Asia Cup 2025 | Despite stumbles and fumbles, India enter final after win over Bangladesh

Thursday's Super 4s game between Bangladesh and Pakistan is a 'virtual semifinal' and will decide India's opponent in the summit clash.

Dubai: Abhishek Sharma apart, India were largely below par with the bat the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday night. Abhishek included, they were decidedly shoddy in the field. Yet, even an error-prone India were too strong for Bangladesh, racing to a 41-run victory in the Super Fours of the T20 Asia Cup to guarantee their place in Sunday’s final.

Perhaps believing that they hadn’t been pushed enough in this tournament, India decided to challenge themselves. From 112 for two in 11 overs on the back of Abhishek second straight half-century, they managed only 56 runs in the last nine overs on being asked to bat by Jaker Ali, limping to 168 for six when several more appeared there for the taking.

Then, they dropped Saif Hassan, the opener, four times in an extension of their horror show against Pakistan on Sunday, but their superior bowling firepower bailed them out with Jasprit Bumrah showing a welcome return to wicket-taking ways and Kuldeep Yadav reiterating his value to the side.

Saif, who was otherwise pleasing during a career-best 69, waged a lone battle as the rest floundered around him. His 69 might have been chancy but when he struck the ball, he did so crisply. Axar Patel suffered the most at his hands, going for four sixes, but the left-arm spinner was the one who finally caught him at long-on after Saif had been dropped by Axar himself on his follow through, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson and Abhishek.

Bumrah finished with two wickets, including the scalp of Tanzid Hasan in his first over, while Kuldeep mesmerised and bamboozled Bangladesh, who seemed to miss skipper Litton Das, out with a back injury, and were bowled out for 127 in the final over.

Bangladesh might have been the happier of the sides at the interval even though India’s tally was a formidable one, made even more so by the quality of their bowling, a sluggish outfield and a slightly two-paced pitch that initially asked questions of Abhishek and Shubman Gill. Fresh off adding 105 against Pakistan, the openers took their time assessing the conditions. Consequently, only 17 came of the first three overs but once Gill drove left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed for four and followed it up with a six, the floodgates opened.

Taking a cue from his partner, Abhishek opened out to quickly catch up with Gill and then leave him behind with a flurry of boundaries that took him to fifty off 25 deliveries. By then, Gill had fallen to leggie Rishad Hossain, who added the promoted Shivam Dube’s wicket in his next over. But it wasn’t until Abhishek was run out following a mix-up with Suryakumar Yadav, his ball-watching captain, that India’s innings hit a definitive roadblock.

Abhishek’s brilliance had made a mockery of the pitch but in the second half, as the ball got older and slightly softer, there was no great joy for the batters. If India managed a semblance of respectability, that was largely because Pandya weighed in with 38, providing the impetus that those around him had failed to inject after Abhishek’s unfortunate dismissal. Suryakumar’s poor run continued as he was caught down leg for five, and India’s insistence on a left-right combination meant Sanju Samson, who batted at No. 3 against UAE a few nights back, wasn’t pencilled in before No. 8.

Rishad was the pick of the Bangladeshi bowlers while Saif’s tidy off-spin went for only seven in two overs. There was, however, no stopping India, stumbles and fumbles notwithstanding.