Asia Cup 2023| 3rd match: India obliterates Pakistan with an enormous win

• Cricket

The intense rivalry between India and Pakistan will always be intense, which was clearly visible in the 3rd match of the super 4. Thanks to the reserve day as, it allowed fans to watch the highly anticipated match. Pakistan won the toss yesterday and elected to bowl first.

Making full use of batting first, Rohit Sharma and Shubhman Gill said challenge accepted and batted seamlessly till the 16th over. Sharma and Gill were both successful in scoring a 50 and accelerating India's run rate. Soon after Sharma departed, Gill followed through, and that's when Kl Rahul and Virat Kohli came into the equation.

For some reason, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah didn't seem to be much of a threat. Shockingly, Pakistan was unsuccessful in taking a wicket after Sharma and Gill departed. Watch yesterdays highlights below: To all fan's disappointment, rain suspended the play and forced both teams to wait to settle the game on the reserve day.

As soon as Kohli and Rahul came out to the crease today, they were unstoppable. They switched their slow and steady batting to fast and explosive. Kohli and Rahul both scored a 100 and pushed India's score to 356-2. Pakistan was under pressure from the very first ball; India sensed that and took great advantage.

Kuldeep Yadav was the leading wicket-taker. Jaspirt Bumrah, Shardul Thakur and Hardik Pandya also took crucial wickets. All efforts combined restricted Pakistan's total to 128, and India won the match. Watch the entire day 2 highlights below:

Post-Match interview| Babar Azam (Paksitan's Captain):

"Weather was not in our hands but we tried our best," Azam said as quoted by cricbuzz.com.

"We were not up to the mark with our batting and bowling. They (Indian openers) had plans for our bowlers and started well and that was followed up by Virat and Rahul. Jasprit and Siraj bowled well in the first 10 overs and swung the ball both ways, but our batting was not up to the mark.

Post-Match interview |Rohit Sharma (India's Captain):

We just wanted to get out on the park, to get some game time. Lot of guys haven't had that. That could only happen thanks to a great effort from the groundsmen. I know how tough it is to cover and remove covers from the whole ground.

On behalf of the entire team, we would like to thank them. (On batting) Fantastic performance, right from yesterday," Sharma said as quoted by cricbuzz.com. "When we started, we knew the wicket was good and we had to adjust with the rain, the two experienced (Kohli an Rahul) guys we knew they'd take time to get their eye in and then we can get going.

(On Bumrah) Looked good, he swung it both ways and he's worked really hard for the last 8-10 months. Bumrah is only 27, for him to miss games isn't ideal but the way he bowled showed what he is all about. Looking at how we batted, there were lots of positives with the openers and then Virat and KL.

Virat's innings was brilliantly paced. And then KL, to get back from injury and then to know 5 minutes before the toss he's playing, to play that way shows the mindset of the player.