Mohammad Rizwan of Pakistan concluded the Asia Cup 2022 with more runs than Virat Kohli, who scored his 71st international century on Thursday against Afghanistan in India’s final “Super 4” match. Rizwan scored 55 runs off 49 balls against Sri Lanka in the championship game, but it wasn’t enough to win—he fell 50 runs short of Kohli’s 276-run total. With a 23-run victory on Sunday, Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s unbeaten 71 and Wanindu Hasaranga’s all-around performance, Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup for the sixth time.
Pakistan was bowled out for 147 in Dubai by Hasaranga and Pramod Madushan, who each grabbed three wickets in a single over. Babar Azam, Pakistan’s captain, was out for just five runs, and Fakhar Zaman died for zero. When Rizwan and Iftikhar (32) joined forces, the innings was revived, but Pakistan’s chase was disrupted by frequent wickets.
Although Rizwan led Pakistan in scoring, many previous players, especially Wasim Akram, were unimpressed by his slow play and threw harsh criticism at the wicketkeeper-batter. The legendary bowler admitted that when he criticised Rizwan’s performance against Hong Kong, he received abuse from online trolls. In the group stage game, the 30-year-old scored 78 points off of 57 shots.
After the final, Akram told the host network Star Sports, “I had warned at the beginning of the tournament that the openers won’t goof up but struggle in games like these. That’s exactly what occurred tonight.”
Meezan 
Anamika