IND vs PAK 2022: How can India still qualify for Asia Cup 2022 Final despite losing to Pakistan?
India's chances of qualifying for the Asia Cup 2022 final took a slight hit after their defeat to Pakistan in the first match of the Super Four stage.
Last night at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Pakistan became the first team to defeat India in Asia Cup's T20I format. In the previous edition in this format which took place in 2016, India won all the games including the final, to capture the title.
Now that India have suffered a defeat in the opening match of the Super Fours, their other two matches have become must-win encounters. India need to defeat Sri Lanka on Tuesday and then win against Afghanistan on Thursday to keep their hopes of making the final alive.
Sri Lanka and Pakistan are ahead of India in the Asia Cup 2022 points table right now with two points each. Either one of the teams will lose at least one match because they will play against each other on September 9.
The match between Pakistan and Afghanistan could also play a major role in deciding the finalists. Pakistan will head into the game as favorites, but if Afghanistan win, then the race to the final will get more interesting.
By the end of the Super Fours round, if Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India have two wins each, net run rate will come into play, and the teams with the best net run rate will make it to the final.
How can India qualify for Asia Cup 2022 without any net run rate considerations?
For India to qualify without any involvement of the net run rate, they need to beat Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in their next two matches. They would also need Pakistan to defeat Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
In such a scenario, Pakistan will finish at the top with six points, followed by India in second position with four points.