Asia Cup 2022: How can Team India still qualify for final despite twin Super 4 losses?

Sri Lanka eked out a stunning victory over mighty Team India by virtue of six wickets on Tuesday in the Super 4 round of the Asia Cup 2022. Having failed to defend their total of 173/8, India bear the brunt of losing another crucial fixture on the road to final. India, earlier on Sunday, suffered a five-wicket loss at the hands of Pakistan in their Super 4 campaign opener. 

Sri Lanka climb on top in Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 standings

While the win took Sri Lanka to the top of the Super 4 stage points table with two wins in a row, India found itself placed at the third position with two defeats and a negative net run rate of -0.125. On the other hand, India’s arch-rivals Pakistan are placed second with a win and an NRR of +0.126, while Afghanistan is placed fourth with one defeat and an NRR of -0.589. Looking at the current points table, the Asia Cup 2022 final can be expected to be played between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. 

India's predicted route to the final

India can still manage to earn qualification for the finals but their fate largely remains at the hands of their competitors. Firstly, India requires to defeat Afghanistan by a significant margin, which will help them to improve their NRR. The Men in Blue will be hopeful that Afghanistan beat Pakistan on Wednesday and Sri Lanka defeat Pakistan on Friday. 

However, if Pakistan manages to win any of their upcoming Super 4 matches, they will earn qualification for the final. On the other hand, if Afghanistan and Sri Lanka defeat Pakistan and India defeats the Afghan side by a huge margin, India will join Sri Lanka in the summit clash, which would have reached the final on the back of three consecutive wins. It is pertinent to mention that the last to defeats for India have come in the last innings of the matches, which suggests that a big win over Afghanistan might put them back on track for the Asia Cup 2022 final.

Asia Cup 2022 Schedule: Remaining fixtures of Super 4 stage

• Pakistan vs Afghanistan on September 7, Wednesday at Sharjah Cricket Stadium
• India vs Afghanistan on September 8, Thursday at Dubai International Stadium
• Sri Lanka vs Pakistan on September 9, Friday at Dubai International Stadium
• Asia Cup 2022 final on September 11, Sunday at Dubai International Stadium