Asia Cup 2023: Can India down Sri Lanka to end their multi-nation tournament drought?

Despite playing exceptional cricket in the lead up to some of these big matches, on most occasions, they have just failed to switch on for a brief while, which has been enough for the opponents to choke slam them. In each of those fixtures apart from making tactical errors with regards to team selection, and have let the game drift away.

India’s captain Rohit Sharma and other inspect the field before the resume of Asia Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan delays in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Monday, Sept.11, 2023. (AP)

Be it playing down these fixtures as ‘just another match’ to brushing it under the carpet after loss, India have kept repeating their mistakes. Building momentum towards the business end of the tournament and peaking at right time is a calling card for most successful teams. The 2011 World Cup team is a case in point where starting from the quarterfinals, they appeared a totally different side while fielding, cutting down the extra runs and squeezing in the pressure. For a team that is aspiring to end their ICC title drought at the World Cup on home soil next month, the Asia Cup final on Sunday provides them an opportunity to show they can raise their game to another level in such big matches.

And awaiting them is Sri Lanka, a side ravaged by injuries – the latest being Maheesh Theekshana- but which continues to punch above their weight. If overcoming the spirited hosts isn’t enough, India will also have to find a way to get over the conditions which will remain on the slower side.

“Winning the final is very important for us because creating a winning habit is important. Peaking at the right time and gaining momentum at the right time is important for any team. It is also important for the team to maintain that momentum because losing in one or two matches can add pressure on you. Winning here will give us a lot of momentum and confidence going into the World Cup,” Shubman Gill said.

In both of their matches against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, India’s batting line-up has struggled to manoeuvre whenever spinners and fast bowlers took pace of the deliveries. And should India bat second, and are set a par total to chase, the contest could be anyone’s to call. These slow conditions haven’t been India’s comfort zone for a while now. And should they fancy themselves to go all the way in the World Cup, India would no doubt be running into such pitches, especially towards the fag end of the tournament.

Before leaving for the Asia Cup, India had a week-long camp at the NCA, where their batting unit focussed on reducing the dot ball percentage on such pitches. But in both their outings here, their execution has been far from perfect. While they did bring out the big hits every now and then, they consumed way too many dot balls that added to the scoreboard pressure.

“There will be a lot of dot balls on slow wickets. We were talking about how to minimise the dot balls, and rotate the strike as much as possible and it would become easier for us. We had a camp in Bangalore before coming here, and we were practicing on similar wickets, because we know the World Cup is such a long tournament as we go deeper into the tournament, the wicket tends to get slower,” Gill said.

Washington in as a cover

Having rested five of their first-choice players against Bangladesh, India apart from bringing back Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, could also make another forced change. Axar Patel, who suffered a couple of blows while batting on Friday, is not certain to start the final, forcing the team management to fly in Washington Sundar from the NCA in Bengaluru as a cover. In case the conditions remain slow, there is a strong possibility that Washington takes the field straightaway as Sri Lanka do have a couple of left-handers in their top-order.