Netizens went into overdrive after India skipper Rohit Sharma matched the legendary MS Dhoni's record of winning two Asia Cup titles on Sunday.

 

Rohit Sharma's maiden Asia Cup trophy as captain came in 2018 when he led the Indian cricket team to victory in the tournament in the UAE.

 

However, the credit for Rohit Sharma's second Asia Cup title triumph should go to India pacer Mohammed Siraj, who dismantled Sri Lanka to lead the Men in Blue to a record-extending eighth Asia Cup trophy in Colombo.

 

It was a perfect exhibition of seam and swing bowling from Mohammed Siraj as he recorded figures of 6/21 in seven overs, becoming just the second Indian to take six wickets in an ODI game. 

 

With Mohammed Siraj producing one of the most devastating displays of fast bowling and Hardik Pandya picking three wickets, the Sri Lankan innings folded at 50. 

 

In reply, Indian openers Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan unleashed a flurry of boundaries to complete a lopsided ten-wicket win in only 6.1 overs.   

 

With 263 balls to spare when India achieved their target of 51, Rohit Sharma and his boys registered their biggest win in terms of balls remaining. 

 

The title triumph against Sri Lanka made Rohit Sharma the third Indian captain to claim two Asia Cup trophies after MS Dhoni and Mohammad Azharuddin. 

 

While Rohit Sharma and Mohammad Azharuddin claimed two Asia Cup titles in two tournament finals (1991 and 1995), MS Dhoni did it in three (2010 and 2016).

 

A delighted Rohit Sharma praised his side for such a masterful performance in the final against the Dasun Shanaka-led team.

 

“It was a great performance, especially to come and play like that in a final. Shows the mentality of the team. Our seamers are actually working really hard for many years, so it's pleasing for the side to see them rewarded like that. Very clinical. A performance like that will be cherished for a very long time,” Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation ceremony.  

 

“I never thought the ball was going to be doing that much, again it comes back to the skillset of the individuals. That's very rare, you don't see many guys who can move it in the air and off the pitch. And the other guys also who took part at various stages, they all played their part,” he added. 

 

“We took all we can from this series, quite pleasing to move in this direction with this kind of confidence. The first game against Pakistan under pressure 4 down, how Hardik and Kishan batted in that pressure got us to that total. And then KL and Virat getting that hundred was brilliant to see. Also Gill, he's in terrific form, he's a batting freak. He likes to keep batting and it's something that works for our team. A lot of the guys at various stages bailed the team out in pressure situations,” the India skipper explained. 

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On the other hand, Mohammed Siraj stressed that he made good use of the conditions, which allowed him to unleash his trademark outswing against the Sri Lankan batters.

 

“I have been bowling well for a while. The batters were getting beaten for the last two matches, today I found the edges. I just tried to hit the areas. The wicket was seaming for the last two matches, today there was swing so I tried to make the batters play as much as possible,” Mohammed Siraj said after India's win. 

 

“Because it was swinging, I thought of putting the balls up to the batters. The way I thought, I executed it and the plan was successful. The pitch was very good, was getting decent swing early, and I felt it was a bit damp,” he elaborated.

 

“Definitely my best spell. I want to give this cash prize to the groundsmen. They deserve it. If they were not around, this tournament would not have been successful,” Mohammed Siraj opined.

 

Mohammed Siraj's sensational bowling performance earned him rich plaudits from the legendary Sunil Gavaskar.

“The bowling was absolutely top-class. Siraj got six wickets, but Bumrah kept the pressure from the other end as well. Siraj was absolutely outstanding, getting the ball to move both ways, angling the ball across the left-handers, quite smartly, getting the ball to curve away from the right-hander as well,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today.

 

“The deliveries he bowled to Dhananjaya and Dasun Shanaka were absolute peaches and they would have troubled the best of batters,” the former India captain pointed out.

 

“First and foremost, his rhythm was so good from ball one. Fast bowlers take a bit of time in the first over to get confidence. Once you get the confidence, your pace starts to increase from the second over onwards. From ball one, Siraj seemed to be very confident,” Sunil Gavaskar concluded.