The Super-4 loss against Sri Lanka by 6 wickets on Tuesday (September 6) in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 was yet another disappointing outing for Team India, who have come dangerously close to getting eliminated from the tournament.
Even though all the Sri Lankan wickets that fell were taken by spinners, former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan observed after the game that Rohit Sharma lost the trick a couple of times by failing to extract a few overs from Deepak Hooda.
He further criticized Sharma’s decision to not hand the ball to Arshdeep Singh in the penultimate over of the match.
"Look I thought on this pitch anything close to 180 was a very very good score because if you look at the ground, there was no dew. And if you have no dew, bowling actually makes it easier. The four wickets that fell were all from spinners. No fast bowlers got a wicket," Pathan told broadcasters after the match.
"Rohit Sharma missed the trick a couple of times. One, Deepak Hooda, didn't bowl. Second, I think Arshdeep should have bowled the 19th over because on the other side, the boundary line with the left-armer angle, the bowl was going away nicely. That could have been so much better. Overall the bowling, in the first 10 overs, you definitely expect better from Team India," he added.
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Rohit's captaincy strategies may have drawn criticism, but his batting performance enthralled everyone as he smashed 72 off just 41 balls to lift his team's total to 173/8.
Dilshan Madhushanka was the pick of the bowlers for his team as he walked away with 3 wickets while conceding just 24 runs in 4 overs.
With one ball left, the Lankans were able to reach the challenging total. A vital 97-run partnership between the openers Pathum Nissanka (52 off 37 balls) and Kusal Mendis (57 off 37 balls) changed the complexion of the match.
For the Men in Blue, Yuzvendra Chahal (3-34) and Ravichandran Ashwin (1-32) were outstanding in bringing them back into the game. From 97/0, the chasing team collapsed to 110/4.
However, captain Dasun Shanaka (33* off 18 balls) led from the front and along with Bhanuka Rajapaksha (25* off 17 balls) put on 63 runs for the 5th wicket, which took the team over the line.
Young Arshdeep Singh might not have taken a wicket but his bowling in the last over impressed one and all. He bowled with immaculate accuracy which forced the batters to resort to singles and eventually with 2 off byes, the chasing team won.
(STAR SPORTS INPUTS)
