Asia Cup 2022: IND vs AFG- India Playing 11 vs Afghanistan (Predicted), Super Four, Match 5 (A1 vs B2)

Asia Cup 2022: IND vs AFG- India Playing 11 vs Afghanistan (Predicted), Super Four, Match 5 (A1 vs B2). India will play against Afghanistan on 8th September 2022, 19:30 IST at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.

India lost its first Super 4 match against Pakistan while Afghanistan lost to Sri Lanka in the first Super 4 match. Afghanistan will play against Pakistan on 7th September 2022. Sri Lanka beat India by six wickets as they chase down a target of 174 with one ball to spare.

The loss diminished India’s chances of reaching the Asia Cup 2022 final and defending it’s crown. The two-time defending champion now faces a situation where its qualification for the final depends on other results – Pakistan’s to be precise.

India’s road to the final now depends on Pakistan’s results in its remaining Super 4 matches against Afghanistan (Wednesday) and Sri Lanka (Friday). India will require Pakistan to lose both matches. India will also need to beat Afghanistan by a big margin on Thursday.

Sri Lanka pulled off a major upset, beating Afghanistan by 4 wickets in the Super 4 opener. With that, Dasun Shanaka-led Sri Lanka also avenged their humiliating loss in the Asia Cup 2022 opener. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (84) helped Afghanistan post 175/5 but impactful innings from Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa helped them chase the target with 5 balls to spare.

Kusal Mendis smashed 19-ball 36 to set the tone of the match. After the 62-run opening stand, Sri Lanka never had a great partnership but there were small impactful performances throughout. Pathum Nissanka (35 off 28), Danushka Gunathilaka (33 off 20) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (31 off 14) besides Wanindu Hasaranga (16 off 9) all contributed well.

With a highest individual score of just 36, Sri Lanka still got over the line comfortably thanks to cameos right through. The final nail in the coffin was Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s 14-ball 31. With 49 needed off the last fiver overs, Bhanuka Rajapaksa went 4, 4, 6 against Naveen ul Haq and brought the equation down. He stayed put till just two were needed and all but ensured that Sri Lanka got over the line.

Asia Cup 2022: Brief Scores: Afghanistan: 175 for 6 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 84, Ibrahim Zadran 40; Dilshan Madushanka 2/37). lost to Sri Lanka: 179 for 6 in 19.1 overs (Kusal Mendis 36, Pathum Nissanka 35, Danushka Gunathilaka 33; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2/30, Naveen-ul-Haq 2/40).

Mohammad Nawaz stunned India with the bat after helping restrict them with the ball after a rampant start to give Pakistan a thrilling win in their Super 4 match against India. A week after India chased successfully in a thrilling group-stage finish, Pakistan returned the favour, asking India to bat and getting home with just one ball to spare.

Mohammad Rizwan anchored the chase with 71 off 51, but it was Mohammad Nawaz who provided the desperately needed impetus. Promoted to No. 4, he smashed 42 off 20 balls to put Pakistan back on track as India’s Virat Kohli’s 44 balls 60 went in vain.

Asia Cup 2022: Pakistan 182 for 5 (Rizwan 71, Nawaz 42) beat India 181 for 7 (Kohli 60, Rahul 28, Rohit 28, Shadab 2-31) by five wickets

Winning the toss might be a considerable advantage but Sri Lanka was not short of brilliance. Dilshan Madushanka led them with the ball, taking 3 for 24, and was supported by Chamika Karunaratne and Maheesh Theekshana. Rohit Sharma rose above the difficult conditions to score 72 off 41.

In the chase, openers Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka looked like winning it easily but Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin took four wickets for 13 runs to make it 64 of 35. However, Bhanuka Rajapaksa and captain Dasun Shanaka saw them home in dramatic fashion.

Sri Lanka 174 for 4 (Mendis 57, Nissanka 52, Chahal 3-34) beat India 173 for 8 (Rohit 72, Madushanka 3-24) by six wickets

One bad result is all it takes to leave a team staring at possible elimination from the Asia Cup 2022. Pakistan faced – and overcome – that challenge after losing to India in the group stages. And now it’s India who is in a precarious position after losing to Pakistan in the Super 4 round.

For India, Ravindra Jadeja has sustained a right knee injury and is ruled out of the Asia Cup 2022. Axar Patel has been added to the squad as his replacement. It’s interesting to see the Indian team’s combination against Afghanistan.

The likes of Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal were too expensive in the Super 4 match against Pakistan. Hardik Pandya, the MOM in the Asia Cup 2022 group league match against Pakistan also was dismissed without scoring in the Super 4 clash against the same opponents.

India played Ravi Bishnoi and Deepak Hooda in place of ill Avesh Khan and injured Ravindra Jadeja against Pakistan. Avesh Khan has also been ruled out and Deepak Chahar replaced him. Axar Patel may get a chance as he is yet to play a game.

Also in the aftermath of Rishabh Pant going for a needless reverse sweep against Pakistan when India needed one of their middle-order batters to stay put, it’s worth asking if he still merits a chance ahead of Dinesh Karthik who at least has current form—as designated slog overs specialist—going for him.

