India ended their 2022 Asia Cup campaign with a mammoth 101-run win over Afghanistan in their final Super 4 match of the 2022 Asia Cup. While a number of positives came for the five-time champions, most notably the fact that former captain and talismanic batter Virat Kohli finally broke his drought of international century by smashing a sensational 120 off 61 balls, the fact remains that this was only a dead rubber. India’s exit from the tournament was confirmed by Pakistan’s thrilling win over Afghanistan on Wednesday.
India had earlier lost to Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the super 4 stage after dominating in the group stages. The defeats meant that their fate was completely out of their hands, needing Pakistan to lose both their remaining games at least to reach the final.
India’s match against Afghanistan, saw Virat Kohli hitting his 71st century, an international hundred after more than 1000 days. Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar registered exceptional figures of five wickets for just four runs in the match. India’s all round dominance impressed Inzamam but he said that this individual brilliance came a bit too late.
“Meherbaan badi der ki aate aate (It came a bit too late). The kind of form and performance that everyone was expecting from India was on display against Afghanistan. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli batted really well, and that aggression in their game was evident,” Inzamam said on his YouTube channel.
“But it was a bit too late as it did not help their cause with regard to progressing further in the tournament,” Inzamam added.
Inzamam also talked about star India batter Kohli who scored his maiden T20I century and highest individual score by hitting 122 runs against Afghanistan on Thursday. The former cricketer reflected on Kohli’s innings and what it meant for India as a team.
“It is definitely good news for India that Kohli scored a hundred after more than thousand days. His form is crucial for India to win matches going forward. Kohli himself will be relieved and will be much more relaxed now,” explained Inzamam.
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