Dubai [UAE], February 24 (ANI): Following India’s win over Pakistan in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, India batter Shreyas Iyer downplayed any concerns regarding the injury scares of skipper Rohit Sharma and pacer Mohammed Shami during the match.
With Virat Kohli’s memorable 82nd international century, which saw him rewrite numerous records, Shreyas Iyer’s half-century and strong spells from Kuldeep Yadav and Hardik Pandya helped India secure a win over Pakistan by six wickets at Dubai International Stadium in their ICC Champions Trophy fixture, with the team now having one foot in the semifinals.
But the win did not come without its moments of horror. Mohammed Shami struggled with his ankle in the fifth over of the match, three overs deep in his first four-over spell. While he was taken off the pitch for a while and returned to bowling, he bowled just eight out of his 10-over quota, going wicketless for 43 runs.
On the other hand, Rohit seemed to be struggling with his hamstring after celebrating Babar Azam’s wicket in the first innings. This also caused him to stay off the field for a while, leaving the leadership in the hands of vice-captain Shubman Gill, before he returned to the field and also for the batting.
Speaking after the match about these injury concerns in the post-match presser, Iyer said, “Not really to be looking at them – I mean I had a brief chat with them both of them were quite comfortable with the way things progressed and yeah from my knowledge I do not think there is any issue.”
Skipper Rohit Sharma also provided an update on his hamstring after the match during the post-match presentation, saying, “Hamstring is okay at the moment.”
Coming to the match between India and Pakistan, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Pakistan was off to a fine start, with Babar Azam (23 in 26 balls, with five fours) unleashing some fine drives in the 41-run opening partnership. After two quick wickets, Pakistan was 47/2.
Skipper Mohammed Rizwan (46 in 77 balls, with three fours) and Saud Shakeel (62 in 76 balls, with five fours) had a 104-run partnership, but they ate up a lot of deliveries. After the end of this partnership, Khushdil Shah (38 in 39 balls, with two sixes) did put up a fight with Salman Agha (19) and Naseem Shah (14), but they were bundled out for 241 runs in 49.4 overs.
Chasing 242 runs, India lost skipper Rohit Sharma (20 in 15 balls, with three fours and a six) early. Then 69-run stand between Shubman Gill (46 in 52 balls, with seven fours) and Virat Kohli (100* in 111 balls, with seven fours) and a 114-run stand between Virat and Iyer (56 in 67 balls, with five fours and a six) helped India secure an easy four-wicket win with six wickets and 45 balls left. (ANI)
