After India’s victory over the arch -rivals Pakistan in the current Asia Cup, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir expressed happiness over the team’s victory and expressed solidarity with the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. He appreciated the Indian Armed Forces for a successful operation vermilion against Pakistan sponsored terrorism. After the Pahalgam attack in April and its response by the Indian Armed Forces started Operation Sindoor, this was the first match between India and Pakistan. Facing heavy pressure due to these circumstances and online criticisms for the match, Suryakumar -led Indian team maintained their dominance with the first ball and won by seven wickets.
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After the match, in a conversation with the broadcasters, Gambhir said a luxurious victory. There is still a lot of cricket left in this tournament. This match was important because we wanted to show solidarity with the victims and their families of the Pahalgam attack and wanted to remember what they had endured. More importantly, we want to thank the Indian Army for their successful operation vermilion. We will try to make our country proud and happy.
Talking about the match, Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first and was reduced to the score of 6/2. Sahibzada Farhan (40 runs with the help of a fours and three sixes in 44 balls) and Fakhar Zaman (17 runs with the help of three fours in 15 balls) stabilized the innings slightly, but India brought Pakistan to 97/8. Shaheen Shah Afridi (33* runs with the help of four sixes in 16 balls) brought him to 127/9 in 20 overs.
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Kuldeep Yadav (3/18) bowled well for India, while Akshar Patel (2/18) and Bumrah (2/28) got two wickets each. Hardik got one wicket. Chasing the target, India lost two wickets in the powerplay, with Abhishek Sharma’s brilliant innings of 31 runs (in 13 balls, with the help of four fours and two sixes) gave India a solid start. Later, a 56 -run partnership provided some stability between Suryakumar (47* runs in 37 balls, with the help of five fours and a six) and Tilak Verma (31 off 31 balls, with the help of two fours). Suryakumar later took most of the strike, stayed with Shivam Dubey (10*) till the end and gave India a seven wickets and 25 balls remaining.