It was Kuldeep Yadav who bagged the most wickets for India in the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 clash against Sri Lanka but he wasn't the only bowler who impressed skipper Rohit Sharma. At the post-match presentation ceremony, Rohit extolled allrounder Hardik Pandya for a phenomenal display with the ball against the Lankans, especially as the pitch was getting better for the batters to play as the day progressed. Hardik stepped up with the ball when the game was slipping from their hands and India were desperate for a wicket.
Dunith Wellalage was breathing fire on one end, while the rest of the batters were holding on to one end. Hardik pulled back the momentum in India's favour as he dismissed Maheesh Theekshana.
Even though Hardik ended the night with a single wicket, his five overs were a sight to behold.
"He has worked really hard in his bowling for the last couple of years. It doesn't happen overnight and it's pleasing to see. He looked like taking a wicket off every ball. Was not an easy target to defend as the pitch got easier at the end and we had to put it consistently in one area and I think we did quite well," Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
Along with Hardik, Kuldeep once again stole the limelight with a four-wicket haul making him the second fastest to 150 ODI wickets after Mohammed Shami.
"For the past year or so bowling really really well. He has done a lot of hard work on his rhythm. He went back to the drawing board and worked on it. The ball is coming out nicely and you can see the results in the last 10 ODIs," Rohit added.
With this victory, India qualified for the Asia Cup 2023 final with a game to spare. Before the final game on Sunday, India will be in action against Bangladesh on Friday.
With ANI inputs