Boria Majumdar in Dubai
The Abbas-Mustan thriller last night was not necessarily a bad thing for India. In fact, I’d argue it was a very good wakeup call and just what India needed. India have not played their best cricket, but still made the Asia Cup final quite comfortably. No team was able to stretch them, and that finally happened on Friday night with Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera tearing into India’s bowling attack. Hardik Pandya went off with cramps and Jasprit Bumrah was rested. That meant India did not have their regular power-play bowlers, and a rusty Arshdeep Singh and an off-colour Harshit Rana conceded 72 in the power play. At the end of 10 overs, Sri Lanka had 114, and with 9 wickets in hand, there seemed to be just one winner from there on.
But then, that’s when good teams find something going for them. A Kuldeep Yadav over that went for just four runs, and a Varun Chakaravarthy stopped Sri Lanka scoring as freely. And then, wickets started to fall. Perera, Charith Asalanka and Kamindu Mendis fell one after the other in a matter of five overs, and India were back in the hunt. Suryakumar Yadav was marshalling his troops very well, and while his batting is a concern, his captaincy has been top notch. Even without Hardik, he managed to take the game deep and, with some luck, could even have won it in the last over. But then, Sri Lanka will also believe that had Dasun Shanaka not dived to make his ground, he could have gone for the third run off the final ball.
In the Super Over, Arshdeep was excellent. He clearly bowled better as the game went on. Has he made a case for the final? If Hardik doesn’t recover, Shivam Dube can be a like-for-like replacement, and Arshdeep will stay in the XI. Even if Hardik does make it back, it could be for Harshit, with Arshdeep continuing in the team. Between Hardik, Bumrah and Arshdeep, India have enough to nail Pakistan in the power play, and it wouldn’t be a bad call to persist with Arshdeep.
Coming to the batting, Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma scoring runs will give the Indian camp a lot of relief. You want the middle order to fire, and that’s exactly what they did. Axar Patel too finished the innings well, and except for Surya, almost everyone is now in some form. The skipper will know that he has cushions all round him, and that should allow him to bat freely in the final.
The truth is India have all the bases covered. This was a wakeup call and it surely helped India find some answers. Unless India mess up and does so royally, they are much too good to lose the final to Pakistan. While I am conscious that finals are different, I’d still want to believe that the difference in skill sets is such that India start overwhelming favourites. Someone or the other will score, and someone will put his hand up with the ball. And if Abhishek Sharma continues his purple patch, it could well be settled in the first ten overs itself. Let’s have the focus on the field, rather than off it. All said and done, it could be a very good final.
Follow Revsportz for latest sports news