India was eliminated from contention for the Asia Cup championship on Wednesday after Pakistan defeated Afghanistan by one wicket in a nail-biting “Super 4” match in Sharjah.
India and Afghanistan have lost both of their games and are out of the competition, making the match between the two teams on Thursday pointless. Pakistan and Sri Lanka secured their positions in the top match to be contested on Sunday with four points each from two victories each.
India seemed lost at the Super 4 stage after resounding victories over bitter rivals Pakistan and Hong Kong in the group games. They had close losses against Sri Lanka by six wickets and Pakistan by five wickets. Even though they lost, India still had a mathematical opportunity to advance to the final on Sunday if Afghanistan had defeated Pakistan on Wednesday. In addition, Sri Lanka needed to defeat Pakistan on Friday in order to help India, which also needed an impressive victory over Afghanistan on Thursday.
After losing to Sri Lanka, India’s future was no longer in their hands. Any glimmer of optimism they may have had was dashed when Pakistan defeated Afghanistan in the final over of a Super 4 game that might have gone either way.
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India will look to end the tournament with a win
Discouraged Team India will attempt to finish the Asia Cup 2022 on a strong note by defeating Afghanistan in the Super 4 match on Thursday in Dubai. Team India has been eliminated from the competition. India was eliminated from the running for a spot in the Asia Cup final following Pakistan’s thrilling one-wicket victory over Afghanistan on Wednesday.
India and Afghanistan both enter the game having suffered back-to-back losses after losing to Pakistan and Sri Lanka in their opening two games.
Before playing their final game of the continental competition, the Men in Blue, who did not play to their best ability in the Super 4 round, would prefer to get their house in order.
Australia’s hosting of the T20 World Cup in 2022 prompted India’s Rohit Sharma to experiment with his team’s lineup and individual players. In contrast, Rohit and India’s management efforts with Asia Cup 2022 have failed, as the reigning champions were unable to advance to the top match.
