Asia Cup 2025 | India vs Sri Lanka preview: Last chance for Suryakumar's men to iron out chinks in armour ahead of final

Convincing victories over Pakistan and Bangladesh can’t mask the fact that India haven’t been on top of their game in any of the three disciplines.

Dubai: ‘Sloppy’ isn’t a term normally associated with India’s Twenty20 International side, but that’s what they have been since the start of the Super Fours of the Asia Cup.

Convincing victories over Pakistan and Bangladesh, by six wickets and 41 runs respectively, can’t mask the fact that India haven’t been on top of their game in any of the three disciplines.

It can’t be great news for the chasing pack that despite being well below their best, India have stacked up a 5-0 record, but for a team that prides itself on setting the benchmark and then stretching it some more, it must be a chastening realisation that the scope for improvement is immense.

India were poor with the ball in the first ten overs against Pakistan, poor with the bat in the last ten against Bangladesh and consistently abysmal (reflected by nine dropped catches) in the 39.3 overs in the field in those two outings. Their last Super Four fixture against eliminated Sri Lanka, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday, will give them one last chance to eradicate the chinks ahead of the final 48 hours thereafter at the same venue.

Gradually forming crease-lines on Indian foreheads were wiped out on Wednesday with Jasprit Bumrah displaying his best for the first time in the tournament and Varun Chakravarthy finding a modicum of rhythm. Hitherto forced to plough a lone furrow, Kuldeep Yadav, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker (12), will be delighted with his mates’ timely return to form.

The batting has been about Abhishek Sharma, mainly, and Shubman Gill, to a lesser extent. The openers are the only two from the Indian camp with more than 100 runs, Abhishek’s 248 coming at a bruising strike-rate of 206.66.

Abhishek has smacked more sixes (17) than all his colleagues put together (16) and while that in itself isn’t a major cause for concern, Suryakumar Yadav’s lack of runs and fluency, which has mirrored the ordeals of the middle order, has become a talking point.

The skipper hasn’t had a great time of it since succeeding Rohit Sharma in July last year; his troubles have spilled over to the Asia Cup where, an unbeaten 47 against Pakistan in the league stage apart, meaningful runs have remained elusive.

Suryakumar is coming off Super Four scores of 5 and 0; for years now, he has been the cornerstone of India’s T20 dominance and while it must be heartening from a team perspective that others are stepping up and embracing responsibility, the value of runs from the captain can never be exaggerated.

Sri Lanka too have been short on runs as a collective in the second stage, which is why an early flight home beckons. Will they be able to lift themselves, with nothing to lose?