Srinagar: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has disagreed with star batter Virat Kohli beng adjudged as player of the match during India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 clash.
Virat Kohli smashed multiple records on Monday. He became the fastest to reach 13000 ODI runs, took another step towards equalling Sachin Tendulkar’s (49) all-time record for ODI centuries, and equalled Hashim Amla’s record for scoring most consecutive ODI centuries (4) at a venue. It was mainly due to his unbeaten 233-run stand – India’s highest in Asia Cup – with KL Rahul, who too played a sublime knock of 111* that India were able to put their joint-highest ODI total of 356 against Pakistan.
Gambhir picked left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who picked up his maiden five-wicket haul against Pakistan and gave them no chance to even think about chasing the target.
“For me, it’s Kuldeep Yadav. Can’t look beyond him. I know Virat got a hundred KL (Rahul) got a hundred. Rohit (Sharma), Shubman Gill got fifties but on a wicket like this where it was seaming swinging, if someone get five wickets in 8 overs, especially against Pakistan batters, who play spin really well, is a game-changing moment. I can understand if it was Australia, South Africa or New Zealand because they don’t play spin that well. This just shows the quality of the bowler. He beat batters in the air and he beat batters off the wicket as well. Going into the World Cup, that is great for Indian cricket because now you have two attacking pacers upfront and Kuldeep… Three bowlers who can take wickets at any stage of the game,” Gambhir said.
After Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya removed two of Pakistan’s most dangerous batters Imam ul Haq and Babar Azam, Kuldeep Yadav ran through the Pakistan middle-order. When play resumed after a rain delay, Kuldeep picked up the wickets of Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed and Faheem Ahsram to return with staggering figures of 5/25 in his 8 overs.