The Asia Cup 2023 concluded with the Indian team becoming the champions as they defeated Sri Lanka in a one-sided final on Sunday, September 17. This was the Indian team’s 8th overall Asia Cup title win and 7th in the ODI format.
The whole tournament was glittered with top performances and individual brilliance from participating players from six nations. Many players carried over their strong form from prior games into the 2023 Asia Cup.
On the other hand, several players found their form again and consistently scored runs or took wickets in most games. Some made contributions on the pitch, with both the ball and the bat.
Keeping this in mind, here is the COC presented Best XI of the Asia Cup 2023:
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill of India will be the openers of this Best Asia Cup 2023 XI. The skipper of the Indian team scored 194 runs in 6 matches with 3 half-centuries to his name. He averaged 48.50 but scored his runs at a strike rate of 107.77.
On the other hand, Shubman Gill showcased immense talent and after a failure against Pakistan, he hammered 302 runs in 6 matches and finished the Asia Cup as the highest run-getter. He hit 2 fifties and a brilliant century which came in a losing cause against Bangladesh while chasing.
Kusal Mendis churned out 270 runs for Sri Lanka with 3 fifties to his name at an average of 45 and was the highest run-getter from Sri Lanka. His best scores of 92 and 91 in the tournament came in crunch matches against Afghanistan and Pakistan respectively.
KL Rahul made his grand return to the Indian team in the Asia Cup and excelled with both the bat and the keeping gloves. He made 169 runs in 4 matches with a dominating century against Pakistan and he displayed his full fitness.
Charith Asalanka might have scored 179 runs with one fifty, but his amazing knock of 49* against Pakistan will go down as one of the best in Asia Cup history.
Hardik Pandya played one of the best knocks of his career, scoring 87 against Pakistan when India found themselves in trouble. He added a valuable 138 runs with Ishan Kishan and took India to 266 from 66/4. He also picked 6 wickets with a best of 3/3 in the final.
Shakib Al Hasan was truly one of the best players from Bangladesh with 3 wickets and 173 runs to his name with 2 fifties including the best of 80 which came against India in their only win in the Super 4s stage.
Kuldeep Yadav won the Player of the Tournament award for his 9 wickets. He picked 5/25 against Pakistan helping India bowl them out for 128 in chase of 356. He then picked four wickets against Sri Lanka when India was defending 213 runs.
Shaheen Afridi showed why he is considered one of the best pacers in the world as he picked 10 wickets in the tournament. This included a terrific 4/35 against India which included wickets of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja.
His Pakistani teammate Haris Rauf played 4 matches and picked 9 wickets in total which included 4/19 against Bangladesh. An injury kept him from participating further in the tournament.
India’s Mohammed Siraj had a field day in the Asia Cup 2023 final, where he picked 6/21 including four wickets in an over, and decimated the defending champions for 50 runs. He finished with 10 wickets in the tournament.
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A special mention for 20-year-old Sri Lanka spinner Dunith Wellalage, who picked an impressive 10 wickets in the tournament, including a fifer against India. His wickets vs. the eventual champions included Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Hardik Pandya. He then contributed with the bat as well, scoring 42* as Sri Lanka failed to chase down 213 runs.
Best XI of the Asia Cup 2023:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Kusal Mendis, KL Rahul (wk), Charith Asalanka, Hardik Pandya, Shakib Al Hasan, Shaheen Afridi, Kuldeep Yadav, Haris Rauf, Mohammed Siraj, Dunith Wellalage (12th man)
