While Pakistan deserves all the recognition for retaining the 2023 Emerging Asia Cup title, not many realise they had six international players in their final XI on Sunday.
The Men in Green were captained by Mohammad Haris, who himself delivered an impactful performance in the 2022 T20 World Cup played Down Under.
With India not playing even one senior-level player, it calls into question the fairness of the competition.
Openers Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan might have only 11 international caps between them, they knew what it takes to step up in the final against India, which was still a formidable opponent.
Pakistan therefore, played fearlessly after India won the toss and put them into bat. The duo put India off their gameplans from the outset due to the openers' aggressiveness
Tayyab Tahir showcases his big-match mettle:
Tahir, who has played three T20Is without much impact, seemed like he learned the ropes in a demoralizing series loss against Afghanistan.
The right-hander's performance stood out as he smashed boundaries at will after Pakistan wobbled following a strong start by the opening pair.
His 66-ball 100 following a 42-ball half-century and his 126-run stand with Mubasir Khan left India chasing a daunting 353 for victory.
With the ball, Mohammad Wasim has been a great servant for the Pakistan senior team, albeit in his short stint so far, had a huge role to play in their victorious campaign.
A great learning experience for India's youngsters:
Despite the colossal 128-run loss, the encouraging thing from India's point of view was how strongly their chase began.
B Sai Sudharsan, who scored a hundred in the earlier game against Pakistan, stitched a 64-run partnership with Abhishek Sharma before falling to a short-pitched delivery from Arshad Iqbal, who has also played one international game.
Abhishek Sharma made a fighting half-century to translate his IPL form for India A, showing that he deserved to play at this level.
Moreover, spinner Nishant Sandhu was the tournament's highest wicket-taker with 11 scalps in 5 innings. Captain Yash Dhull was the second-highest run-getter with 234 runs. Hence, it bodes exceptionally well for the future and making it to the final is no mean feat.
While the rest of the batting order in a steep chase failed to step up to the occasion, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) must look at the contrasting level of experience between teams for the near future to ensure a fair competition. India understandably lacked the big-match nous, and who knows how close the contest might have been in the case of a similar experience level.
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