The 5 wicket loss vs Pakistan in their opening Super 4 match at the ongoing Asia Cup has put India in a tricky position on the Super 4s points table. They are currently third amongst the four teams, with 0 points after 1 match and a NRR of -0.126.
Sri Lanka lead the points table with 2 points (1 win in 1 game so far) and a NRR of +0.589. Pakistan who also have 1 win from 1 game played so far are in second place, behind SL only on NRR (+0.126).
What this effectively means is that tonight's Super 4 clash between India and Sri Lanka in Dubai becomes a must-win match in a way for Rohit Sharma and co. After tonight's match vs SL, India will have only one Super 4 game left to play and that will be against Afghanistan on Thursday, September 8.
As things stand right now all four teams which have qualified for the Super 4s have played 1 match each. While SL and Pakistan have won a game each, India and Afghanistan are still searching for their first points.
Ahead of the crucial India vs SL Super 4 game tonight in Dubai, here are some interesting statistical trivia for the two teams from the Asia Cup and in T20I cricket:
# Both teams have won ten matches each out of 20 played in the Asia Cup.
# The only match played in the T20 Asia Cup between the two teams resulted in a five-wicket win for India at Mirpur on March 1, 2016. In response to Sri Lanka's 138 for nine off 20 overs, India responded with 142 for five.
# In T20Is against Sri Lanka, India's record is excellent, winning 17 and losing seven (NR 1) out of 25 played - winning % of 70.83.
# Virat Kohli had remained unbeaten with 56 not out off 47 balls in the only T20 Asia Cup match vs SL at Mirpur on March 1, 2016. He was adjudged the Man of the Match.
# In the Mirpur fixture on March 1, 2016, Sri Lanka had scored 47 in the first ten overs - the second lowest for them in T20Is at that time while batting first. Against Australia at Cape Town on September 20 in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, they scored 43 for seven in the first ten overs.
# India have won the last three T20Is against Sri Lanka by big margins - by 62 runs at Lucknow on February 24, 2022 followed by 7 wickets on February 26 and by 6 wickets on February 27 - both at Dharamsala.
# In the aforesaid series, Shreyas Iyer had posted three successive fifties - 57 not out, 74 not out & 73 not out.
# Shreyas Iyer had managed 204 runs in the three-match series without being dismissed against Sri Lanka in 2022 - his career-best performance. His series strike rate was 174.35.
# Sri Lanka registered their last win against India in T20Is at Colombo (RPS) by 7 wickets on July 29, 2021.
# Rohit Sharma has a poor record against Sri Lanka in T20Is, aggregating 339 in sixteen innings with just one century at an average of 21.18. In eleven innings, he failed to score even 20. His tally includes seven single-digit scores, including two ducks.
# Rohit though holds the joint record for the fastest century in terms of balls faced, accomplishing the feat vs SL during the course of his outstanding knock of 118 off 43 balls at Indore on December 22, 2017. He scored his century off 35 deliveries.
# Rohit's 35-ball century on December 22, 2017 is the joint quickest, with two others, in the history of T20Is - the other two batters being S.Africa's David Miller and Czech's Sudesh Wickrmasekara.
# Rohit's innings was embellished with twelve fours and ten sixes. His tally of sixes in that match vs SL remains an Indian record in T20Is.
# In the same match in 2017 vs SL, Lokesh Rahul had registered 89 off 49 balls with the help of eight sixes and five fours.
# In the Indore T20I on December 22, 2017, Rohit and Lokesh Rahul had put on 165 for the first wicket - India's highest for any wicket against Sri Lanka in T20Is.
# Five Indian bowlers have bagged four wickets in a T20I against Sri Lanka - Yuzvendra Chahal (twice), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Shardul Thakur and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
# Ashwin's excellent figures of four for eight at Visakhapatnam on February 14, 2016 remain the best by any bowler in T20Is involving India and Sri Lanka.
# Kapil Dev (4/31 at Kolkata on January 4, 1991), Irfan Pathan (4/32 at Mirpur on March 13, 2012) and Ashish Nehra (4/40 at Dambulla on June 24, 2010) had produced four-wicket hauls in Asia Cup matches against Sri Lanka.
# Two hat-tricks have been accomplished in the 50-over format in the Asia Cup. India's Kapil Dev in the final vs Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on January 4, 1991 and Sri Lanka's Farveez Maharoof vs India at Dambulla on June 22, 2010.
# Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis had produced figures of 6 for 13 off eight overs against India at Karachi on July 6, 2008 - the best figures by any bowler in the history of the Asia Cup.
Stats Courtesy: Rajesh Kumar
