After successive losses in the Super 4 stage of Asia Cup 2022, the Indian cricket team’s chances of qualifying for the final of the tournament are hanging by a thread. A five wicket loss to Pakistan and a six wicket defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the Super 4 stage means that India no longer have their fate in their own hands as far as qualification for the final is concerned since they now find themselves third in the four-team points table.
India’s current run rate of -0.125 is also inferior to Sri Lanka’s (0.351) and Pakistan’s (0.126). However, India still have slim hopes of making the Asia Cup final.
Here we look at how the Indian cricket team can still qualify.
Can India still qualify for the Asia Cup 2022 final?
India can still qualify for the Asia Cup 2022 final but they are now dependent on the results from the other matches between Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in the tournament.
Firstly in the next Super 4 match between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Wednesday, India need Afghanistan to win to keep India’s slim qualification hopes for the Asia Cup final alive. Should Afghanistan lose to Pakistan, it would mark an end to India’s Asia Cup 2022 campaign.
However, an Afghanistan win over Pakistan would give India a glimmer of hope. India, for their part, need to then beat Afghanistan in their last Super 4 match of the tournament and then hope that Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in the last Super 4 game on Friday.
It’s also worth mentioning that provided the above sequence of results pan out in India’s favour, the Men in Blue could still miss out on the final if their net run rate (NRR) isn’t higher than Afghanistan and Pakistan, making it imperative for them to boost their NRR in their last Super 4 match.
Featured photo: AFP / SURJEET YADAV
