The Asia Cup 2022 final was a thrilling affair with Sri Lanka beating Pakistan by 23 runs to win for a sixth time. The match ebbed and flowed at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium but Sri Lanka proved too good and deservedly lifted the trophy. Mr Cricket UAE Anis Sajan and the Gulf News team discuss the night’s action
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
#asiacup2022 #cricketnews #sports
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
#asiacup2022 #cricketnews #sports
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to Golf News Straight Back. It was the 15th Asia Cup final tonight at
00:13the Dubai International Cricket Stadium between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This was the fourth
00:17time that the two teams were playing each other in the final. Sri Lanka had won two
00:22out of the last three. And tonight, after another thrilling encounter, Sri Lanka have
00:26won by 23 runs. That means they have secured their sixth Asia Cup title. Mr. Cricket Anis
00:32Sarjan was watching every single ball. Anis, what are your thoughts on the match?
00:38Thank you, Imran. Hello, Ashfaq bhai. Hello, Satish. And hello to all the people of Golf
00:42News. Yes, if you have to ask me, when Pakistan won the toss, Babar Azam was spontaneous in
00:47saying that I want a bad second. And his decision was right when they had Sri Lanka on the mat
00:53at 58 for 5. But then came Hasranga as well as the Bhanuka. And they stitched a partnership
00:59which derailed Pakistan, dropped catches. And in the end, you should say that when they
01:04fielded, they fielded like the lions. And Pakistan, till Rizwan, they had a little bit
01:09of opportunity. But Pakistan were always chasing the game. And Sri Lanka deserved champions.
01:13And I have to say one line, these deserved Asia Cup champions have to play through the
01:17qualifying round for the World Cup.
01:19Okay, let's go straight to Ashfaq. Ash, commiserations, Pakistan, they made a great start. They stifled
01:28a Sri Lankan batsman early on. But it was in the last 10 overs where the match just
01:33got away from them. They conceded, what, 105, I think 105 runs in the last 10 overs. Raja
01:38Paskal was the guy doing most of the damage. What went wrong tonight, Ash?
01:42Imran, thank you so much. Imran, I don't want to take credit away from Sri Lanka. But Pakistan,
01:49I think in the last 10 overs, Babar Azam's captaincy was horrible. He didn't put Nawaz
01:56on bowling. I don't know why. He tried his sixth ball, Ibtikhar part-timer. He did take
02:01a wicket. But then instead of bringing Rizwan, he brought his man again who was getting hit.
02:06He brought Naseem Shah also. He also got hit. Nawaz only one over. He's a key bowler.
02:14So he got only three runs in one over. Then he was not given an over. I think that I don't
02:18know what was in his mind. And the drop catches, catches when matches, as you say. Drop catches
02:25are horrible drops. And it's like a street cricket by Shadab today. I mean, I'm sorry
02:31to say Shadab, the vice-captain was street cricket. He was just running into Asif and
02:35hitting him and letting him drop the catch. He almost took it. So that those catches cost
02:41Pakistan a lot. Otherwise, it would have been under 140 runs game. I would say a sloppy
02:47fielding, drop catches, bad captaincy, it cost the match.
02:51Ash, I mean, overall, Pakistan have had a good tournament. They've made it to the final.
02:56But you just mentioned the skipper, their bad captaincy. What has happened to Babar
03:01Azam? His form with the bat is just terrible right now.
03:04Yeah, it's terrible. If you see today's match, I think he was set, he was trapped. He took
03:10the filter to get him there. And he almost narrowly escaped from the earlier delivery
03:16to delivery the same over. Then they got him on the final leg. They trapped him. Horrible
03:23batting line. He couldn't get his form. I think he should go back and think what he's
03:31planning to do. Other thing is Fakhar Azam. Fakhar Azam is also not playing well. I think
03:35we should start trying somebody else for some time. They are good players. But today was
03:41not their day. And for Babar Azam, the whole tournament, he failed in all the matches,
03:47not even one match he scored, which is very worrisome because we are approaching the World
03:51Cup now. And other thing is that I would say over the batting side, Rizwan and Tukhar,
03:59they scored. They were the top scorer, 55 runs, 32 runs. The third highest run was extra,
04:04which is 14 runs. And nobody else could enter double figure except Haris, who scored 13 at
04:10the end. I would say Rizwan and Tukhar took very long time to start hitting. They wasted a lot of
04:19deliveries. I think one of them should have started hitting earlier. He got out at the
04:25wrong time and that put pressure on the middle order. And then Asef, then Pushtev, then Brandred,
04:31when there's Brandred, you have 15 plus, then you need to hit every ball. I think they also
04:36made a mess of the match, which the middle order and the tail end couldn't achieve.
