'Puri tarah se dhula diya...': Gavaskar's epic 'dhobi ghat' reaction on India's record Asia Cup win against Pakistan

Sunil Gavaskar's "dhobi ghat" reaction on India's victory against Pakistan, all the more sums it up just perfectly.

Matches that have gone to reserve days have never gone India's way in the past. The memories of the 2019 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand still remains fresh in the minds of all Indians. But the team put the ghosts of previous heartbreaks to rest by absolutely pummelling their arch-rivals Pakistan on Monday in Colombo in the Asia Cup Super Four game to take a step closer to making the final. If the fifties from the openers and respective centuries from Virat Kohli and KL Rahul wasn't enough, the second innings witnessed some fabulous display of swing bowling from the pacers, the standout being the delivery from Hardik Pandya against the in-form Babar Azam as India scripted their biggest ever win against Pakistan in ODIs. And hence, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar's "dhobi ghat" reaction on the victory, all the more sums it up just perfectly.

Sunil Gavaskar was also full of praise for centurion KL Rahul

Against the famed Pakistan pace trio, the openers in Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill batted aggressively to score a century stand before the two-time Asia Cup winners bounced back with both their dismissals successively. And just when they felt that the momentum was back in their corner, Kohli and Rahul played an innings of a lifetime. The latter, playing his first match since May, scored a thundering ton to announce his return right before the World Cup while Kohli scored his 47th ton to take India to 356 for two.

In reply, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj carved their magic with the new ball before Hardik stunned Babar while Shardul did the same with Mohammad Rizwan. And then, the remainder of the show belonged to Kuldeep Yadav, who finished with 5 for 25 as India won by a record margin of 228 runs.

Speaking to India Today, Gavaskar said that India completely hammered Pakistan just like the way a washerman beats the cloth in a dhobi ghat.

"Forget about the biggest victory, puri tarah se dhula diya (we just hammered them), just as you wash clothes in a dhobi ghat. If you are a good team, you don't let the result of the previous match affect you. If they think too much about it, they won't be able to concentrate on the next match. I don't expect Pakistan to make such a mistake," he said.

The former India captain was also full of praise for Rahul, who was not even in the main XI for the match and was only included five minutes before the toss after Shreyas Iyer incurred a back spasm.

"KL Rahul not only scored a century but also kept wickets," he added. "He made a big statement amid all the talk about his fitness. He proved that he is completely fit. Jasprit Bumrah, too, looked in great rhythm. His run-up looked good, and he swung the ball both ways. Even a world-class batter like Babar Azam was unable to play him," he said.