Decoding India A's road to Emerging Asia Cup 2023 final
India A have secured a final berth in the ongoing ACC Men's Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023. They defeated Bangladesh A by 51 runs in the semi-final to set up a summit clash with arch-rivals Pakistan A on July 23. India have dominated the competition as they are the only side to remain unbeaten so far. Here we decode their road to the final.
Four wins on the bounce
India annihilated UAE-A by eight wickets in their opener thanks to Harshit Rana's 4/41 and skipper Yash Dhull's 108*. They then thrashed Nepal by nine wickets as Abhishek Sharma (87) and Nishant Sindhu (4/14) starred for them. Sai Sudharsan scored 104* and Rajvardhan Hangargekar claimed five wickets in India's eight-wicket-triumph over Pakistan. Sindhu's 5/20 helped India defend 211 in the semi-final.
Here are India's key batters
Skipper Dhull has led the team from the front as his tally of 195 runs is only second to Sri Lanka's Avishka Fernando (255) in the tournament. His strike rate of 103.72 is the highest among batters with 135-plus runs. With 191 runs at 95.50, Sudharsan is third among the leading run-getters. Abhishek Sharma has returned with 160 runs in four games at 40.
Who are the key bowlers?
India have bowled out their opposition in three of the four games. With 10 wickets at an economy of 3.37, left-arm pacer Sindhu is the leading wicket-taker of the competition. Manav Suthar is second on the list with nine wickets at an economy of 3.4. Speed merchant Hangargekar has claimed eight wickets at an economy of 5.05. Rana owns six wickets (ER: 4.68).
India eye their second title
Meanwhile, India clinched the inaugural edition of the Emerging Asia Cup in 2013. While Sri Lanka emerged winners in the next two editions, Pakistan are the defending champions, having lifted the title in 2019. Hence, India eye their second title. Notably, the Men in Blue finished as runners-up in the 2018 edition, narrowly losing to SL by three runs in the final.
