India lost to Sri Lanka in a must-win Super Four clash at the Asia Cup 2022 edition on Tuesday (September 06), at the iconic Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai. The result left the Men in Blue at the mercy of the other teams to have a chance of making it to the final. It also meant that Indian skipper Rohit Sharma’s scintillating 41-ball 72 went in vain, as the islanders completed a chase of 174 with a ball to spare.
Needing 21 in 12 balls, Sri Lanka scored 14 runs off the penultimate over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, however, Arshdeep Singh tried his best to defend seven runs in the final over but couldn’t do so.
However, all is not over for India as they still have an outside chance of making it to the final
India will need help from all the other teams in the tournament to remain alive and somehow enter the final. Four teams – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan, have qualified for the Super 4 stage and they will face each other once, which means a total number of six matches will be played at this stage.
Every time a team wins their Super 4 clash, it will be awarded 2 points. Hence, two sides that will finish in first and second position on the points table after the Super 4 stage will play the final of the Asia Cup 2022.
After registering the win against India on Tuesday, Sri Lanka virtually sealed their berth in the summit clash. The Island nation is currently at the top of the Super 4 points table with four points and an NRR of 0.3512. While Babar Azam-led Pakistan is second in the tally with two points and an NRR of 0.126.
India is currently third on Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 stage points table. India will require Pakistan to lose both their matches (against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka). India would also need to beat Afghanistan by a big margin. India would then need their NRR to be higher than that of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“We just ended up on the wrong side, as simple as that”: Rohit
After India lost, a dejected Rohit said at the post-match presentation, “We just ended up on the wrong side, as simple as that. We could have capitalized on the first half of our innings. We fell 10-15 runs short. The second half wasn’t good for us. The guys who were out in the middle can learn about what shots can be played. These things can happen. Losses like these will make us understand what works as a team.”
He added, “Since the last World Cup, we haven’t lost too many games. These games will teach us. We wanted to put ourselves under pressure in the Asia Cup. We are still looking for answers.”