“He's brought the team back from tough situations” - Rohit Sharma praises Kuldeep Yadav after Asia Cup triumph

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma hailed left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav for his fantastic performances in the recently concluded Asia Cup 2023. Rohit hailed the bowler for pulling the team out of trouble from tough circumstances.

Kuldeep was named Player of the Series for claiming nine wickets at an average of 11.44. While he did not have much to do in the final on Sunday as Mohammed Siraj ripped through Sri Lanka with figures of 6/21, the 28-year-old claimed 5/25 against Pakistan and followed it up with 4/43 against Sri Lanka.

Speaking after India’s dominating 10-wicket triumph in the Asia Cup 2023 final, Rohit applauded Kuldeep for his significant contribution.

"Kuldeep has bowled superbly. Under pressure, whenever he's had the chance to bowl, especially against Sri Lanka [in the Super 4s] where we didn't have a big score, he came in and picked up a lot of crucial wickets. His confidence has gone up over the last 1-1.5 years," he said.

"Whenever he's got the chance he's bowled well. He's brought the team back from tough situations, which is a good quality. As a team if we have such a quality bowler, it feels great,” the Indian captain added.

While Kuldeep claimed nine scalps in Asia Cup 2023, Siraj finished with 10 wickets, while all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with six each.

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“We didn't expect the wicket to do that much” - Rohit on Premadasa surface

Apart from the rain, the unpredictable nature of the surface at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo was also a matter of debate during the Asia Cup.

Speaking about the final, Rohit admitted that he was surprised with how much the pitch had to offer for the pacers.

“Honestly I was a little surprised at how much the wicket did, because we didn't expect the wicket to do that much. That's been the nature of this ground, you have to be prepared for unexpected things. Those are the challenges you come across as sportsmen. In conditions like this you don't know exactly what the right score is, what the winning score is,” Rohit said.

"We defended 213 against Sri Lanka, but the other day we couldn't chase 266 [against Bangladesh], and today we bowled them out for 50. So, the nature of the pitches here has been challenging, unexpected as well. I mean when the pitch had so much to offer, we needed guys who have the skill to exploit that,” the Indian skipper concluded.

Sri Lanka won the toss and batted first in the Asia Cup final, but were bundled out for 50 in 15.2 overs. India chased down the target in 6.1 overs.