Sri Lanka and Pakistan lock horns in the final Super 4 clash of the Asia Cup in Dubai on Friday, with the fixture essentially serving as a warm-up for the final this Sunday at the same venue.
Both Sri Lanka and Pakistan have qualified for the final with two wins in as many games in the Super Four stage of the tournament, the latter having confirmed the same with a nail-biting one-wicket win over Afghanistan on Wednesday, which was ultimately marred by clashes both on the field as well as in the stands.
And a victory in the final Super 4 match does not have much context other than giving the winning team the bragging rights and some momentum heading into the summit clash. Alternately, the two sides could use the fixture as a means of testing out some of their reserves or try out some new combinations before the big game.
The Asia Cup trophy will witness a change of hands this year, with defending champions India bowing out of the tournament following defeats to Pakistan and Sri Lanka in a space of three days though they ended their campaign on a high with a 101-run hammering of Afghanistan.
Sri Lanka will be hoping to win the Asia Cup for the sixth time this Sunday in the process close the gap with India, who are the most successful side in the history of the tournament with seven titles. Pakistan, on the other hand, have won the continental title only twice — in 2000 and 2012, and will be hoping to add to their cabinet in a couple of days’ time.
Workload management
Pakistan could argue about being the worst hit among the participating teams in terms of fitness issues. The ‘Men in Green’ lost Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Wasim to injury in the build-up to the tournament, and were dealt with another blow midway with Shahnawaz Dahani getting ruled out ahead of the clash against India last Sunday.
Given how overworked some of their players have been this year, maybe skipper Babar Azam and coach Saqlain Mushtaq could look at giving one of their frontline pacers a rest for the upcoming clash and finally give Hasan Ali some game time in the Asia Cup. Hasan wasn’t even included in the original squad, coming in as a replacement for Mohammad Wasim and an opportunity might just be what he needs to turn things around for himself after falling out of favour with the management.
A similar move could be suggested for one leg-spinner replacing another in the XI between Shadab Khan and Usman Qadir, the latter not having played a game since April.
Times up for Asalanka?
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have produced a dramatic turnaround after suffering an eight-wicket hammering at the hands of Afghanistan in their opening clash, winning their next three games in style — in nail-biting fashion one might add — to confirm a 12th final appearance in 15 editions of the tournament. They were staring at an early flight back home after being reduced to 77/4 while chasing 184 in the game against Bangladesh, but their never-say-die spirit has somehow carried them through.
There are however, some areas of concern for the five-time champions heading into the business end of the tournament and a glaring one would be Charith Asalanka’s form. Asalanka’s scores so far in the tournament read 0, 1, 8 and 0 — which certainly doesn’t inspire any confidence, either from the fans or within the team.
Perhaps bringing in all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva, who has experience batting at a number of positions including the one-down spot, could be in order come Friday.
Squads:
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Charith Asalanka, Danushka Gunathilaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Jeffrey Vandersay, Ashen Bandara, Praveen Jayawickrama, Nuwanidu Fernando, Pramod Madushan, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Usman Qadir, Haider Ali, Hasan Ali, Shahnawaz Dahani
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