Virat Kohli's 183 to Harbhajan Singh's match-winning six: India's glorious moments against Pakistan in Asia Cup
The Indian team is all set to resume it's old-age rivalry against Pakistan when they clash against the arch-rivals on September 19. The Asia Cup, which is being played in the 50-over format this time, is one of the most anticipated limited-over tournaments this year, mostly due to the marquee contest between sub-continental giants and arch-rivals India and Pakistan. The clash between the two neighbours always creates a huge buzz across the world.
India are six-time Asia Cup kings and are entering the tournament as the defending champions. After a disappointing England tour, the Asian giants will be looking to get back to their top game. The Men in Blue will miss their regular skipper Virat Kohli as he has been rested for the tournament and in his absence, Rohit Sharma will be leading the team.
Here is a flashback of a few of India's glorious encounters with Pakistan in the Asia Cup:-
3. Virat Kohli helped India escape Mohammad Amir's wrath - Asia Cup 2016
During the 2016 edition, India faced Pakistan in a group stage match. The Indian bowlers did wonders with the ball and dismantled the opposition batting at a lowly score of 83. However, the match was not over at least for Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir who was furious with the ball while defending the short target. He destroyed the Indian top order while picking the wickets of openers Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane in the very first over. Later he sent Suresh Raina back to the pavillion for just one run to his name. But India had their very own run machine Kohli to the rescue as he built a strong partnership with Yuvraj Singh to take his team close to the finish line. Kohli scored 49 runs - more than half of the target -against the fierce Pakistan bowling.
2. Harbhajan Singh's winning Six in Asia Cup 2010
It was a tight match and both teams had an equal chance to steal victory, but it turned into one of the most controversial ones with heated arguments between Gautam Gambhir, Shoaib Akhtar and Kamran Akmal. The course of the game changed in the 47th over when Akhtar came on to bowl and the Turbanator hit him for a massive six that didn't go down well with the Rawalpindi Express. On the last ball of the 49th over, Akhtar bowled a bouncer to the Indian off-spinner after which the duo got indulged in a war of words. The drama continued in the last over as well. India needed 2 runs off 3 balls and Mohammad Amir was bowling the match decider. Bhajji swung his bat in full flow to send the ball out of the park and rivals Pakistan out of the tournament.
1. Virat Kohli's highest individual ODI score in a do-or-die game in Asia Cup 2012
The Men in blue faced the Green Army in a must-win match and King Kohli created history with the bat in a 330 run chase. Batting first Pakistan had a great start with both openers - Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed - scoring a century each. They forged an Asia Cup record partnership of 224 runs for the first wicket. It led the Green Gang to a score of 329 runs for 6 wickets. In reply, India had a poor start with opener Gautam Gambhir getting out for a duck. In spite of losing the first wicket on a score of naught, all the Indians were pretty happy as they had the chance to witness the fluent batting of India's two best batsmen of all time - Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. The current Indian skipper was on full fire at Dhaka and scored his highest individual score - 183 runs in just 148 balls. He and Tendulkar had an excellent partnership of 133 runs for the second wicket. India managed to win the match by six wickets and eliminate Pakistan from the Asia Cup.
