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
#3. A rare off day for Mujeeb
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.