India wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson remarked that he used his experience to calm his nerves down in what was a gruelling Asia Cup final against Pakistan. The 30-year-old had come out to bat after the Men in Blue had been restricted to 20/3 and looked to be in a lot of trouble. However, Samson formed a key 57-run partnership alongside Tilak Varma to steady India's sinking ship.
Though Samson was dismissed by Abrar Ahmed in the 13th over for 24 runs, his short inning was still heavily important and helped the side in getting back into the match.
"Yeah, I really enjoyed the pressure actually. I have not played many India-Pakistan games, but today, I think the pressure was all over there. Three wickets down in the powerplay, so I just had to use my experience, calm the nerves down, and just watch the ball and react. That's what I did, and it came off nicely. I think I had a really good partnership with Tilak, and really enjoyed playing the game today," Samson said after the final.
Who starred for India with the bat?
India eventually went on to win the match by 5 wickets as Tilak Varma played an unbeaten knock of 69 and was assisted well by Shivam Dube, who also played an important inning of 33. The Men in Blue reached the 147-run target with just two deliveries left to spare. Rinku Singh, who replaced the injured Hardik Pandya from the playing XI for the final, scored the winning runs as the Indian team won their record-extending ninth Asia Cup title.
India remain unbeaten in Asia Cup
Suryakumar Yadav & Co. went on to remain unbeaten throughout the tournament and won seven matches on a trott. They also defeated Pakistan on a total of three occasions in the tournament. It was a sensational all-round display from the Men in Blue as they once again asserted their dominance over other teams from the Asian continent.
Meanwhile, India will now be shifting their focus to red-ball cricket as their next red-ball assignment will be a two-match Test series against West Indies that will commence from October 2.