Pressure situations in the game may arise at any crucial stage, but the one who overcomes it might be remembered for a period beyond that.
So, as the Asia Cup 2022 is around the corner, we'll look at the top five batting performances in the tournament which had the most impact on the game's context.
In a super four match of the 2018 Asia Cup against India, Afghanistan's opening batter Mohammad Shahzad notched up 124 off 116 deliveries, which included seven sixes against a solid Indian bowling attack helping his team to reach the score of 252/8 in their allotted 50 overs.
In the second innings, the Afghan side fought well to take that match to the wire, with the game ending in a tie. Interestingly, this tied game was MS Dhoni's last game as India's ODI captain.
When the Indian side scored 271/6 against Sri Lanka in 2004 - all thanks to half-centuries from Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh. But there was one show on the other side.
Sanath Jayasuriya put his hand up and racked up a classic 130 in a losing cause, where his team was short by just four runs. Although, the innings might be remembered for his resilience.
In the tournament's fourth match of the 2014 edition, India asked Sri Lanka to chase down 265 in 50 overs. The battle went in the last over, with the Island Nation triumphing by two wickets.
Thanks to a significant batting effort from Kumar Sangakkara, who countered the bowling attack with his quality 103, batting at number three and staying on the crease till 49th over. Ironically, Sangakkara was the only third batter in the match with batting strike rate over 100, apart from Ravichandran Ashwin (18 off 16 balls) and Ajantha Mendis (5 off 2 balls).
In a match where Sri Lanka, with their collective effort, reached 242/6, Pakistan were found short by 16 runs, but there was one man who almost single-handedly took his side home, Shahid Afridi. The Pakistani skipper smashed 109 off just 76 deliveries hitting eight fours and gigantic seven sixes, to score nearly half of the runs for his side.
If there is an innings that could top the chart in the history of the Asia Cup, it has to be Virat Kohli's 183 against Pakistan, without any doubt.
Batting first, Pakistan were lifted by twin centuries from Mohd. Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed powered them to 329. India, in return, lost their first wicket early, but the number three batter for the side displayed clear dominance against a potent bowling line-up, destroying them by hitting 22 fours, taking his side home in a high-scoring thriller. The class and talent on the show that day was why he came out to be Virat Kohli.
.jpg?im=Resize=(250, 250) "Arnav Chopra")
