Sri Lanka ascended from the ashes like a Phoenix and triumphed in the end in a spectacular fashion. At a time when the whole country is undergoing severe economic and political struggle, the cricketing team have given their countrymen and women something to cheer. Something to smile. It was wonderful see the smiling faces of the Sri Lankans despite the doom and gloom at home. Was the tournament itself a success? Yes and No. Yes because it produced enough close games and No because the finals was at Dubai. Let me reiterate in the Asia Cup overall review.
First about the finals
If one were to look at the scorecard after about 10 overs, you would not have been wrong to conclude that for Pakistan this will be a walk in the park. They had half of the Sri Lankans back in the hut for just 55. All their bowlers were bowling at tremendous pace. Harris Rauf even touched 153KMPH. It was exhilarating stuff. Haseen Shah & Mohammed Hasnain bowled with great hostility. It was only a matter of time before the Sri Lankans are bowled out for a paltry score and Pakistan chase those runs with relative ease.
However, Hasaranga and Rajapaksa combined to first put the innings back on track and Rajapaksa went onto to score a blistering 74 to setup a competitive total. Hasaranga is not known for exploits with the bat. Nevertheless, he not only survived but he thrived. Nonetheless, on a Dubai pitch that is known to unduly favour the team batting second, Pakistan must have romped home but some tight bowling and good fielding, scuttled them midway.
Dubai as a venue must go unless something is done to correct the imbalance
Before I go into individual teams, a word about tournament in Dubai is much needed.
I really do not understand why would ICC or ACC award tournaments to Dubai? It is a ground that favours the team batting second. If a team loses the toss, it is as good as losing the match. An overwhelming majority of the games were won by the team batting second and the sample is pretty huge. The ICC must do something about this farce. If it means starting an hour or two later or an hour or two earlier or a complete day game, so be it. This cannot be allowed to continue.
The team batting first finds the pitch so difficult to score whereas the team batting second, they find an absolute road. As a result, good teams lose to average ones. Not only that, the team batting first is forced to take extra risks to score close to 200 or above just to account for the bettering conditions later on.
Things cannot be allowed to continue in this fashion. Especially, finals should never be held in Dubai until something is done to correct this imparity. It was a miracle that two out of the last three games were won by the team batting first. Ofcourse, one of them must be discounted because it came against a team that was completely devastated by the loss the earlier night. If not for Sri Lanka’s tight bowling, the finals would have followed the same script. Will the ICC and ACC wake up?
India, a lot of problems
India entered the tournament as the firm favourites. However, by the end of it, they have to answer a lot more questions than they initially had. Rahul must be replaced at the top of the order. He is good enough to man the middle order and this must be facilitated. Rishabh Pant, for all his talent and outrageous batting, is just not an accomplished T20 batsman. He cannot bat in the crucial number 4 position nor can he be a good finisher. Perhaps, it is time to let him go and ask him to concentrate on Test Cricket and ODIs.
Deepak Hooda is not a capable hitter down the order and Pandya needs game B when he is unable to blast the ball over the boundary. Surya Yadav demolishes poor attacks but comes a cropper against good attacks. The middle order with Pant, Pandya & Surya is a cause for concern. The absence of Jadeja was keenly felt because he would have been a very good number 4.
The less said about the bowling, the better it is. The bowlers can neither bowl nor can they bat. Chahal, Arshdeep, Avesh, Bumrah, Harshal, Kumar, Bishnoi. I mean this is a lower order any opposition will be thrilled to be up against. It will be better to make them stand in a line and bowl a single delivery to all of them. Such is their prowess with the bat. Added to that, none of them are capable of delivering the ball at a high enough pace of 145KMPH and the spinners can neither contain nor pick up wickets.
With such an attack, I will not have them in the top 3 favourites for the T20 World Cup.
Sri Lanka, punched above their weight
They do have some good fast bowlers and in Nissanka, they have a good opening batsman. The leadership of Shanaka was a revelation. As mentioned above, the entire country is going through a turmoil and as such, it was a miracle that they managed to land in UAE for the tournament. The biggest plus for Sri Lanka was their fielding.
Over the last few months, they have had a series of good results in favour. A drawn series against Australia and Pakistan, ODI series win against Australia and now the Asia Cup. Wanindu Hasaranga is as good a leg-spinner as anyone going around in this format. They do have the makings of a good T20 side. Will they be among the favourites in a couple of months? I doubt that because they have traditionally struggled in Australia. The current team is unlikely to alter that course. They have a coach in Silverwood who has experience of Australia but considering England’s performance at 2021 Ashes, he may not be of much help.
Considering the length of the blog, I will write about the rest of the teams in another blog.
Other Asia Cup blogs