04:41Brandred was simply out of control. Let's bring Satish in. Satish, Pakistan had won the toss,
04:49they elected to bowl. Now, as we know, so far in the tournament, the teams that
04:55have won the toss, they've won, I think, nine out of the 12 matches have been won.
05:02But that didn't happen tonight. What were the reasons for that?
05:06Imran, toss has been an important factor. But all along we have been talking about toss,
05:12but even we raised this question to the Sri Lankan captain as well as
05:17Sakthi and Mushtaq. Sakthi and Mushtaq probably will summarize the entire thing.
05:23Whether you bowl first or bat first, you have to win the match. That's the hallmark of a champion
05:29side. But that apart, I think what has happened is, overall, the wickets were slightly slow to
05:35start with when the match started. And as it grew, progress, it played well. Exactly the same thing
05:42happened today as well. But the difference was, Sri Lanka played such positive cricket that they
05:48were able to score 105 runs in the last 10 overs. That gave them that cushion. That's number one.
05:54And number two, the wicket was not spinning. But they are two of the best spinners in the
05:58world today who are the most economical and they hunt in pairs. That's what we wrote a couple of
06:04days ago. They support each other and they hunt in pairs. And the economy is what, four overs,
06:10they are about 20 runs, 25 runs. So that eight overs become crucial. And in a final like this,
06:17the pressure of the final, the big score, and as Ashfaq said, the increasing run rate,
06:23all that put together. And if you look at the last 10 overs, Pakistan never was there in the
06:29match today. So that was a difference today. The wicket was played the same way as it was in the
06:34past. Just that the runs were about 20 runs extra because of the drop catches and the late
06:42assault by, of course, I have to give plenty of credit to Hasaranga, whose short knock tilted
06:50the momentum in favour of Sri Lanka at that point of time. But apart from that, I think maybe if,
06:56as Ashfaq says, the chase, the run rate, somebody had maintained the run rate instead of keeping the
07:01wickets a little earlier, maybe Pakistan could have gone on to win the match probably. Yes.
07:09Anish, I've been reading your columns. You've been glowing about the Sri Lankans.
07:14They've been playing a nice aggressive style of cricket, like you've been saying before.
07:17It's lit up the tournament. Do you think they must have gained a lot of new fans around the world?
07:23Definitely. You see, before coming into this Asia Cup, they had won probably only one game out of
07:28their 10 or 11 games. And they were low on confidence. But what cricket they were playing
07:34was good. Because I remember the one game they won against Australia, where the captain led from
07:38the front and chased on a good target. In the World Cup last year, they were close, but they
07:43were not able to finish games. So they had this attacking bunch of talent, whether you talk about
07:48the Kusal Mendis or the Pasun Nishanka, or we talk about the Gulinanthaka. They're all good players,
07:55but they were not able to get the act right. Now, finally, they have got it right. So they are a
07:59team to do well. Like Satish mentioned, they have two best spinners in Tiksana and Hasranga.
08:06And if the fast bowlers come into play, they are a difficult side to beat. And we'll have to see
08:12how they go about in the World Cup. Mind you, as I said in the beginning, they still have to play
08:16the qualifying round. They should get through that qualifying round. But how they will play in
08:20Australian wickets, because Australian wickets, I'm not sure whether it will have the spinners.
08:23But at the moment, yes, this is one country which is going through a political turmoil.
08:27This must have brought a lot of happiness to the fans of Sri Lanka. But I'm afraid it must have
08:33equally brought sadness on Pakistani fans who expected that they would roll over Sri Lanka.
08:38But Sri Lanka was a tough team to beat in this tournament.
08:42Let's bring Ash back in.
08:42Five wins in a row.
08:43Yeah, five in a row. Ash, let's bring you back in. There was one high point for Pakistan tonight,
08:49Haris Rao. He started tonight's match three wickets short of 50. He got three today.
08:54So he's got 50 in T20 cricket. He done really well. But he was let down by
09:00Nassim Shah and Hasnain. They were very expensive today, weren't they?
09:04Yeah, absolutely. That's what I'm saying. If they were expensive, they should have,
09:09Baba should have brought spinners in. He had three quality spinners. He had Nawaz, he had Shadab,
09:14he had Ibtihar, I don't know why he didn't bring them in. He put them back into the
09:19bowling in the middle of the match also and before the slow bowlers also.
