Asia Cup 2018 Super 4s: 3 unnoticed things from the India-Afghanistan match

The penultimate Super 4 match between India-Afghanistan was touted as ‘dead rubber’ before the start of the match. However, it turned out to be the most exciting match of this year’s Asia Cup.

India made plenty of changes in their squad by resting their main players. The fringe players in the bench were given an opportunity to stake their claim for a place in the 2019 ICC World Cup squad. On the other side, Afghanistan made a couple of changes and looked to end their campaign on a high note.

Afghanistan posted a competitive score of 252 runs with contributions from Shahzad (124) and Nabi (64). Though India began their chase with a strong 100+ opening partnership, they lost their plot in the final stages of the game.

Unlike their previous two fixtures, the Afghanistan players hold their nerves tight in this match. In the end, ‘tie’ is a deserving result for both the teams.

Now, let us look at three unnoticed things from the India-Afghanistan match

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#3. A rare off day for Mujeeb

Mujeeb had a rare off day against India

Aged just 17, Mujeeb is one of the standout performers for Afghanistan in the ongoing Asia Cup. Before the game against India, the opening batters in the entire tournament had struggled to pick his variations. As a result, Mujeeb had taken wickets in his very first spell in all the previous four games.

However, he had a rare off day against India. The Indian batters, especially the openers played the young spinner with high caution. In the end, Mujeeb remained wicketless for the first time in the tournament.

#2 Mohammad Shahzad’s Spin woes

Shahzad cracked an excellent century against India

Mohammad Shahzad’s century against India was his first against a major cricketing nation. His knock included 11 4’s and seven maximums. At one stage of the game, Shahzad almost scored 80% of the team runs. His blistering knock earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.

Currently, he is the third leading scorer in the tournament. However, his woes against the spin bowling continued against India. In all the five games, Shahzad was dismissed by the spinners.

Akila Dananjaya (Sri Lanka), Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), Mohammad Nawaz (Pakistan), Mahmudullah (Bangladesh) and Kedar Jadhav (India) were the spin bowlers who dismissed Shahzad in the entire tournament.

#1 Lokesh Rahul’s wasted review costing India the match

Dhoni was unlucky to be given out

In the 21st over of the India innings, Rahul was adjusted LBW of Rashid Khan’s bowling by the on-field umpire. Though it looked out to a naked eye, Rahul opted for the review. However, the Hawkeye showed all three reds and the on-field verdict was retained. As a result, India lost their only review.

Later, in the 26th over, Dhoni was adjudged LBW of Javed Ahmadi’s bowling. Since there was no review remaining, he went off the field immediately. However, the replays later showed that the ball was missing the leg-stump.

Then, in the 40th over, a well-settled Dinesh Karthik was adjudged LBW of Nabi’s bowling. Since Karthik had no other choice other than to leave the field, he walked back to the dressing room. Again, the replays showed that the ball was clearly missing the leg-stump.

Had Rahul not wasted the review, both Dhoni and Karthik would have benefited from the review. Mainly, Karthik’s review might have changed the end-result of the match. Besides, the game would not have been dragged until the end.