Indian captain Rohit Sharma receives champions award during the presentation of the Final of the Asia Cup 2023 match between India and Sri Lanka.
Credit: PTI Photo
Irked by the sounds of the seemingly-perpetual fireworks display at the R Premadasa stadium after India’s title win, Rohit Sharma pointed towards the window, and jokingly said: “Keep some for when we win the World Cup no”.
Given how proficient India were on the day, Rohit can’t be blamed for feeling that level of confidence. India came into the final as favourites, but to dismantle Sri Lanka and win the title before the scheduled dinner break of 6.30 pm? That’s just brilliance.
“I was a little surprised how much the wicket did,” he said when asked if he was surprised with Sri Lanka being bowled out for 50 in 15.2 overs. “I didn’t expect it to do so much. That’s something that happens on this ground. The nature of this pitch is challenging and unexpected as well. When the pitch has so much to offer, you need the right bowlers to exploit these conditions.”
Naturally, he gravitated to the topic of Siraj, who by the way picked up six wickets for 21 runs in seven exceptional overs. “When the pitch is so dry, to get the ball to move around is special, and Siraj did that so hats off to him.”
“When you have bowlers like him and a bowling unit like this one, it brings me a lot of joy because it gives me so much variety. Even previous captains would have felt the same when they had a good bowling unit to go to. Fantastic from them.”
When asked to summarise the tournament as far as the positives are concerned, and also its effects on the World Cup-bound squad, Rohit said everything is falling together at the right time.
“It gives us a lot of confidence to come here and win a tournament like this. We were challenged by a variety of players, a variety of conditions and a variety of situations but we made it through all that and we won. That’s very rewarding,” said the opener.
As for the World Cup, though, Rohit threw in an unlikely surprise, saying even R Ashwin is an option to consider. Rohit flew in Washington Sundar as a last-minute replacement for an injured Axar, and when asked about the same, the skipper said: “We are keeping in mind all our spinning all-rounders. Even Ashwin is in the line, I have been talking to him on the phone regularly. See, the injury to Axar was at the last minute and Washy was available to come. He was cricket-fit because of the Asian Games.”