Bharath Ramaraj in Dubai
At present, it feels as if Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are playing each other in order to lock horns against India in the final of the 2025 Asia Cup. The statement may seem a tad harsh on the other sides, but that is how the Asia Cup has panned out so far. By a fair distance, India have looked the best of the teams on view.
Pakistan have lost both their encounters to their arch-rivals, India. For a brief period, Sri Lanka showed some promise, but they have now crashed to successive defeats against Bangladesh and Pakistan. And they are on the verge of getting eliminated. Bangladesh themselves lost to Sri Lanka in the group phase, but turned it around in their crucial Super 4 encounter, against the same side.
Despite India remaining unbeaten in the tournament so far, they shouldn’t get complacent. Outside of Abhishek Sharma, the rest of the batters have looked rather scratchy. Shubman Gill did show some promise in the India-Pakistan Super 4 game, but it is true that Sanju Samson and even Suryakumar Yadav haven’t looked anywhere near their best.
A subset of that point is Samson is perhaps playing at a position — No. 5 — that doesn’t exactly suit his style of batting. On the bowling side of things, Jasprit Bumrah seems to be grappling with rhythm. India also dropped four catches in their previous game in Dubai.
There are external threats too. On paper, Pakistan may lack the quality to challenge India on a consistent basis. But any Pakistan side with some momentum can prove to be a dangerous side. If Pakistan defeat Bangladesh as well and reach the final, they would believe it is a matter of doing well over one game. And in the shortest format, a couple of game-breakers could be enough to win a match.
First things first, India would concentrate on their very next game, and that is against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Stadium. A win versus their eastern neighbours would guarantee them a place in the summit clash. India also would be looking at the larger picture; hoping for some of their mainstays to find form.
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