India vs Sri Lanka Asia Cup 2025 Reactions after India defeat Sri Lanka in dramatic Super Over

“Look, my message to the players is just focus on cricket and that certainly we will be doing. In terms of gestures there has always been passion in terms of high-pressure games,” said New Zealander Hesson. (Read more)

Axar Patel's six off the final ball took India over 200 runs, which is quite a mammoth total in these conditions. Once again, as we have mentioned in our initial update, the form of Sri Lanka with the ball has been coincidental with the form of Nuwan Thushara. The seamer had another ordinary day up top, and Sri Lanka ended up conceding 20-30 too many. As per Indian batting, it is Abhishek Sharma yet again who does the job early on, and in the end, Tilak Varma batted quite nicely to take the side over 200. We will be right back after the break for the chase. Do stay with us.

This is a superb innings from Tilak. How magnificent he has become in batting through those middle overs for both the Mumbai Indians and India. The advantage of playing in most batting positions in the middle order has made him adaptable to all conditions. In the game against Pakistan, he has shown his finishing prowess today. He has shown his ability to construct the innings through the middle order, and now is all set to accelerate and take India over 200 which will be an uphill total to chase for Sri Lanka.

Sanju Samson has got himself off to a start here. He has been quite proactive today generally. Samson was to rotate strike and get himself in before unleashing, which is what he tried to do against Pakistan, which backfired, but today the wicket seems to be lot more kind and the ball is coming nicely onto the bat, and Samson has been able to smack the bowlers all around the ground. As per Sri Lanka these worrying signs for them India are scoring at 10s and the chase will be quite tricky for them against the Indian spinners.

Tilak Varma has looked in superb touch so far in this game. He has looked the most organized after Abhishek Sharma in this tournament. On the other hand, Sanju Samson has come into the middle, and India would want him to spend some time in the middle as well. There has been a lot of discussion ahead of the tournament on how he will fare at that number. To be fair to him, he did not get an opportunity such as this. Today, he has time to get himself in through the middle overs and accelerate in the final stages.

Against the run of play, a wicket has fallen here, and it is the skipper Suryakumar Yadav with another low score to his name. The batter tried to sweep the ball and missed Hasaranga's fuller one and was given out on-field. The decision was sent upstairs, and there were three reds on the ball-tracking. Tilak Varma walks into the middle for India, and what India would want is for him to spend some time in the middle and get a score for himself. Meanwhile, Abhishek Sharma is doing what Abhishek Sharma does, getting India off to flyer in this series.

Maheesh Theekshana has picked up the first wicket here. It is once again the nature of the Dubai wicket that did the undoing of Shubman Gill. It was a nice, quicker, and flatter one, and Gill ended up his shot too early and ended up giving the return catch to Theekshana. That is another failure for Gill this series. After a blistering series in England, this has been a tournament that has not gone according to plan for Gill. Suryakumar Yadav has walked into the middle, and he too will be needing runs.

The national anthems are done, and the game is all set to start. While it is a dead rubber from a tournament perspective, India would still not want to lose any momentum going into the final on Sunday. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will just want to end the tournament on a high note by defeating the defending champions.

Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis(w), Kusal Perera, Charith Asalanka(c), Janith Liyanage, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Nuwan Thushar

Just continue doing what we have been doing. We were actually looking to bat first. Good atmosphere, good game and we are looking forward to it. It is part of the game (dropped catches). We have two changes - Bumrah and Dube are out, Arshdeep and Harshit come in.

The difference between the two venues is that Dubai is like a bowl-shaped roof. So the roof is, I think from memory, 48 metres high. It’s creating a different climate within the venue. Where Abu Dhabi has one stand at the end with a thick cap. The rest of it has this open space. So the two venues do behave a little bit differently. However, if the dew is falling in Abu Dhabi, it’s going to fall pretty heavily.

“After the drubbing we got against New Zealand, I don’t think Gautam Gambhir or Shubman Gill, because it is his first home series as captain, I’m sure he does not want to give even an inch, not even a quarter. I think they are very serious about Test cricket,” Varun Aaron said on ESPN Cricinfo. India has made a lot of accommodation for Bumrah. If you are managing someone’s workload to that extent, you want him in every series. I think they might manage Bumrah’s workload in the ODIs in Australia as well. He might just play two.”

“He wants to hit boundaries. He wants to take control of the contest against any bowler, pace or spin. Very clear-minded, watches the ball incredibly hard. And then plays with a full bat face, whether he’s playing vertically or horizontally. So, his mindset is attacking,” Helmot says, adding this bit about Abhishek’s training of late. “… it’s not all crash and bash at training. He plays organised cricket shots. Looking to hit boundaries, but still looking to get off strike as well.”

“It’s more about his stance. He’s adjusted and slightly… He’s become more relaxed at the crease, not as tense and rigid. He’s able to access both sides of the ground. He’s able to get in really good positions. Doesn’t over-complicate the way in which he plays. He’s quite still at the point of impact,” he says.

“He plays the ball quite late. He presents a wonderful bat face. His head is in a beautiful, steady position. He watches the ball intently and can get himself in easy positions to be able to access various sides of the ground … It’s more mental for Abhi. He’s always been touted with lots of ability and skill, and now we’re seeing that start to flourish. That comes with mental toughness, a greater understanding of your own game.”

“I see a similarity with Abhi. He doesn’t try to overhit or overplay in training. I just see that he wants to hit the ball cleanly. Consistently. Putting himself in good positions so he can play any particular delivery that’s put in front of him. That’s where I see a similarity between Yuvraj and Abhi in approach.”

“I had the benefit of working with Yuvraj for a couple of years, especially in 2016. And one thing I was always impressed with Yuvraj was whenever I threw balls to him, how little he would try and still hit them for four or six. He was always about making sure he presented a full bat face, and was hitting the ball cleanly. Often, you’d throw balls to Yuvraj, and he would just be playing at what I’d call a tempo 1 or a tempo 2. A drop and run or a punch. In a game situation, Yuvraj could clear the rope as easily as anybody.”

“In Powerplay, the only aim is to look for wickets. It’s just looking for that one ball if it pitches on that right spot and it turns a little bit and it can edge it. It’s about looking for that because that’s my role in the team. Even if I go for little runs, my aim is to keep on attacking and try to look for more wickets,” he said.

The main gist is that the hot and humid weather in Dubai, consistent throughout the Asia Cup, will continue to challenge players, despite them being fully acclimatized after three weeks. Specifically, the high temperature (expected to reach 35∘C) and humidity mean that bowlers will primarily struggle with the ball slipping due to heat-induced sweat, rather than traditional dew which has so far played a minimal role in the second innings.

"If we bowl 12-14 good overs, we will win on most occasions"

Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk)/Jitesh Sharma (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav/Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah/Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

Welcome to our liveblog of India taking on Sri Lanka. Although it is a dead rubber from a competition perspective, Pakistan will be watching closely to see if this Indian side has any flaws in them. And as per Sri Lanka, it is just about testing their mettle against the world champions and trying to pluck out a win or at least a few performances to end the tournament on a high. It is going to be a good game, so stay with us to get all the live updates.