Pakistan clinched the Emerging Asia Cup 2023 title for the second consecutive time by defeating India at the end of July 2023. The Pakistani team, led by Mohammad Haris, bested the Indian side by 128 runs in the final match.
In a recent podcast, Haris responded to the claims that Pakistan had an advantage due to including senior players with international experience in their team, as compared to India's younger squad. He dismissed the assertion that Pakistan benefited from international cricket experience. "No one asked the BCCI to send young kids," said Haris, asserting that the Indian players had significant IPL experience.
Haris stated, "People are saying we brought in older players, but we were just kids too. We didn't ask you to bring in younger kids. If it's about international experience, then consider how much experience we have. Saim has five matches, I have six, all T20. Kamran Ghulam has played one match, and Tyeb Tahir has three. They had 260 IPL matches worth of experience. The IPL is not a minor league; it's been around for 15 years. Our experience only spans about 40-45 matches. Nonetheless, everyone performed well."
Looking at the numbers, the Indian team was the least experienced and youngest among the teams playing in the Emerging Asia Cup. The average age of the Indian players was 20.8 years, with an average experience of 16 List A matches. None of the players representing India in this tournament had international cricket experience. In contrast, the Pakistani team had an average age of 23.2 years and an average List A experience of 38 matches. Seven of the 15 Pakistani players had international cricket experience, totalling 85 matches.
In the Emerging Asia Cup 2023 final, Pakistan batted first and scored 352 runs for eight wickets. Tayyab Tahir contributed significantly with a century, scoring 108 runs. In response, the Indian team scored 224 runs in 40 overs. The Indian team had made it to the final without losing a match in the entire tournament, including a group-stage victory against Pakistan.
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