With the entire second innings yet to be played, rain led to the Ind vs Pak Asia Cup group stage game being called off in Pallekele on Saturday. Ishan Kishan (82) and Hardik Pandya (87) bailed India to 266 after Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf created havoc in the early stages.
Afridi was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan with a 4-fer while Rauf and Naseem Shah nabbed three wickets each in a first-ever instance of pacers picking all 10 wickets in an Asia Cup game. Earlier, India captain Rohit Sharma had won the toss and opted to bat first in their tournament opener.
Just In: Ind vs Pak Match Has Been Called OFF!
The Indian and Pakistani players end up shaking hands as no further play is possible, with Pakistan staying on top of Group A with three points to their name.
Turns out it would have taken 45 minutes for the Pallekele ground staff to get the ground ready for Pakistan’s chase. And that would have happened AFTER it stopped raining, which appeared unlikely at that point.
Key Highlights of Ind vs Pak, Asia Cup 2023 so far:
- After opting to bat first, India had a horrendous start, losing three wickets inside ten overs.
- The team’s two most experienced batters, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli combined to score 15 runs.
- Shubman Gill toiled hard, but could only score 10 runs in 32 deliveries before being dismissed by Haris Rauf.
- Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya built a game-changing 138-run fifth-wicket stand.
- The pair combined to score 169 runs.
Playing XIs in Ind vs Pak
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Pakistan Playing XI: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf