Important to play under pressure: Rohit Sharma

Playing ODIs on consecutive days is not something this Indian team is used to. Presented with such a rare situation, most Indian fans had their hearts in their mouth to see Jasprit Bumrah back in the lineup after playing just yesterday. 

What also remained to be seen was how the surface was going to play. Day 1 of the India - Pakistan ODI saw pacers get the ball to move a fair bit, while Day 2 saw spinners extract excessive purchase.  

Less than a day after having a successful outing against Pakistan, Rohit Sharma once again arrived at the post match presentation ceremony beaming with pride. 

"It was a good game. For us also to play a game like that under pressure. It challenged a lot of aspects of our game. We definitely want to play on pitches like to see what we can achieve," the Indian skipper said.

𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹! 🙌

Well done #TeamIndia 👏👏#AsiaCup2023 | #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/amuukhHziJ

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 12, 2023

He was particularly pleased with how effective his bowlers have been in the Asia Cup. Be it Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj with the new ball, or Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav in the middle overs - they've all put their best foot forward in Sri Lanka. 

"Hardik has worked hard on his bowling over the last couple of years, and it's pleasing to see how he bowled that spell. Not an easy target to defend. Pitch got slightly better towards the end so we had to hold our nerve and bowl consistently. 

"Again, for the past year or so Kuldeep has been bowling really well. He's worked hard on his rhythm and you can see the results in the last 15 ODIs he's played. He gives us a lot of options. So going forward it's a pretty good sign," he added. 

The win has now ensured that India will play the Asia Cup final on 17th September. They next play the Bangla Tigers on Friday, while Sri Lanka will take on Pakistan on Thursday.