game-changers who completely change the course of the game should be left like that,“.
Abhishek Sharma emerged as the highest run scorer of the tournament, surpassing 300 runs.
