What went wrong for Rohit Sharma-led India in Asia Cup 2022?
Death bowling struggles
In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel, India's death-bowling woes were left exposed in the Asia Cup 2022. The experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar was effective with the new ball but struggled with in the death overs. He bowled the 19th over against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Super Four with the opponents needing 21 and 25 runs respectively.
He failed to deliver in both matches as Arshdeep Singh was left with too ittle to defend in the final over on both ocassions. Arshdeep showed great control in the death overs but he took was taken for runs.
Injury to Ravindra Jadeja
The knee injury to star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja came at the wrong time for the Indian team. India had won their first two games in the group stage before Jadeja injured his knee once again which ruled him out of the remainder of the tournament. India were forced to change their combination after his injury and couldn't find the winning momentum again as his absence was felt dearly.
KL Rahul's poor form
KL Rahul made his comeback from injury in India's tour of Zimbabwe where he led the side and looked out of touch. His struggles continued in the Asia Cup 2022 as questions were raised over his strike rate and approach in T20Is. Rahul managed 132 runs in five maches but his contributions were far from impactful for the Indan team.
Misfiring middle order
India's middle-order looked unsettled after Jadeja's injury as the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya failed to deliver consistently. After his match-winning knock against Pakistan in the group stage, Pandya scored only 17 runs in the next two games.
Suryakumar Yadav ended the tournament with 139 runs and was the most consistent in the middle-order but couldn't find much support from the other end. Rishabh Pant and Deepak Hooda were handed opportunities at the expense of in-form Dinesh Karthik but failed to impress.
Toss factor
The toss too played a key role in India's dismal show in the Asia Cup 2022 as eight of the nine matches so far in the tournament have been won by the teams batting second. Barring India's win against Hong Kong, all matches were won by the teams chasing. India lost the toss and were asked to chase in their games against Pakistan and Afghanistan in Super Four which they lost.
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