Asia Cup 2022: IND vs AFG- India Playing 11 vs Afghanistan (Predicted), Super Four, Match 5 (A1 vs B2)

Rohit Sharma

With a career average of 31.75, with four hundred and 28 fifties in T20I cricket, at a strike rate of about 140, Rohit Sharma’s potential to devastate a bowling attack is famous across world cricket. He returned to lead the Men in Blue in Asia Cup 2022 after missing the series against West Indies and Zimbabwe. 

Rohit Sharma is the highest run-getter in T20Is. He has amassed 3620 runs in 136 T20Is. The highest run-getter in T20Is was dismissed after scoring 12 runs off 18 balls in the Asia Cup 2022 opener against Pakistan. He scored at a strike rate of 66.67.

He scored 21 off 13 balls at a strike rate of 161.54 against Hong Kong. He scored 28 off 16 balls against Pakistan in the Super 4 game at a Strike Rate of 175. He returned to form after scoring 72 off 41 balls against Sri Lanka when other Indian batters struggled but it went in vain.

KL Rahul

KL Rahul led India to a 3-0 sweep against Zimbabwe in the ODI series after being sidelined for quite a while as he underwent surgery and also contracted Covid-19. With scores of 1 and 30 in the two innings he played in Harare, his own batting form was patchy.

Earlier, KL Rahul ended the IPL 2022 season with the second-most runs – 635 in 14 innings at a strike rate of 135.38 – behind Jos Buttler, for new entrants Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He opened in Asia Cup 2022 opening fixture against Pakistan but was bowled without scoring.

He was dismissed off the 1st ball by pacer Naseem Shah against Pakistan and scored 36 off 39 balls against Hong Kong. He scored 28 off 20 balls against Pakistan in the Super 4 game. He would want to score big in India’s 2nd Super 4 Asia Cup 2022 game against upbeat Sri Lanka and resurgent Afghanistan. He scored only 6 off 7 balls against Sri Lanka in the Super 4 clash.

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is experiencing a dip in form, having just crossed 1000 days since his last century in any format of the game. However, with 3462 T20I runs in 103 T20Is at an average of 50.17, Virat Kohli is still a dangerous player that any side in the world would want to be included in their lineup. He rested for the entire limited overs West Indies series and Zimbabwe ODIs after a poor time in England where he managed only 12 runs in 2 T20Is.

He looked in fine touch scoring 35 off 34 balls in his 100th T20I Asia Cup 2022 opener against Pakistan before being dismissed by Mohammad Nawaz while trying to increase the run rate. He scored his 31st T20I fifty against Hong Kong, remaining unbeaten on 59 off 44 balls. His 60 off 44 balls against Pakistan in the Super 4 match went in vain. He was bowled without troubling the scorers off Dilshan Madushanaka in the Super 4 match against Sri Lanka.

Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav is ranked No.2 in the world for T20 batting for a reason. This year alone the batter has scored 561 runs at a phenomenal strike rate of 181.55 (average of 40.07) and has the ability to accelerate scoring in the backend of a match or come out early to set the pace. In 27 T20Is, he has amassed 805 runs averaging 38.33 at a strike rate of 172.75 which includes a ton and 6 fifties.

His career-best 117 came in a losing cause in the England tour.  He scored 18 off as many balls against Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022 opening fixture before being bowled by Naseem Shah.

He was MOM against Hong Kong scoring an unbeaten 68 off only 26 balls at a phenomenal strike rate of 261.54. He scored 13 off 10 balls before falling to Mohammad Nawaz against Pakistan in the Super 4 game. He scored 34 off 29 balls before being dismissed by Dasun Shanaka of Sri Lanka in Super 4.

Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya, the MOM in the Asia Cup 2022 opener against Pakistan, is also a genuine all-rounder, and offers a world-class pace option for India in the Asia Cup 2022, having taken 54 wickets over his T20I career at an economy of 8.31 (average of 27.67), besides scoring 884 runs in 70 T20Is averaging 23.26. He scored an unbeaten 33 off 17 balls and picked 3/25 in 4 overs against Pakistan in India’s opening fixture.

He was rested against Hong Kong as Rishabh Pant replaced him. He perished without scoring in the Super 4 game against Pakistan and was expensive too returning with figures of 1/44. The right-handed batter slammed 487 runs in 15 games in IPL 2022 and also scalped 8 wickets. He scored 17 off 13 balls against Sri Lanka in Super 4 and conceded 35 runs in 4 overs without taking a wicket.

Deepak Hooda

A right knee injury has ended Ravindra Jadeja’s Asia Cup campaign. Axar Patel, who was initially named as a stand-by player, will join India’s main squad as a like-for-like replacement. Ravindra Jadeja was a key performer in both of India’s matches at the Asia Cup so far.

In the absence of injured Ravindra Jadeja, India opted to play Deepak Hooda against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Super 4 game. In 8 T20I innings (10 T20Is) so far in 2022, Deepak Hooda has scored 293 runs at an average of 41.86 at a strike rate of 155.85 which includes a record century against Ireland as well. He scored 16 off 14 balls against Pakistan in the Super 4 game. He scored only 3 in the Super 4 match against Sri Lanka and also didn’t bowl.

Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik revived his career aged 36/37 with an incredible campaign for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Given the difficult end-overs duties by RCB, finisher Dinesh Karthik nailed his role to perfection, scoring 330 runs at an eye-catching Strike Rate of 183.33 while averaging 55 with the bat in 16 games. He has managed 592 runs in 49 T20Is averaging 28.19.

On returning to the Indian team, he scored 55 from 27 balls in a T20I against Proteas and 41* from 19 balls against the Windies in a T20I. In the Asia Cup 2022 India’s opening fixture against Pakistan, he was preferred over Rishabh Pant and scored 1* off 1 ball besides taking 3 catches.

He didn’t keep or bat against Hong Kong as Rishabh Pant returned. Rishabh Pant scored 14 off 12 balls in the Super 4 match against Pakistan and 17 off 13 balls against Sri Lanka.  His failure may see the return of Dinesh Karthik against resurgent Afghanistan.

Ravichandran Ashwin

Making a return to the field after several months, Ravichandran Ashwin looked in control with the ball in the Caribbean. He picked up a total of three wickets in 3 T20Is at a strike rate of 24 with an economy rate of 6.66. His scalps included those of the dangerous Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer.

Ravichandran Ashwin was retained for the New Zealand home series after the conclusion of the 2021 T20 World Cup and was dropped later. And after a gap of eight months, he was brought back for the 5-match T20Is against hosts West Indies.

He would want to be amongst wickets in India’s 2nd Super 4 Asia Cup 2022 game against resurgent Afghanistan. He scored 15 off 7 against Sri Lanka in the super 4 match besides taking 1/32 in 4 overs. He replaced Ravi Bishnoi who played against Pakistan in the Super 4 game and was economical returning with figures of 1/26 in 4 overs.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Being the most experienced pacer in the squad, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead the pace attack for India in Asia Cup 2022. Featuring for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2022, he had picked 12 wickets in 14 games. He picked up 6 wickets against Proteas (averaging 14.17) and 4 wickets against England (averaging 6.25) this year. He was named Man of the Series on both occasions.

He has 79 scalps averaging 23.06 in 76 T20Is.  He will spearhead the pace attack in the Asia Cup 2022 opener as pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel are injured and ruled out. In the Asia Cup 2022 against Pakistan, he picked 4/26 in 4 overs picking vital scalps of Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, and Naseem Shah.

Against Hong Kong, he was economical and returned with figures of 1/15 in 3 overs. He conceded 40 runs in 4 overs against Pakistan in the Super 4 game picking Mohammad Nawaz’s scalp. He would want to be amongst wickets in India’s 2nd Super 4 Asia Cup 2022 game against resurgent Afghanistan.

He may be dropped too as he conceded 30 runs in 4 overs against Sri Lanka in a losing cause and was wicketless. He conceded 19 runs against Pakistan and 14 runs against Sri Lanka in the penultimate 19th over which resulted in India’s losses.

Arshdeep Singh

In the 2022 IPL season, Punjab Kings’ pacer Arshdeep Singh took 10 wickets in 14 games with an economy rate of 7.70 and an average of 38.50.  He might not have many wickets in his credit, but the stats won’t reveal how he managed to make the death overs his own by delivering yorkers with great precision. The tall bowler is known to use his 6’3” frame to his advantage.

In 10 T20Is, he has picked 13 scalps averaging 21.15. In the recent Windies series, he picked 7 scalps in 5 T20Is averaging 16.14, and was Man of the Series. He played in the Asia Cup 2022 opener against Pakistan and picked 2/33 in 3.5 overs picking scalps of Mohammad Nawaz and Shahnawaz Dahani. He was expensive against Hong Kong returning with figures of 1/44 in 4 overs.

He bowled the last over of the Pakistan innings and returned with figures of 1/27 in 3.5 overs. Arshdeep Singh dropped a relatively easy catch of Asif Ali in the 18th over, and this led to a massive momentum shift. He would want to be amongst wickets in India’s 2nd Super 4 Asia cup 2022 game against resurgent Afghanistan after being expensive against Sri Lanka returning with figures of 0/40 in 3.5 overs. Deepak Chahar may play if he’s rested.

Ravi Bishnoi

Yuzvendra Chahal has 83 scalps in 66 T20Is averaging a mere 24.33 and is India’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is. He returned wicketless against Pakistan as all the Indian pacers picked up the Pakistan wickets to fall in Asia Cup 2022 and returned with figures of 0/32 in 4 overs. He was wicketless against Hong Kong too returning with figures of 0/18 in 4 overs.

He picked 1 wicket against Pakistan in the Super 4 game but conceded 43 runs in 4 overs. He may be replaced by Ravi Bishnoi. Yuzvendra Chahal also may play as he picked 3/34 in 4 overs against Sri Lanka in Super 4.

Ravi Bishnoi did well when he played against Pakistan in the first Super 4 game returning with figures of 1/26 in 4 overs. Ravi Bishnoi has 16 wickets from 10 T20Is averaging a mere 17.12. However,