Asia cup: India’s hopes of making final rest on match against Sri Lanka

Dubai, September 5

India would need to get the best out of their thin bowling resources and avoid too much experimentation when they face Sri Lanka in a must-win Super 4s game in the Asia Cup here tomorrow.

In the absence of the injured Ravindra Jadeja, Harshal Patel and Jasprit Bumrah, India do not have a lot of options to play with in the bowling department.

India chose to go with five bowling options against Pakistan on Sunday and it did not work out in their favour as Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a rare bad day.

After a match-winning effort in the opening game against Pakistan, Hardik Pandya proved expensive, as did Yuzvendra Chahal, who has not been at his best in the tournament.

The five-bowler theory also makes Pandya’s four overs more critical. Axar Patel, who is a like-for-like replacement for Jadeja, can be brought into the playing XI to lend more balance to the outfit.

Avesh Khan, who was unwell ahead of Sunday’s clash, can also return as the third specialist pacer.

While head coach Rahul Dravid stressed that India would be looking to play their best XI in the lead-up to the World Cup, the Rohit Sharma-led side continues to experiment.

With the debate over Rishabh Pant versus Dinesh Karthik in the team simmering, the management tried out Deepak Hooda at the expense of the Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batter, who hardly got to bat in the first two games.

Real Kohli back?

The biggest positive out of the Pakistan game was the performance of the high-profile top-order. The top-three – Rohit, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli – showed a lot of aggression and gave India an electric start.

Kohli’s critics can finally rest after his second successive half-century in the Asia Cup. He may not be back to his best but he gave enough signs on Sunday that he is getting there.

One can expect Kohli and the two openers to blast away against Sri Lanka from the first ball.

Having pulled off two close chases against Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Sri Lanka have turned their campaign around after a heavy defeat in their opening game. — PTI

32Kohli now has the most 50-plus scores in T20 Internationals. His innings of 60 against Pakistan on Sunday took him past Rohit’s tally of 31.

183.33Suryakumar Yadav (183.33) has the best strike-rates for India at the 2022 Asia Cup. For Sri Lanka, that man would be and Kusal Mendis (163.33).

6Apart from the two games involving Hong Kong, the other six matches have been won by the chasing team in this Asia Cup.

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