Daily Times

Asia Cup: How India can still reach final. All scenarios explained

The Indian cricket team lost for the second time in a row in the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup 2022 on Tuesday night, failing to defend a target of more than 170 runs. India set Sri Lanka a 174-run target, which the Lankans chased down with six wickets in hand and one ball to spare. The final two overs were a carbon copy of how India lost to Pakistan on Sunday.

In both cases, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s ineffective bowling in the penultimate over cost India, and young Arshdeep’s best efforts went in vain because he had only 6 runs to defend.

The Lankan openers Nissanka and Mendis ran away with the match thanks to India’s toothless bowling in the powerplay. Yuzvendra Chahal’s three wickets helped India get back into the game, but the pacers lacked the incisive edge that would have allowed the Indians to dominate in the death overs.

Asia Cup: How India can still reach final. All scenarios explained

India is on the verge of being defeated for the second time in a row. However, Rohit Sharma’s team can still make the final.

Here are all the scenarios keeping the three other teams in mind:

Sri Lanka: The Lankans are all but through to the finals after their second straight win. India would now need Sri Lanka to beat Pakistan and that too by a big margin.

Pakistan: If Pakistan beat Afghanistan on Wednesday then it is curtains for Rohit Sharma’s team. India needs Babar Azam and his men to lose by a big margin to Sri Lanka and by a relatively close margin against Afghanistan.

Afghanistan: The mighty Afghans will be India’s last opponents in the Super 4 stage but before that, they would need Mohammad Nabi’s team to beat Pakistan. India would then hope to beat the Afghans by a big margin to keep their chances alive.