Asia Cup 2018: 5 reasons why India won against Pakistan in the Super four stage

The round 2 of India Vs Pakistan was yet another one-sided game with India dominating the proceedings.

They have made it to the finals and Pakistan are in a spot of bother as they are heading into a must-win match against Bangladesh. Bangladesh and Pakistan will fight it out for the finals spot and it will be interesting to see who takes on India.

Pakistan would have never been in this position had they played some competitive cricket against India. Pakistan lost badly against India. Let's have a look at the 5 reasons responsible for their loss.

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#1 Early wickets

The Pakistani batsmen lost their way at the top

As predicted, Pakistan lost early wickets yet again and was reduced to 58/3. Their run rate was pretty slow and this put the pressure on the Pakistani batsmen. They lacked intent in a crucial fixture and they paid the price for it.

Their inability to build big partnerships consistently came to the forefront and this allowed the Indian bowlers to get away even with loose deliveries. This is because the track was tough to bat on and the newcomers found it difficult to play the Indian wrist spinners.

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#2 Inability to covert the starts

Pakistan's inability to convert starts came to the forefront again

Fakhar Zaman, Sarfaraz Khan and Asif Ali got starts but they couldn't convert it into a big score and this hurt Pakistan.

Asif Ali was destructive towards the end and he could have done more damage had he played sensibly.

Sarfaraz got a good start and he got out against the run of the play. If Sarfaraz and Shoaib had carried on for a bit more longer, we could have witnessed a score around 270-280.

Zaman got out in a bizarre manner and he failed to review his decision even after consulting with his partner, Babar Azam and it looked like he was finally coming back to form.

If there is a round 3 between these two teams that is waiting to happen, Pakistani batsmen need to convert their starts into a big score to have any chance of beating India.

#3 Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan brilliant partnership

Shikhar and Rohit played magical knocks.

No one expected that India would chase down the target with ease and win the game by nine wickets. This is because of the dryness of the wicket.

Moreover, India was fielding first which would have sapped their energy levels. Shikhar and Rohit shared a 200 stand and both of them scored centuries against a strong Pakistani bowling line-up.

They scored runs at a quick rate and played with caution. They provided India with a perfect platform to finish things off.

#4 Poor Fielding

Poor fielding let Sarfaraz and co. down

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were helped by some sloppy field from Pakistan. Rohit Sharma was dropped on 14 and 81. He went on to score a century.

That does tell a lot. Had the first catch been taken we could have witnessed a close tussle between India and Pakistan.

The Pakistani fielders gave some easy runs, releasing all the pressure that their bowlers had created. Pakistan needs to do better in the field if they are to win their next match.

#5 Jasprit Bumrah's magical death overs spell

Bumrah is growing his reputation as a death overs specialist day by day

When Shoaib Malik and Sarfaraz Ahmed were set on the crease, it looked like we were going to witness a 280ish run chase from India.

But that was never going to happen as Bumrah had some other plans. He executed his yorkers to perfection and prevented any easy runs.

He picked the prized scalp of Shoaib Malik and dashed all the Pakistani hopes of a 250+ score into the ground. Bumrah was consistent with his pace, line and length and that really hurt Pakistan.

Pakistan has only got themselves to blame for such a poor show and it is expected that they will bounce back in style in their next game against Bangladesh which would set up the round three of India and Pakistan.