When asked to select the Player of the Match during the post-match show on Star Sports, Gambhir chose Kuldeep Yadav instead of Virat Kohli or KL Rahul, despite India’s record-breaking ODI victory of 228 runs against Pakistan. Ultimately, the official decision favored Kohli, who received the Player of the Match award for his unbeaten 122-run performance. Naturally, Gambhir’s remarks gained significant attention during the post-match presentation.

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On Monday, Kohli achieved several remarkable records. He became the quickest player to reach 13,000 runs in ODIs, moved closer to matching Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI centuries, and equalled Hashim Amla’s mark for scoring the most consecutive ODI centuries (4) at a specific venue.

These accomplishments were primarily a result of his partnership with KL Rahul, who also played superbly with an unbeaten 111*.

Together, they forged an outstanding 233-run partnership, which was India’s highest in the Asia Cup. This partnership was instrumental in India posting their joint-highest ODI total of 356 against Pakistan.

Considering the conditions in Colombo, where a score of 250-260 is typically seen as competitive, the task of chasing down 357 was close to impossible for any team. In this regard, it’s fair to say that India’s batting performance effectively took Pakistan out of contention.

Gambhir said, “can’t look beyond Kuldeep” as the Player of the Match. He highlighted that Kuldeep’s performance was exceptional because he outwitted the Pakistani batsmen, who are typically adept at playing spin, both in terms of flight and the movement off the pitch.

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“For me, it’s Kuldeep Yadav. Can’t look beyond him. I know Virat got a hundred KL (Rahul) got a hundred. Rohit (Sharma), Shubman Gill got fifties but on a wicket like this where it was seaming swinging, if someone get five wickets in 8 overs, especially against Pakistan batters, who play spin really well, is a game-changing moment. I can understand if it was Australia, South Africa or New Zealand because they don’t play spin that well. This just shows the quality of the bowler. He beat batters in the air and he beat batters off the wicket as well. Going into the World Cup, that is great for Indian cricket because now you have two attacking pacers upfront and Kuldeep… Three bowlers who can take wickets at any stage of the game,” Gambhir said.

Updated: 12 Sep 2023, 01:41 PM IST