India captain Rohit Sharma has revealed that KL Rahul’s inclusion for the Pakistan clash in the Asia Cup Super Four stage was a last-minute call after Shreyas Iyer pulled out due to back spasms.
Rahul joined the Indian cricket team midway through their Asia Cup 2023 campaign after missing the group stage as he continued recovery from a niggle.
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Iyer was part of India’s playing XI against Pakistan and Nepal in the group stage and was set to play in their Super Four opener too before the fitness concern.
Rahul, who last played a competitive match back in May this year during the Indian Premier League, was told five minutes before the toss time that he’s going to be included in the playing XI for Pakistan fixture.
Rahul responded in style with a sparkling century – 111 not out – to help India post a formidable 356/2 in 50 overs.
India went on to win by 228 runs – their biggest ever ODI win in terms of run-margin over Pakistan.
“Very happy for KL… (He was a) last minute change. Not easy coming from injury. Five minutes before the toss we had to tell him to play (and it’s) not easy to come out in those circumstances,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation.
Besides Rahul, Virat Kohli also struck a century and in fact, finishes as the top-scorer of the match with a brilliant 122 not out. It was he 47th ODI hundred of his career and he took the player-of-the-match award for the effort.
“Looking at how we batted, there were lot of positives. And then Virat and KL obviously. We know it was a typical Kohli innings, brilliantly paced,” Rohit said.
The contest was spread across two days thanks to rain interruption and Rohit, who himself scored a fifty, was all praise for the work put in by the groundstaff to make sure the field was ready for play despite numerous breaks.
“We wanted to walk out to the park and have some game time. Many of the guys didn’t have game time. This wouldn’t have been possible if for the groundsman. I know how tough it is to do it yesterday and then again today. Big thanks to the groundstaff. It’s not easy. We’ve seen them. There are so many people around the ground who wanted to make sure the game happened,” he said.
The contest was also the first time that Jasprit Bumrah bowled in an ODI since July 2022. He underwent a back surgery earlier this year and made his competitive return in August during the T20I series against Ireland.
Bumrah was terrific with the new ball as he troubled the Pakistan top-orders and landed an early blow when he had Imam-ul-Haq caught in the slip cordon. He also repeatedly beat the outside edge of Babar Azam who eventually fell to Hardik Pandya.
“Bumrah looked good. We all saw that, swung the ball both ways. Really worked hard for the past 8-15 months. I know how hard it is who goes through that kind of injury. Bumrah is only 27. For him to come back… the way he bowled, he’s shown what Bumrah is all about. Good to see him in that rhythm,” Rohit said.
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