Big Picture: India vs Sri Lanka in Super Fours
The last time India faced Sri Lanka in international cricket, the hosts dominated with fierce determination, sweeping India in an ODI series. This time, the scenario is different — India are already through to the Asia Cup 2025 final unbeaten, while Sri Lanka have been eliminated. Friday’s match in Dubai is essentially a dead rubber, but with India constantly shuffling their batting order, curiosity remains high.
In their previous dead rubber against Oman, Sanju Samson was surprisingly promoted to No. 3, while Suryakumar Yadav didn’t get to bat despite India losing eight wickets. In the following match, Samson again went unused even though six wickets fell.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒚𝒂𝒌𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒎 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒉𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒅𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒕.”
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have struggled with luck in the Super Fours. Two toss losses and a failure to put up winning totals have left them on the back foot. Against India, they will need much more than favorable coin flips.
Spotlight: Abhishek Sharma and Wanindu Hasaranga
India will be reluctant to rest Abhishek Sharma, who has been in sensational form. With 248 runs at a strike rate above 200 in this Asia Cup, he has twice come close to scoring a century. “You don’t rest a batter in such red-hot form,” pundits have noted.
On the Sri Lankan side, Wanindu Hasaranga has been miserly with the ball, conceding less than a run per delivery across the tournament. His leg-spin will be a major weapon on Dubai’s slow surface, particularly after the powerplay.
Team News: Testing India’s Reserves
Like they did against Oman, India may use this match to test their bench. Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma are the only two players yet to feature. Samson, who needs game time before the final, could still play alongside Jitesh.
India (probable): Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh/Jitesh Sharma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are still searching for their best XI. They may consider bringing in Kamil Mishara for Chamika Karunaratne.
Sri Lanka (probable): Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera, Charith Asalanka (c), Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne/Kamil Mishara, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Nuwan Thushara.
Pitch and Conditions
As the competition goes deeper, scoring quickly has proven tough. The powerplay overs and how set batters accelerate after them remain crucial to dictating outcomes.
Stats and Trivia
- India and Sri Lanka last played each other in Dubai during the 2022 Asia Cup Super Fours. Sri Lanka won by six wickets after chasing successfully.
- Hardik Pandya is just three wickets away from becoming the second Indian bowler after Arshdeep Singh to claim 100 T20I wickets.
Also Read: Simmons Laments Dropped Catches and Costly Errors as Bangladesh Exit Asia Cup
