Internet Desk: The Indian cricket team will hope that its untested middle-order gets some game time ahead of the grand finale when it takes on Afghanistan in the final ‘Super Four’ encounter of the Asia Cup on Tuesday. The men in blue are on a roll after an unimpressive start against Hong Kong, with couple of one-sided victories over arch-rivals Pakistan and an equally facile one against Bangladesh.
With a spot in Friday’s final sealed, skipper Rohit Sharma may want some of his untested middle-order batsmen to get quality time in the middle against someone of Rashid Khan’s caliber. Often in cricket, the ‘Law of Averages’ catches up with the best performing teams at a critical juncture.
Shikhar Dhawan (327) and skipper Rohit (269) have done the bulk of the scoring in the four matches so far with very little contribution being required from the other batsmen in the line-up.
The next highest scorer is Ambati Rayudu (116 runs) because he comes in at No 3. The problem has been lack of batting time for the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik so far. The team management may also incline to try out someone like Manish Pandey or KL Rahul ahead of the big final on Friday.
There is a possibility that India might rest both Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah before the summit clash to help them recharge their batteries. In such a scenario, two among Deepak Chahar, Siddharth Kaul and Khaleel Ahmed will take their spots in the playing XI for the game.
For Afghanistan, a win against the fancied Indian side will be a great end to the tournament where they have been competitive throughout, only losing out due to lack of experience. Having packed off Sri Lanka in the group league stage and crushed Bangladesh, Afghanistan were done in by inexperience during the fag end of the Super Four matches against Pakistan and Bangladesh. Against Pakistan, their bowlers couldn’t hold nerve in the final over while their batsmen found it difficult to read Mustafizur Rahman’s variations in the final over.