India were outclassed by a determined Sri Lankan team which came out all guns blazing and won the encounter by 4 wickets to almost seal their place in the Asia Cup 2022 finals. Earlier in the match, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma lost the toss and was asked to bat first for second consecutive time in Super 4 clash at Dubai International stadium on Tuesday.
India lost KL Rahul and in form Kohli early but Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma build the innings thereafter. After the partnership broke, India never got the momentum they needed and could just manage 173 runs on a track which was expected to get better in second innings and was always going to be tough for India, considering the lack of a pace bowler in the team.
Sri Lanka got off to a flier as Nissanka and Mendis added 97 runs for the first wicket but Indian spinners fought back and took four quick to swing the pendulum in balance. Aggressive batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa and skipper Dasun Shanaka had a job in their hand and it was the latter batsman who played a cameo of 33 off just 18 balls to take the Lankan Lions home by 5 wickets.
Twitter was furious with India’s second loss in the Super 4 and they remembered the services of former India skipper MS Dhoni, who had a habit of changing games on his head with his great tactics and captaincy. Here are few reactions-
Whenever India losses match these days
Dhoni Fans: pic.twitter.com/kc8PBDBeLK
— Aman_Chain 😷 Mask Man (@Amanprabhat9) September 6, 2022
Why Dhoni is Invaluable . #INDvSL#RishabhPant pic.twitter.com/c949JACXDf
— Autumn (@Autumn_streek) September 6, 2022
#INDvSL There will always be only one MS Dhoni. #MSDhoni pic.twitter.com/Bzam99GgKH
— Shivang Trivedi (@Shivang54296409) September 6, 2022
It’s not team India’s mistake. It’s #Dhoni who raised indian audience expectations with so much achievement otherwise this is the true Indian team who were never really winning.
HE was a leader. Best cricketing brain out there.
Now only INFLUENCERS.#BCCI#retirement
Dravid pic.twitter.com/XLF56qAW3W— Vaibhav Singh (@imSingh_vaibhav) September 6, 2022
Indian team will always miss Dhoni.
— Prashanth Rangaswamy (@itisprashanth) September 6, 2022
This is where you miss #dhoni. Never seen him miss a run out like this.3 stumps to hit with enough time, no way he would have missed #INDvsSL #AsiaCup2022
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) September 6, 2022
This is why Dhoni was the biggest X factor. If you miss 3 stumps and give away an extra run when you ought to have taken the wicket by run out you know what Dhoni was made of. Miss you always MSD
— Safir (@safiranand) September 6, 2022
