Indian veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin feels that Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill’s aggressive approach against Shaheen Afridi put pressure on the Pakistan team in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup 2023. The Indian openers dominated the proceeding in the game against the Men in Green, as the Pakistan pacers found no clue to the exploits of the Indian batters.
The opening duo has been successful in the top of the order for India as they displayed solid batting in the powerplay as the Pakistan primary pacer Shaheen Afridi found no clue to the aggressive approach of the Indian openers. The Indian captain put on a 121-run opening-wicket stand with Shubman Gill both openers showed great intent before being dismissed in quick succession.
During a discussion on his YouTube channel, Ravichandran Ashwin highlighted the opening partnership of Indian openers which reminded likes of Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana in the 1996 World Cup and hailed Virat Kohli and KL Rahul for their brilliance in the middle order against Pakistan on Monday.
“Both Rohit (Sharma) and (Shubman) Gill reminded me of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana’s partnership during the 1996 World Cup. It’s all about who goes back foot first during a game. Pakistan went into the backfoot when India attacked Shaheen Shah Afridi early on.”
“See, you can lose a couple of wickets. But India knew they had the batting strength. So, they knew even if they had lost the openers, they could have put a partnership with Virat Kohli and KL Rahul and made a comeback,” Ravichandran Ashwin said
The Indian opening pair batted well in Colombo, putting together a partnership of more than 100 runs for the first wicket, and became the fastest Indian pair to score 1000 runs in ODI cricket in International Cricket and would look to continue their fine form going into the mega event in India.
KL Rahul Is Giving Us That Stability With The Bat In The Middle-order – Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin heaped praise on Indian wicket-keeper batter KL Rahul for providing stability in the middle order remembering the legendary MS Dhoni in the game even though the role of both the batters is different in the game.
“KL Rahul is giving us that stability with the bat in the middle-order, That’s why batting in the middle-order is really difficult. MS Dhoni nailed that art. However, I am not at all comparing KL Rahul with MS Dhoni. Plus, he did a different role of batting at number 6/7 compared to KL Rahul,” Ravichandran Ashwin added.
KL Rahul missed India’s group-stage matches of Asia Cup 2023 against Pakistan and Nepal but came into the team in place of Shreyas Iyer and smashed a sensational unbeaten 111* to help the Indian side register the massive victory over Pakistan on Monday.