India, who have played the musical chair with their playing XI, are hoping for a miracle to make it to the finals after losing both their Super 4 matches. Fearlessness, recklessness and aggression—everything that Team India wanted to achieve in the tournament—were Sri Lanka’s qualities on the night. Even 10 months after the T20 World Cup debacle in the United Arab Emirates here, India still finds itself vulnerable in critical games.
as it happened
Openers Pathum Nisanka and Kusal Mendis chased down the target in 11.1 overs with 97 runs for the first wicket. Both faced 37 balls and scored 52 and 57 runs respectively. Yuzvendra Chahal and R Ashwin (who came in for Ravi Bishnoi) brought India back to 3/34 and 1/32 in the middle overs. But captain Dasun Shanaka (33 off 18) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (25 off 17) shared an unbeaten 34-ball 64 to expose India’s death bowling, which was reeling from a lack of bowling options.
Sri Lanka #AsiaCup2022 #INDvSL | , Scorecard: https://t.co/914FlwDKK0 https://t.co/t3lhQ5PE9k
— ICC (@ICC) 1662486598000
Sri Lanka came up with a plan to use the short boundary to their advantage. They were able to restrict the Indian batting to 173/8 as most of the Indian batsmen were dismissed for a large part of the field. And when the Lankan batsmen came out to bat, every big hit was aimed towards the small boundary. The Indian bowlers were stunned when they were seen bowling without considering the short boundaries.
what. A victory! Sri Lanka achieved a thrilling win against India. 6-wicket win It’s a hat-trick of victory for Mr. L… https://t.co/aGOh4EzuRX
— Sri Lanka Cricket (@OfficialSLC) 1662486476000
For the first time after assuming the regular captaincy of Team India, Rohit came out of the shadow of the militant T20 captain Rohit. It is all about rebuilding a team, establishing a brand of cricket and preparing for the T20 World Cup in October. On Tuesday, Rohit took it upon himself to put India together with a 41-ball 72. If only he had a batting lineup, which would have been full of IPL superstars, supporting him and providing a strong finish.
Rohit is usually not very emotional on the field. but when Virat Kohli Clean bowled for a duck after KL Rahul’s six off a few balls by left-arm seamer Dilshan Madushanka threw his head back and the pressure was evident in his face. At 13/2, there was bound to be panic in the Indian dressing room.
In response, Rohit retaliated. He has been the most vocal about the hyper-aggressive, reckless and fearless cricket he wanted his team to play. It was time he showed how it was done. The moment he left the track off a fast delivery from Asitha Fernando and pulled it for a six over mid-wicket in the fifth over, you knew he meant business.
The challenges of scoring fluently were ever-obvious watching Entrepreneur Suryakumar Yadav Struggling to progress after scoring 34 off 29 balls. Rohit was there to play the lead role. Leaves the track for the spinners, short laps behind fine-leg and his trademark pull shot were all on show. The run rate went beyond nine runs per over.
There the ordeal began. Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant showed glimpses of their power-hitting prowess but then the Sri Lankan bowlers caught their nerves and stuck to their plans. Both fell for the same score (17 out of 13) trying to clear the big boundary.
This match was played two nights ago between India and Pakistan on the same surface. It seemed dry and too dull. With one side of the border being 80 meters long, the Sri Lankan attack was clever to take full advantage of it. Mahesh Thiksana set the pace with his impeccable powerplay bowling. Rohit could not let leg-spinner Vanindu Hasranga slip through his overs.
Rohit was motoring along and looked like posting an unlucky total till the lack of pace in the pitch was ultimately attributed to him as his upper cut was caught at deep-point off Chamika Karunaratne. Surya’s ramp off Dasun Shanaka also could not clear short third man.