While fielding is one aspect that needs attention, there are also little chinks in the Indian armoury which are being overlooked because of the comfortable victories in all the five games that Suryakumar Yadav's men have played so far.
Against Bangladesh, Samson wasn't even considered good enough to come inside the top seven of the line-up and that begs a question as to what is he doing in the team if he isn't good enough to come ahead of Axar Patel.
The promotion of Shivam Dube as No. 4 was understandable because of his 'match-up' against wrist spinners but it didn't work in order to keep the left-right combination in the middle. Hardik Pandya was sent ahead of him along with two left-handers in Tilak Varma and Axar.
India vs Sri Lanka Live Score, Asia Cup 2025 Super Four: India look to address fielding woes in dead rubber
Sanju Samson being an apparent middle-order misfit will certainly worry head coach Gautam Gambhir and the Indian team management might be tempted to check out Jitesh Sharma during their inconsequential final Super 4 encounter against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup in Dubai on Friday.
Abhishek Sharma fever grips fans
Key Numbers
- Dasun Shanaka now has the most ducks (14) by any player in T20Is.
- Wanindu Hasaranga has the most wickets [38] in overs 7-15 in T20Is since 2024.
- Abhishek Sharma has hit 12 sixes in this Asia Cup. All of Sri Lanka's batters have combined to hit as many.
Jitesh or Samson?
It is understood that Samson's past record at the top is preventing the team to drop him but in a format where one needs to assign specific roles, it is Jitesh Sharma who fits into the character of a middle-order slogger come finisher. A look at his batting sample size at various positions in the IPL over past few seasons will give a clearer picture. Jitesh at No.5 has played 18 knocks and scored 374 runs in 253 balls at a healthy strike-rate of 147.8 while at No.6 he has performed even better. He scored 384 runs off 230 balls in 15 innings at a strike rate of 167. The Vidarbha stumper, at No.7, has played 76 balls and scored 136 runs in seven innings at a strike-rate of 178.9.
The numbers show that Samson is being forced to don a role which is out of his character while the team management has a 'ready-made option' for the same part. But as of now, in this bioscope, the director (Gambhir in this case) isn't flexible as far as changing characters are concerned. Hence Jitesh might have to wait a bit longer but India wouldn't like to pay a price for that. The Sri Lanka match also gives them a chance to rest Jasprit Bumrah (only if he wants) before the grand finale.
A tournament to forget for Sri Lanka
For Sri Lanka, this has been a tournament to forget. Arriving in the UAE, they would have hoped to be among Asia's top two teams, but their batters failed to rise to the occasion. In defeats against Bangladesh and Pakistan, they struggled to post competitive totals, making it difficult to recover on pitches that play best under lights.
Little chinks in Indian armoury
While fielding is one aspect that needs attention, there are also little chinks in the Indian armoury which are being overlooked because of the comfortable victories in all the five games that Suryakumar Yadav's men have played so far.
Against Bangladesh, Samson wasn't even considered good enough to come inside the top seven of the line-up and that begs a question as to what is he doing in the team if he isn't good enough to come ahead of Axar Patel.
The promotion of Shivam Dube as No. 4 was understandable because of his 'match-up' against wrist spinners but it didn't work in order to keep the left-right combination in the middle. Hardik Pandya was sent ahead of him along with two left-handers in Tilak Varma and Axar.
Will Jitesh get his first game tonight?
Sanju Samson being an apparent middle-order misfit will certainly worry head coach Gautam Gambhir and the Indian team management might be tempted to check out Jitesh Sharma during their inconsequential final Super 4 encounter.
India's catching woes
India have been the dominant force so far winning all five matches so far but their fielding has been a big concern, dropping 12 catches in the tournament eight of them in the last two games alone, the highest by any team so far in the Asia Cup. Among the eight teams in the tournament, India rank just behind Hong Kong-China with a catching efficiency of only 67.5%.
Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy noted that the fielding struggles are largely due to the "Ring of Fire" floodlights, but he acknowledged that making excuses at this level is completely unjustified.
Last Super 4 match
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the final Super Four match of the Asia Cup between India and Sri Lanka. The game is a dead rubber, with India and Pakistan already through to the final, while Sri Lanka, having lost both their Super 4 matches, have been eliminated.