Interesting STATs of Asia Cup 2023

 Pakistan pacers in Asia Cup 2023

First three matches: 68.3 overs, 24 wickets at 12.95, SR: 17.1, ER: 4.54

Last two matches: 52.2 overs, 3 wickets at 116.33, SR: 104.6, ER: 6.66 (all three wickets to Shaheen Afridi)

Most appearances in Asia Cup Finals (ODI+T20I)

12 - Sri Lanka  

10 - India  

5 - Pakistan 

3 - Bangladesh

Did you know?

- Taskin Ahmed is Bangladesh's leading wicket-taker in 2023 with 21 wickets in 10 innings. He has picked up two or more wickets six times.

- Rohit Sharma's last five innings against Bangladesh in multi-national tournaments read 137, 123*, 83*, 48 and 104.

Leading Run Scorers in Asia Cup 2023 - 

Kusal Mendis(253), Sadeera Samarawickrama(215) and Babar Azam(207)

Leading wicket Takers in Asia Cup 2023 - 

Matheesa Pathirana(11) , Dunith Wellalage (10) and Shaheen Afridi(10)

Points Table - 

Kohli might match Tendulkar: Michael Hussey

Michael Hussey was very much a part of the Indian Premier League till the last season. This year, the 41-year-old isn't playing but is a part of the commentary team. He has been offered the Indian coaching job a couple of times but he has refused to take it up till now. Hussey has done a bit of coaching, though, with the South African team. During a chat, he spoke about a range of issues and waxed eloquent on the brilliance of Virat Kohli. Excerpts:

You juggle between commentary and coaching assignments and look as fit as any of the present-day cricketers. Has Mr. Cricket truly retired?

It feels great to be involved with the game. I am preparing as well as I can for the Caribbean Premier League later on.

Do you miss playing in IPL?

Yes, of course. I love being part of a team and working together for a common goal. You build up many friendships in the dressing room also.

In this IPL, we have seen a trend of teams chasing successfully and experienced players calling the shots.

I feel it just takes out one uncertain variable in the match i.e. what is a good score. When you chase you know exactly what you need to win the game. I feel the pitches are also getting better and more consistent so teams aren't concerned about changing conditions anymore. Twenty20 ties are always high-pressure games. So the experienced players have a better chance of performing consistently as they have handled pressure before.

As a coach, you have worked with Steve Smith and AB de Villiers. Share with us your experience of working with them.
I simply love watching them bat. The one difference that I noticed was that Smith loves to bat and bat and bat in the nets in the lead up to a match whereas De Villiers prefers to get his skill preparation done and then makes sure he is physically and mentally fresh. But then, not too many can bat like the way De Villiers does.

Besides these two, it's Virat Kohli who's grabbing all the attention. Your take?

He has evolved into an amazing player. These three are all probably at a stage now where they know their game inside and out and they stick to it as it has given them so much success over the years.
After Kohli played a match-winning knock against Australia in the T20 WC, comparisons are being made between him and Sachin Tendulkar.

That was a wonderful innings and sometimes, much like when Tendulkar was playing, you just have to say you were beaten by a better man on the day. One of Tendulkar's greatest strengths was his longevity and if Kohli can stay fit, he could be well on his way to emulate Tendulkar as a player.

IPL 9: Three-ton Virat Kohli breaks Indian run-record for a season

NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli, the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore, has broken Robin Uthappa's record for most runs by an Indian batsman in a single season of the IPL. He needed just 11 innings to do so, five fewer than Uthappa had taken two years ago, and in striking an audacious 109 off 55 balls he became the first batsman to hit three centuries in a single IPL.

. . Kohli went past Uthappa's tally of 660, which was achieved in 2014 by the Kolkata Knight Riders' wicketkeeper-batsman, on Saturday afternoon against Gujarat Lions at Bangalore's M Chinnaswamy Stadium. His run of scores in the tournament read: 75, 79, 33, 80, 100*, 14, 52, 108*, 20, seven and now this hundred which is Kohli's second against Gujarat Lions. His unbeaten century against them on April 24 was his first in T20 cricket. Now he has three in the span of a few weeks.

Virat Kohli shouldn't be compared with Sachin Tendulkar, says Virender Sehwag

Mumbai, May 11: Former India batsman Virender Sehwag said on Wednesday it is unfair to compare batting legend Sachin Tendulkar with current run-machine Virat Kohli.

  The Delhi-born batsman after winning the Man of the Tournament award in the recent World Twenty20, has smashed two centuries in the ongoing ninth edition of the cash-rich IPL tournament and is the leading run-getter with 561 runs.

"No one should compare two individuals. People used to compare me with Tendulkar, me with Viv Richards, that's not fair. The era is not same. I don't think we should compare Kohli with Tendulkar," Sehwag said here at the announcement of the final winner of the 92.7 Big FM Big Catch contest. Sehwag, who is currently the mentor for IPL team Kings XI Punjab, also hailed Kohli as the most dangerous batsman at present. "There are a lot of batsmen. But at the moment, I think, Kohli is the dangerous batsman. There is AB de Villiers, David Warner, but the way Virat is playing, the way he is scoring runs ... he scored two tons in this IPL ... He is the most dangerous at the moment."

Commenting on the talks going on around the first day-night Test to be played between New Zealand and India later this year in the country, the 37-year-old said it would be good for fans and cricket lovers to view a new level of cricket. "It is not officially announced yet but talks are going on. When BCCI announces it, it will be fair for us to comment ... People want to see day-night Test. We have seen Australia-New Zealand playing a day-night Test." "We will also want as a commentator, ex-cricketer, as a public or as a fan of cricket, that day-night eventually happen here and we will go to witness it," Sehwag added.

IPL 9: Priety Zinta abused KXIP coach Sanjay Bangar in front of players, threatened to sack?

New Delhi, May 12: Seems Kings XI Punjab 's 1-run loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore didn't go down well with its co-owner Priety Zinta.

As per a report published in Mumbai Mirror, a furious Zinta, the co-owner of KXIP franchise, was too miffed with head coach Sanjay Bangar's decision making during the match played in
Mohali .

Following her side's disappointing loss, a visibly annoyed Priety Zinta arrived in the dug-out and abused Bangar in front of players and support staff.

As per Mumbai Mirror, both Preity and Bangar denied the incident on Wednesday. However, the same was independently confirmed to this newspaper by four witnesses who were present in the dug-out.

None of them, for obvious reasons, were willing to be quoted. Sources said Preity took exception to Bangar's decision to send Farhaan Behardien ahead of Axar Patel and blamed the coach for the team's loss, the report added further.

A source who was witness to the incident was quoted as saying, "It was a long monologue with a four-letter being used liberally. Everybody was stunned as Preity repeatedly threatened to sack Sanjay. Nobody spoke a word. Sanjay cut a sorry figure which was sad because he was surrounded by young players and support staff he is supposed to lead. It was rather unbecoming of the team owner."

A valiant effort from Murali Vijay went in vain as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) sneaked past Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by 1 run in the nail-biting encounter.

Chasing 176, Vijay led from the front with a brilliant 57-ball 89 supported by an unbeaten 34 from Marcus Stoinis, only to his team to fall short by a run.

Kings XI Punjab, who were the finalists in the previous edition of the tournament, are languishing at the bottom of the table this year. The Punjab side won just 3 off their 10 matches played so far.