Asia Cup 2022: "I thought the situation had turned awry" - Aakash Chopra lauds Bhanuka Rajapaksa's match-winning knock in SL vs Pak final

Aakash Chopra lauded Bhanuka Rajapaksa for bailing Sri Lanka out of trouble in the Asia Cup 2022 final against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday, September 11.

Rajapaksa's unbeaten 71 off 45 deliveries helped the Lankan Lions set a challenging 171-run target for the Men in Green. Babar Azam and Co. were then bowled out for 147 as the island nation won their sixth Asia Cup title.

While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that Sri Lanka were initially in a spot of bother. He elaborated:

"The start was amazing [for Pakistan]. Kusal Mendis was out for zero, it was his second consecutive golden duck. When Nissanka also got out while attempting to play a big shot, I thought the situation had turned awry."

Chopra added that the match had almost gone beyond Dasun Shanaka's side at one point:

"[Danushka] Gunathilaka has not scored any runs in this entire tournament, leaving aside an odd knock. After that, it seemed the game had gotten stuck. Here Bhanuka Rajapaksa was promoted. The team was 58/5, that is like game, set and match."

Sri Lanka were reduced to 58/5 when their skipper Shanaka was castled by Shadab Khan in the ninth over of their innings. The match seemed to be veering in Pakistan's favor at that stage.

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"Very, very mature innings" - Aakash Chopra on Bhanuka Rajapaksa's knock

The Sri Lankan batter struck six fours and three sixes during his innings. [P/C: Twitter]

Chopra praised Rajapaksa for playing as per the demands of the situation and said:

"Bhanuka is a striker. He is someone who takes the attack to the opposition but this time the Bhanuka that was seen was playing cautiously and was trying to take the game deep.

"There he got Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva's support but overall a very, very mature innings."

Chopra concluded by choosing the 30-year-old southpaw as his Player of the Match and reasoned:

"You forget T20 performances very quickly because they happen so often and the knocks do not have longevity. But this performance will be remembered because of the way he nullified a good Pakistan bowling attack. From 58/5 to 170 - Bhanuka is my Player of the Match."

Rajapaksa strung together half-century partnerships with Wanindu Hasaranga (36) and Chamika Karunaratne (14*) to take Sri Lanka to a decent score, which proved enough in the end. He was duly chosen as the official Player of the Match for his game-defining effort.