Following his team's 128-run loss to arch-rivals Pakistan in the final of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Men's Emerging Teams Asia Cup, India A skipper Yash Dhull said "we played some poor shots" which caused the team's defeat, adding that the tournament provided them with a great platform to play.
Tayyab Tahir's heroics with the bat and Sufiyan Muqeem's efforts with the ball took Pakistan A across the finish line against India A in an encounter that was one-sided for the majority of the game in the final of the ACC Men's Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023 on Sunday. "They batted very well, we controlled it well in the middle, but they batted well. It was a big target but we played some poor shots. The decision was okay [to field first], but they batted well and the wicket was also fresh. We played some bad shots [after being three wickets down] and went down from there. None of us have played international cricket so it was a good platform for us to play and a good environment," said Dhull during post-match presentation.
Coming to the match, India opted to field first after winning the toss. Pakistan put up 352/8 in their 50 overs. Saim Ayub (59 in 51 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Sahibzada Farhan (65 in 62 balls with four boundaries and sixes each) laid the foundation for a massive total following a 121-run opening stand. Following their dismissal, Pakistan A sunk to 187/5, but Tayyab Tahir changed the game from that point.
He put on a 126-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Mubasir Khan (35 in 47 balls), which took Pakistan beyond 300 runs. Tayyab smashed 108 in just 71 balls, with 12 fours and four sixes. This knock powered Pakistan to a huge total. Riyan Parag (2/24) and Rajvardhan Hangargekar (2/48) took two wickets each. Manav Suthar, Nishant Sandhu and Harshit Rana got one wicket each. In the chase of 353, India responded with a quickfire 64-run opening stand between Sai Sudarshan (29) and Abhishek Sharma. After Nikin Jose (11) departed early, Abhishek had a 52-run third-wicket partnership with skipper Yash (39 in 41 balls).
Following Abhishek's dismissal for 61 off 51 balls, consisting of five fours and a six, India could not make a comeback in the match and were bundled out for 224 runs in 40 overs. Sufiyan Muqeem (3/66) was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan, while Arshad Iqbal, Mehran Mumtaz and Mohammed Wasim also got two wickets. Tayyab earned the 'Player of the Match' for his knock.
