As Pakistan registered a comprehensive victory against India at the ongoing Asia Cup cricket in Karachi on Wednesday night, the Asia Cup which was looking like an affair between India and Sri Lanka is alive again. Say it a dismissal bowling performance or the nature of Pakistani flat track, but Indian bowlers could extract nothing and the home team course to a comfortable eight-wicket win over the most likely finalist India. Now this defeat has no doubt put India under pressure ahead of their game against Sri Lanka.
It was all batsman's game; be it India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni (76), Rohit Sharma (58) and Virender Sehwag (49) who contributed at large to take the scoreboard to 309 or Pakistani Nasir Jamshed (53), Salman Butt (36), Misbah-ul-Haq (70) or the centurion Younis Khan who made an unbeaten 123. It is the batsmen who bailed Indian out from the last couple of games in which Indian bowlers are still struggling hard to come out with something impressive.
In the last crucial game against Sri Lanka, the team which has already cemented its place in the final, the men in blue have not only to continue their good batting format but also to bowl well to be in the last two. If India loses the game against Sri Lanka then the net run rate will be the deciding factor between India and Pakistan. Sri Lanka has its option to rest some of its key players but neither India nor Pakistan will have to take their game lightly.
The other thing that Indian team management has to look into is to field the best bowling combination instead of eight specialist batsmen unlike the last match. Despite Skipper Dhoni's complaint of gruelling schedule, there is no way out for India but to win against Sri Lanka to seal their spot in the final.
It is the right time for the trio Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar and Irfan Pathan to come out with the best. As far as spinners are concerned neither Piyush Sharma nor any part timer has done anything special so far but in a crucial game it would be wiser to rotate the best along with a spinner.
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