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Sri Lanka's sensational win in their Super 4 match in Dubai on Tuesday seems to have thrown the prediction of a straightforward showdown between India and and Pakistan in the final out of the window.
All but out of reckoning for the summit clash, a dishevelled India would like to put their house in order before facing a gutsy Afghanistan team which could prove to be a proverbial banana peel in the final Super 4 clash of the Asia Cup on Thursday. The Indian team hasn't performed to its full potential in the Super 4 stage and lack of resources and poor team selection can also be blamed for back-to-back demoralising defeats against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. What ails the current Indian team is lack of flexibility in its planning and perhaps a few fingers will be pointed at head coach Rahul Dravid.
The Indian team hasn't performed to its full potential in the Super 4 stage and lack of resources and poor team selection can also be blamed for back-to-back demoralising defeats against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. What ails the current Indian team is lack of flexibility in its planning and perhaps a few fingers will be pointed at head coach Rahul Dravid. It seems that Dravid is wary of taking a few hard calls when it comes to team selections as the team does not seem to have a Plan B in its armoury.
Pakistan hurt India's chances of making the Asia Cup final, the 6 wicket shock loss against Sri Lanka on Tuesday took the Men in Blue to the verge of an early and rather embarrassing exit. As things stand right now, India have played two and lost two in the Super 4s, with one match left to play. This is what the Super 4s points table looks like:Sri Lanka - 4 points after 2 matches Pakistan - 2 points after 1 match India - 0 points after 2 matches Afghanistan - 0 points after 1 match Sri Lanka, with 4 points and a NRR of +0.351 are sitting pretty on top of the pile. They have 1 match left to play, which is against Pakistan. Now, there could be a scenario where three teams end up on 4 points each. This can happen if -1. Pakistan beat Sri Lanka and go to 4 points 2. Afghanistan beat Pakistan and go to 2 points 3. Afghanistan then beat India and go to 4 points In this scenario, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan will all be on 4 points and NRR will come into the picture to determine the two finalists. India though does not feature in this scenario. The Lankans of course are in pole position as of now to make the cut for Sunday's final. India meanwhile currently have a slightly better net run rate than that of Afghanistan's (-0.125 as compared to -0.589) with 0 points. So can India still make the final? Yes they can. Though for that they will need a mini miracle and of course other results to go their way.
Sri Lanka on Tuesday, it was the left-arm pace bowling of rookie Dilshan Madushanka that surprised and rocked India before the six-wicket defeat that pushed Rohit Sharma's men to the edge of the exit door of the T20 Asia Cup in the UAE. It was India's second consecutive defeat in the 'Super 4s' stage, after losing to Pakistan, and now leaves them with only the game against Afghanistan in hand and a very, very slim outside chance of sneaking into the final. Madushanka, who came into this match against India with a cumulative experience of just three T20Is under his belt, dealt the Men in Blue a huge blow when he uprooted Virat Kohli's stumps in the third over of India's innings. Virat, who had scored a 44-ball 60 in India's last match against Pakistan and was looking for another big score to consolidate his run of form, was sent back for a four-ball duck. India were reduced to 13/2.
Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka have shaken off their underdogs tag and proved they can challenge at next month's T20 World Cup, after beating India to stand on the verge of the Asia Cup final. Rajapaksa's side bounced back from a crushing opening defeat against Afghanistan to register three straight wins in the Twenty20 tournament, which was moved from Sri Lanka to the United Arab Emirates because of political unrest and an economic crisis.
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.
Asia Cup, the Indian team is facing some flak for a below-par show but skipper Rohit Sharma insists that the team combination is more or less settled going into the T20 World Cup, though, they are still looking for some "answers". The absence of an indisposed Avesh Khan and Ravindra Jadeja, who underwent a knee surgery, meant that India competed with only two frontline seamers -- Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh -- with Hardik Pandya being the third fast-medium option.