Asia Cup 2023: Virat Kohli Breaks Sachin Tendulkar’s Record

Team India were at their best and gave an all-round performance to defeat Pakistan by 228 runs in a rain-marred Asia Cup Super Four encounter in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Team India were at their best and gave an all-round performance to defeat Pakistan by 228 runs in a rain-marred Asia Cup Super Four encounter in Colombo, Sri Lanka. 

On 10th September, Pakistan won the toss and Babar Azam had opted to bowl.  Indian openers Captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill gave a fiery start.  They had a 121-run opening stand. 

However, both openers were dismissed in quick succession and it was upto Virat Kohli and KL Rahul to take off from where they left off. India were 147/2 from 24.1 overs when rain played spoilsport and the match had to be later called off for the day. However, with a reserve day just for this Super Four match, there was still hope for a result on Monday. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul scored centuries 122 and 111 not out.  They led India to a mammoth total of 356/2. Pakistan had to score 357 to win. 

However, the Indian bowlers did not give Pakistan any chance in the game and restricted them to 128 for 8 in 32 overs. The initial damage was done by Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur by taking wickets and not letting the batters score easily.  Then came Kuldeep Yadav who finished with figures of 5/25, decimating the opposition. Pakistan also had to deal with injury blows after Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf sustained injuries while fielding. The duo did not walk out to bat, and Pakistan’s innings ended following the fall of the eighth wicket. India had won by 228-runs. It was their biggest margin of win over Pakistan in ODIs.  India will not have time to rest as they face hosts Sri Lanka in their second Super Four game in Colombo on Tuesday.
Meanwhile during this match Virat Kohli surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s record. Virat Kohli became the fastest to reach 13,000 runs in ODI cricket as he reached the milestone in his 267th innings. The world record previously belonged to legendary India batter Sachin Tendulkar, who achieved the feat in 321 innings.

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