Asia Cup 2022, India vs Sri Lanka: India need to find enough bowling options for do-or-die game

"I think they had a very good game (against Pakistan) last night. There is nothing called under pressure at the moment because they are playing very good cricket and will be well prepared for tomorrow's game," Shanaka said. That said, there will be some jitters in the Indian camp. Not coming good in crunch games in big tournaments has been a problem with India for most part of the last decade. On paper, India hold all the aces. But the team is far from being settled.

While the top order seemed to have rediscovered some of its ominous form against Pakistan on Sunday, Ravindra Jadeja's absence has again exposed the team's vulnerability: the sixth bowling option. The left-arm spinner's two-three overs in the middle order often provided a cushion to the team. The attack unravelled when Pakistan launched a counter-attack on Sunday. Two of India's least experienced bowlers - Arshdeep Singh and Ravi Bishnoi - returned the best economy rates. It doesn't help when two of your three top bowlers have a bad day. Hardik's re-emergence as a pace bowler is easy to get carried away with. But is he really a third seam option on lively pitches? The debate is still open. In such a situation, Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have very little wriggle room . Besides, Bhuvneshwar's bowling at the death currently is suspect.

Much has been spoken about the team's endeavour to have like-for-like options. Axar Patel has flown in as one for Jadeja. But that doesn't really solve the conundrum. Fitting him in won't be that easy. India want to play an ultra-aggressive game with the bat. For that they need to bat deep. That was the idea behind having Dinesh Karthik at No. 7 in the first game with Jadeja batting higher. With Jadeja gone, the