Asia Cup 2022: Three match-winning innings by Indian batsmen against Pakistan in Asia Cup
Team India enjoy a clear advantage over arch-rivals Pakistan as far as Asia Cup matches are concerned. The two Asian giants have competed against each other on 14 occasions in the Asia Cup, with India winning eight of them.
Pakistan have gotten the better of India on five occasions, while one match has ended without a result.
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India will take on Pakistan in a group match on Sunday, August 28, 2022. This will be the second time that both teams will compete against each other in the multi-nation tournament in the T20 format. India beat Pakistan by five wickets in 2016 in their first-ever contest in the Asia Cup in the T20 format.
Batters have played a crucial role in the Men in Blue's success over Pakistan in Asia Cup matches.
On that note, let's take a look at three match-winning innings played by Indian batters against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.
#1 Virat Kohli - 183 at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur Dhaka in 2012
The 2012 edition of the Asia Cup witnessed Virat Kohli completely dominating a strong Pakistani bowling attack.
Batting first, Pakistan posted an impressive total of 329. Both openers, Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed, scored centuries.
The loss of Gautam Gambhir's wicket off the very second ball of the run chase brought Virat Kohli to the crease. Together with Sachin Tendulkar, he added 133 runs for the second wicket before the latter was dismissed for 52.
Kohli continued dominating the bowling attack and scored 183 runs off just 148 balls at an astounding strike rate of 123.65. He smashed 23 boundaries and a solitary maximum in his innings. A decent Pakistan bowling line-up comprising the likes of Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi and Wahab Riaz, among others, had no answer to the onslaught from Kohli.
Virat Kohli's 183 is the highest score in the history of the Asia Cup, surpassing Younus Khan’s 144 in 2004.
Virat added 172 runs for the third wicket with Rohit Sharma and guided India to a comfortable victory. India chased the target with six wickets in hand and 13 balls to spare. Kohli was named Man of the Match for his match-winning innings.
#2 Virender Sehwag-119 at National Stadium, Karachi, 2008:
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first on a good batting wicket at the National Stadium in Karachi on June 26, 2008.
Riding on Shoaib Malik's brilliant century (125), the hosts ended up posting 299 for the loss of four wickets in 50 overs.
Gautam Gambhir was dismissed early in the run chase for just nine runs. Virender Sehwag, on the other hand, continued to dominate the Pakistan bowling attack. He added 198 runs for the second wicket with Suresh Raina.
Sehwag scored 119 runs from 95 balls that included 12 boundaries and five maximums. By the time he was dismissed, India were in a comfortable position and thereafter chased the target of 300 with ease in 42.1 overs and with 6 wickets in hand.
Sehwag was one of the architects of India's win against arch-rivals in Karachi in the 2008 edition of the Asia Cup.
#3 Mohinder Amarnath- 74*, Dhaka in 1988
The 1988 edition of the Asia Cup had a close encounter between the arch-rivals. The game was dominated by the bowlers. On a tricky and difficult batting wicket, Pakistan managed to score 142 runs and were all out in 42.2 overs. Arshad Ayub was the pick of the bowlers, picking up five wickets for just 21 runs in nine overs.
India lost Navjot Singh Sidhu early in the run chase. Mohinder Amarnath joined Kris Srikkanth and the duo played cautiously and added 63 runs for the second wicket before the latter perished. Skipper Dilip Vengsarkar could not open his account and was dismissed by Abdul Qadir.
Qadir thereafter accounted for Kapil Dev and Wasim Akram dismissed Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma and India were reduced to 110 for the loss of six wickets.
Amarnath, however, kept his cool and played a cautious and mature innings to guide India to a win. He was unbeaten on 74 runs from 122 balls that included six boundaries. He ensured that India did not suffer any more hiccups in the run-chase and stayed on the crease until the target was chased down.