The Emerging Asia Cup 2023 final concluded in a brutal fashion for the Indian team, which suffered its first and only loss of the campaign, losing to Pakistan A in the title decider. Only a few days ago, India A had hammered the Pakistan team by 8 wickets but when it came to the title showdown, Yash Dhull's men ended second best. Seeing the India A vs Pakistan A final clash, veteran Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik recalled the 2017 Champions Trophy final where the Indian senior team endured defeat in a similar manner.
In the 2017 Champions Trophy campaign, the Indian team had a similar run to the final, having been unbeaten throughout the campaign. When India and Pakistan had met in the league stage of the campaign, the Sarfaraz Ahmed-led side was hammered by Virat Kohli's men. In the final, however, the tables turned.
"Well played Pakistan A. Well tried India A. Tough loss. Always a bitter pill to swallow after playing a convincing tournament all the way to the finals. You live and learn Were some of you'll reminded of the champions trophy 2017 after this result," Karthik tweeted.
As for the match, Tayyab Tahir's exceptional hundred garnished Pakistan A's march to a commanding 128-run win over India A, for a second consecutive Emerging Teams Asia Cup title in Colombo on Sunday. Once Pakistan posted a mammoth 352 for eight courtesy Tahir's 108 off 71 balls, the result was in no real doubt. India made a fist of it, but ended up at 224 all out in 40 overs to suffer their first defeat in this tournament.
From the toss, everything went south for India, who asked Pakistan to bat first — a decision that was a tad puzzling because the chasing team had lost eight matches in the tournament.
With PTI inputs