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India emerged victorious in the highly prestigious Asia Cup 2023, securing an astounding 10-wicket triumph over Sri Lanka in the finals held at Colombo on Sunday.
Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj played a pivotal role in this remarkable victory, delivering a phenomenal bowling spell with figures of 6/21. His exceptional performance decimated the Sri Lankan batting order, limiting them to 50 runs. The Rohit Sharma-led side then efficiently chased the target without losing a single wicket.
Amidst the celebration of India clinching their record 8th Asia Cup title, former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar vehemently criticized those who entertained the notion that Rohit and his team had any intention of deliberately losing their Super 4 match against Sri Lanka to prevent Pakistan from reaching the final.
In their Super Four encounter against Sri Lanka, which took place last Wednesday, India came dangerously close to a defeat. The young Sri Lankan sensation Dunith Wellalage caused quite a stir by securing his first-ever five-wicket haul in One Day Internationals, sending a wave of apprehension through the dominant Indian batting lineup.
Also READ: Team India celebrate Asia Cup 2023 title triumph on social media
Why would Bharat lose deliberately to Sri Lanka?: Sunil Gavaskar
The former Indian captain strongly refuted allegations made by individuals across the western border who claimed that the India vs Sri Lanka Super 4 match was ‘fixed’, insinuating that India intentionally underperformed to eliminate Pakistan from the Asia Cup.
“What a tight slap on the faces of all those across the Western border who were screaming and shrieking that Bharat after being dismissed for 213 against Sri Lanka was purposely losing the game so as to deprive Pakistan of a place in the final. Did these brainless people even think of the possibility that after Bharat loses the game to Sri Lanka and then Pakistan beat Sri Lanka and the Bharat v Bangladesh game gets rained off, it was Bharat who would not have qualified for the final. So why would Bharat lose deliberately to Sri Lanka? Morons” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.
Following Pakistan’s official elimination from the tournament after losing the virtual semifinal to Sri Lanka on Thursday, Gavaskar anticipated the emergence of further conspiracy theories. Nonetheless, he found it unsurprising that Pakistan and its media redirected their anger and scrutiny toward their skipper, Babar Azam.
“When Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka and were knocked out of the tournament, we were expecting some more conspiracy theories blaming Bharat for the loss, but surprises never cease so they forgot everything else and concentrated on lambasting their skipper Babar Azam for their exit from the tournament” the 74-year-old further added.
