"There Is No Pace": Pakistan Great On Bhuvneshwar Kumar Conceding 14 In 19th Over vs Sri Lanka

07.09.2022 - 10:27 sports.ndtv.com

With two straight losses in two matches in the Asia Cup Super 4 stage, India are on the brink of exit. Their fate is no longer in their own hands.

If Pakistan beat Afghanistan on Wednesday, they will be out of the final contention. On Wednesday, India skipper Rohit Sharma scored a scintillating 41-ball 72 but it went in vain as India failed to defend a target of 174.

Needing 21 in 12 balls, Sri Lanka scored 14 runs off the penultimate over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, almost sealing it in their favour.

After the match, former Pakistan great Wasim Akram analysed what went wrong for Bhuvneshwar in the 19th over. "Bhuvi is a very good bowler.

cricket India Cricket Team 2022 on Rohit Sharma Star Sports Wasim Akram India Sri Lanka Afghanistan Pakistan

Improving India's bowling remains the team's focus ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup next month, skipper Rohit Sharma has said, adding that he backs seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar to come out of a recent slump. India went past Aaron Finch's Australia by six wickets to clinch the three-match T20 series 2-1, and now host South Africa for a white-ball series starting Wednesday. The team's batsmen, including Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav, have been in good form and shared a 104-run partnership to secure victory on Sunday, but the final-overs bowling has been a cause of worry.

India vs Australia, India Predicted XI: Will Bhuvneshwar Kumar Return For 3rd T20I vs Australia?

India face Australia in the third and final T20I in Hyderabad on Sunday. The match will be a series-decider, with Australia winning the first match in Mohali and India coming back strong to triumph in a shortened game in Nagpur. India brought Jasprit Bumrah back into the side in Nagpur for Umesh Yadav and played Rishabh Pant instead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has been expensive of late. But as that was a match reduced to eight overs per side, India could afford to field one bowler less. It is highly likely that they will bring Bhuvneshwar back to ensure they have six bowling options in the series decider.

Out of form Bhuvneshwar Kumar a major worry for Team India

Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar's lacklustre performances in the end overs are disrupting India's plans for the T20 World CupOn August 28, when Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 4-26 to play a key role in India's thrilling five-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup at Dubai, few thought that, with just a month left before their 2022 T20 World Cup opener against the same opponents, India's sole 'T20 specialist' bowler would become a source of one of India's biggest worries. In three out of India's last four matches, Bhuvneshwar has been taken to the cleaners in the penultimate over. Everything that he has tried-yorker, wide yorker, slower ball, knuckle ball or a bouncer, has failed, as he has ended up becoming cannon fodder for batsmen waiting to pounce on his friendly medium pace.

"Has Been A Very Good Finisher": Matthew Hayden Defends India Pacer's Death Bowling

Team India faced a terrible defeat against Australia in the first T20I of the three-match series in Mohali on Tuesday. Despite a great show with the bat by Hardik Pandya, who smashed 71* off 30 balls, Team India failed to defend a target of 209. Cameron Green (61) and Matthew Wade (45*) rose to the occasion and provided Australia with a four-wicket win. The pacer duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel leaked a total of 101 runs in their combined eight overs.

India vs Australia - "Bowlers Weren't There": Rohit Sharma's Blunt Reply To Question On Mohali Loss

India lost the first T20I against Australia despite posting a mammoth total of 208 runs on the board and captain Rohit Sharma didn't mince any words when he was asked about the loss. Rohit put the blame squarely on India's pathetic bowling performance in the match. Experienced seam bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded 52 runs in 4 overs, while Harshal Patel was taken for 49 runs in his full quota. Leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was hit for 42 in 3.2 overs and despite a heroic spell of 3/17 from Axar Patel, the Aussies beat India on canter eventually.

Three things Sri Lanka got right that Team India will be looking to improve on ahead of the T20 World Cup

Sri Lanka, going through one of the most torrid times in their history as a nation, emerging as the 2022 Asia Cup champions. But against all odds, Dasun Shanaka and co. played a very brave brand of T20 cricket to clinch the island nation's 6th Asia Cup title and deliver a sense of joy and relief to a crisis-hit nation. The loss in their Asia Cup opener was their only defeat in the tournament this time, with the Lankans registering an epic turnaround, winning 5 straight games after the defeat to Afghanistan to go all the way in the 2022 edition of the tournament, which was only the second time that the Asia Cup was played in the T20I format.