Pakistan opened their Asia Cup 2023 campaign in an emphatic fashion, registering a thumping 238-run victory over Nepal at Multan Cricket Stadium on Wednesday (August 30).

Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmad starred with the bat in Pakistan’s win. While the Pakistan captain slammed 151 off 131 balls, Iftikhar stayed unbeaten on 109* off 71 balls.

The duo was involved in a 214-run partnership for the fifth wicket. It is the third-highest stand for any wicket in ODI Asia Cup history.

During their partnership, however, the commentators found Iftikhar quite animated at one point. The incident took place at the end of the 45th over when Iftikhar was batting on 74 off 56 balls.

"And Iftikhar being animated as well. I don't know if Iftikhar is thinking about his hundred as well. He has gone up to the captain, and probably said 'You know what, four overs remaining, let me get my first hundred'," one of the commentators was heard saying.

"What could be the response from Babar Azam. You know the gestures we saw. He must have been telling ' let me deal with the job. Don't worry about your hundred. It's a team work which is required here'," the other commentator added.

Here’s the video:

Coming to the match, the Men in Green racked up a mammoth 342/6 in their allotted 50 overs on the back of Babar and Iftikhar’s centuries.

Defending the total, Pakistani bowlers wreaked havoc on the Nepal batting line-up and bundled them out for 104 in 23.4 overs.

While the pace trio of Shaheen Afridi (2-27), Naseem Shah (1-17) and Haris Rauf (2-16) shared five wickets among them, the spin duo of Shadab Khan (4-27) and Mohammad Nawaz (1-13) dismissed the remaining Nepal batters.  

(With NDTV Inputs)