Friday 27 / December / 2024
Mumbai: Team India returned home following their eighth Asia Cup title win after beating Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the final at Colombo on Sunday.
After speedster Mohammed Siraj's fiery spell decimated Sri Lanka, the opening duo of Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan's flawless fifty-run partnership helped India win the Asia Cup for the eighth time.
Having finished the match in less than three hours, the players returned to India early Monday morning. Now they will have some time to rest before they go for their final assignment before the ICC Cricket World Cup in October, which is a three ODI series against Australia from September 22 onwards at home.
Virat Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, all-rounder Hardik Pandya, and pacer Jasprit Bumrah were some of the players snapped at the Kalina Airport in Mumbai.
Sri Lanka opted to bat first. But Siraj soon made them regret this decision as Lanka was reduced to 13/6 at one point as he took four wickets in an over. Kusal Mendis (17) and Dushan Hemantha (13*) swung their bats for a while, offering tiny moments of respite. Siraj ended with 6/21 in his seven overs while Pandya took 3/3 in 2.2 overs. Bumrah got 1/23 in five overs. SL was bowled out for 50 in 15.2 overs.
Ishan Kishan (23*) and Shubman Gill (27*) chased down the target in 6.1 overs without any loss of wicket.
India captured its eighth Asia Cup title and Siraj took home the 'Player of the Match' award. Kuldeep Yadav (nine wickets) was given the 'Player of the Series' award for his bamboozling spin bowling in the tournament. Shubman Gill (302 runs in six games at an average of 75.50, one century and two fifties scored the most runs in the tournament.
