Asia Cup 2022: 4 Highlights to expect from Super 4 Stage

Dubai, Sep 6: The ongoing Asia Cup 2022 became interesting after Sri Lanka defeated Afghanistan and Pakistan prevailed over India in their respective first games in the Super 4 stage. It ensured the road to the finals isn't going to be easy for any team.

Number-one-ranked T20I team India, their arch-rivals Pakistan, along with upbeat Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan made the cut for the Super 4 stage. Bangladesh and Hong Kong dropped out of the group stages after failing to win even one match.

Here are the top four highlights to expect from Asia Cup 2022:

#1 Afghanistan's coming of age

After seeing Rashid Khan perform at the top of his capabilities, the Afghan fans are finally seeing crucial performances from other key players like Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, and Fazal Farooqi.

The Afghan side won both of their group matches but failed to defeat Sri Lanka in the Super Four stage opener. Rashid's threat was well negated by the Lankan side on Saturday and the spin wizard would be hoping to return to his best when Afghanistan play their next fixtures on September 6 and September 9.

#2 Team India look to keep the juggernaut rolling

Virat Kohli now has 32 T20I half-centuries, most in the history of T20Is. Team India started the tournament right as they defeated neighbors and arch-rivals Pakistan in fashion as all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja played crucial roles in the win. The No.1 T20I team as per the ICC rankings made light work of Hong Kong and won both their group stage matches to top Group A.

India lost the services of Jadeja for the tournament and possibly for three months as the spin-bowling all-rounder was injured and replaced by Axar Patel in the Indian squad.

Rishabh Pant found himself on the fringes of the squad but Jadeja's omission makes the wicket-keeper batsman the only left-handed option in the batting line-up. The Rohit Sharma-led side lost a nail-biter to Pakistan as some poor fielding and swashbuckling batting from both sides saw Babar Azam's team edge their rivals and take revenge for the group stage defeat.

The Blues have the right composition as they have enough power-hitters in Suryakumar Yadav, Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, and the skipper Sharma as well along with reliable run accumulators in Virat Kohli and KL Rahul who got back to their best in Sunday's defeat.

#3 Unpredictable Sri Lanka in the driving seat?

After a huge batting collapse against Afghanistan in the Group B opener, the island nation bounced back as they chased a big target of 184 runs against Bangladesh courtesy of crucial knocks from skipper Dasun Shanka and Kusal Mendis to make it to the Super Four stage.

In the Super Four stage opener, the Lankan Lions once again chased a big target in the last over as a team batting performance enabled them to be in the driving seat of the Super 4s now.

Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, and Matheesha Pathirana are some of the emerging stars of Sri Lanka cricket but the team's overall performance has been on a decline tournament after tournament since they won the 2014 ICC T20 World Cup.

#4 Pakistan bounced back in fashion

Pakistan players congratulate Hardik Pandya for winning the battle against the bowlers
After the 10-wicket win against India at the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup at the same venue, Pakistan was the favorite ahead of the big fixture on 28th August but India took revenge and won the big first battle of the tournament.

The men in green bounced back as they thrashed Hong Kong to make it to the Super Four stage. A 155-run win against the associate nation was a statement ahead of the second battle against India to possibly set up a 'best of three' finals against India who would themselves be hoping to play in the final after trouncing the challenge of Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

By: Mohak Arora - sports expert, Parimatch brand