India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj on Sunday dedicated his prize money in the Asia Cup 2023 final to the groundsmen in Sri Lanka for their superlative efforts amid the terrible weather conditions in the country during the entire tournament.
Siraj got USD 5000 (₹4.15 lakh) for his heroic performance in the final which India won by 10 wickets to clinch their 8th Asia Cup title at the R Premadasa stadium.
Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav was adjudged the Player of the Tournament for his 9 wickets in five games including the five-for against Pakistan in the Super 4s while Shubman Gill finished as the highest scorer with 302 runs from 6 ODIs with one hundred and two fifties.
"This cash prize goes to the groundsmen. This tournament wouldn't have been possible without them," Siraj said after being adjudged the Player of the Match.
The Asian Cricket Council and Sri Lanka Cricket Board had earlier announced a cash prize of USD 50,000 (₹41.5 lakh) for the groundsmen and pitch curators of Colombo and Kandy for their efforts which made the tournament possible in the country which has been witnessing heavy rains over the past few weeks.
Siraj blows away Sri Lanka
Siraj bagged 6 wickets for 21 runs in 7 overs to blow away the opposition as Sri Lanka got bowled out for just 50 in 15.2 overs.
India then took just 6.1 overs to chase down the target with 10 wickets in hand. Openers Shubman Gill (27*) and Ishan Kishan (23*) backed up the bowlers' efforts with their strokeplay and quick finish.
India took just 2 hours and 26 minutes to finish the summit clash which witness only 129 deliveries getting bowled by both teams.
It was the third shortest ODI in terms of balls bowled and India's biggest win after considering the deliveries remaining (263) in the game.
