Can India Still Qualify for Asia Cup 2022 Final Despite two Losses?
With two losses in the Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 stage, India, the pre-tournament favourites to win the title suddenly find themselves on the brink of elimination – in fact, they could be the first team to be out in the Super4 stage. Bangladesh and Hong Kong could not make it past the group stages and India could very well be the third team who could be shown the door. The two-time defending champions lost to Sri Lanka in a close contest on Tuesday, after they succumbed to arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday.
Sri Lanka, with a win over Afghanistan, and now India, are at the top of the table with 4 points and have one foot in the final with only three more games to go before the two finalists are determined. India, with one game to play, are yet to open their account at this stage. But can India still make it to the final despite the two losses?
Simply put, India have to win their last Super4 game against Afghanistan, by a considerable margin and hope the results of the other two games be in their favour.
First up, here’s the remaining schedule for Asia Cup 2022 Super 4s
Sept 7 – Afghanistan vs Pakistan
Sept 8 – India vs Afghanistan
Sept 9 – Sri Lanka vs Pakistan
Now, here are the possible scenarios for India to make the final, with the hypothetical results that can favour India
Sept 7 –Afghanistan beat Pakistan
Sept 8 – India beat Afghanistan
Sept 9 – Sri Lanka beat Pakistan
**Note: India’s NRR should be greater than Afghanistan’s and Pakistan’s**
In the above scenario, Sri Lanka will end up with 6 points, while India, Afghanistan and Pakistan will end up with 2 points each – bringing the NRR into play, which gives India an outside chance to make the final. But, even for that India has to ensure they have a better NRR than Pakistan and Afghanistan, basically meaning, they will have to trounce Afghanistan, the day after tomorrow.
If Pakistan beat Afghanistan tomorrow, that’s curtains for India at the Asia Cup 2022, because a Pakistan win will ensure they finish with 4 points, even if they lose their final game against SL and with SL already on 4 points, these two teams will be placed as the two top teams, even if India manage to beat Afghanistan by whatever margin.
If Afghanistan beat Pakistan, India beat Afghanistan and Pakistan beat Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will still end up with 4 points – higher than what India can achieve.
If India lose to Afghanistan, then no other results will matter – India will be out of the Asia Cup 2022 with three losses to their name in the Super4.
