When Suryakumar Yadav led India to a thumping victory over a Pakistan side featuring Babar, Rizwan in 2013 Emerging Teams Cup final
India A will meet Pakistan A in the ACC Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023 final at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday. Yash Dhull-led India A beat Bangladesh A by 51 runs in their semi-final clash to seal their berth in the final. On the other hand, Pakistan A got the better of Sri Lanka A by 60 runs in the other semi-final.
Interestingly, an India U-23 team led by current T20I batting star Suryakumar Yadav hammered a Pakistan Under-23 side captained by Hammad Azam in the final of the 2013 Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Emerging Teams Cup. The summit clash was played at Kallang Ground in Singapore on August 25, 2013.
Pakistan won the toss in the match and decided to bat first. However, the Indian bowlers came up with an excellent performance to bundle out the Pakistan team for 159 in 47 overs.
Baba Aparajith starred for India U-23, claiming 3/28, while Suryakumar himself chipped in with two wickets. Sandeep Sharma also impressed, registering figures of 2/20 from eight overs. For Pakistan U-23, Umar Waheed top-scored with 41 off 64, while Usman Qadir scored 33 off 32 balls.
Chasing 160, the Indian team romped home in 33.4 overs as KL Rahul hammered an unbeaten 93 off 107 balls. The right-handed batter’s knock featured 11 fours and a six.
He featured in an unbroken second-wicket stand of 132 with Manprit Juneja (51* off 77 balls). Unmukt Chand (15) was the only Indian wicket to fall in the innings. Rahul was named Player of the Final for his fantastic knock.
Rizwan, Babar, and Axar also featured in India-U23 vs Pakistan U-23 final
Apart from Rahul and Suryakumar, some other big names from the cricketing world also featured in the 2013 ACC Emerging Teams Cup final. In fact, Pakistan’s present-day superstar batting duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were part of the line-up for the final.
While Babar was caught behind off Sandeep Warrier for 7, Rizwan fell to Sandeep Sharma for 21. All-rounder Mohammad Nawaz was also part of the Pakistan U-23 line-up and was trapped lbw by Ankit Bawne for 7.
Looking at the India-U23 squad for the 2013 ACC Emerging Teams Cup final, they also had left-arm spinner Axar Patel in their ranks. Axar bowled seven overs for 26 runs, without claiming a wicket.