09:23And Haris Rao was the only saviour today because whenever he came in, he got a wicket.
09:29Even in the fourth over, he got a wicket, but Shadab dropped the catch.
09:32So he's a match winner bowler. We call him now the Golden Arm, which used to
09:38call Mudassir Nazar ages ago. So he's a Golden Arm bowler. He broke the partnership whenever he
09:43comes. He played well, but he was not supported well. But I think the experience count here,
09:50Nassim Shah is good, but then Hasnain is good, but fast, but no experience. So when we get Shaheen
09:58Afridi back, I think Shaheen Afridi and Rauf will make a difference, that combination.
10:05Yeah, Afridi was for sure a big player for the final. Definitely. He could have made a huge
10:11difference. Anis, we've spoken about the bad start from Sri Lanka, but they were steadied by
10:17Hasaranga's 36 and then Rajapaksa's brilliant knock-off 71. But without that, do you think
10:24it could have been a very different game, a bit closer as well? Definitely. I mean, when you are
10:29at 54-5, this was the last recognised pair. After that, they had the bowlers to come in.
10:34And so you have to give credit first to Hasaranga because he took the bowling,
10:38the attack to the opposition. He played shots, moved around his wicket and played
10:42right cricketing shots where the bowlers bowled to his strength. And then Bhanuka, what he did was,
10:47he did not try short shots with Hasaranga. He made sure he rotated the strike. And when Hasaranga
10:53left, that is when he started to attack. He had his fair chance of luck where Shadab is one of
11:00the best fielders had and poor outing as Ashfaq Bhai mentioned. Two catches dropped, that has
11:05cost. So in the end, this margin of 20 would have been different. Who knows, 170 would have been
11:09150. But you have to give credit to both Hasaranga and Bhanuka that they made this total
11:15portable. Satish wants to say something. Anirbhai, you made a very valid point, Anirbhai.
11:20I think another key factor that enabled Sri Lanka to get away is because they were able to rotate
11:26strikes quite regularly. They were running the singles and I think the attacking fielding,
11:32maybe lack of attacking fielding or I don't know, the field placement, whatever the cost may be.
11:37They were able to rotate strikes at will. They were almost so many singles they have got. So
11:42that, when Anirbhai said it, that really caught on. Because when Sri Lanka was bowling,
11:50Pakistan were not able to rotate strikes as freely as Sri Lanka did. So that was a big factor as well.
11:56Satish, while you're talking about Hasaranga, just talk about…
12:00One thing I want to add to Satish Singh. They were good at batting but they were
12:06outstanding in fielding today. They got seven catches. That's minor. Seven catches they got
12:12and they were pretty good catches. And on the boundaries, they saved at least 20-30 runs.
12:18They turned doubles into singles as well. They frustrated the best man today.
12:24Correct.
12:24I mean, outstanding field today.
12:26Correct.
12:27Satish, you were talking about Hasaranga. That over, the 17th over, where he got three…
12:36That basically wrapped up the match. What an explosive over that was, wasn't it?
12:40It was, Imran. But the sad part is, it was just like he was doing the finishing act at the point
12:46of time. The match was over a few overs before. Because the moment it goes to 13 runs, 12 runs,
12:52and against such a strong attack, it becomes extremely difficult. You can't… And the wicket,
12:57see, the Dubai wickets are not… You don't come and play the shots immediately. You need time to
13:02settle down. Maybe if Rizwan had stayed on for a longer period of time, maybe he would have been
13:09able to hit it. That kind of shot, he would have been able to play. Because that's what
13:14Banuka Rajapakse exhibited. When you stay there for a longer period of time, you'll be able to
13:19judge the pace of the wicket and everything. But here, yes, I don't want to take the credit away
13:26from Hasaranga. He bowled brilliantly. But at that point of time, the batters have to go and
13:34take that high-risk shot. And once that pressure comes into the batsmen, bowlers like Hasaranga,
13:40they will happily bowl on those wickets and they will make a killing.
13:45Ashfaq, Rizwan, he got 55. He was doing really well. Had he just hung on there for a little bit
13:56longer, do you think he could have taken Pakistan home?
14:00Absolutely. They hung on for a pretty long time. Safaan and Rizwan, I partly blame them for the
14:07loss. They should have started hitting way earlier. Because both of them were taking
14:13singles. Both of them were sticking to wicket. Ibtekhar should have gone up to the ball. He
14:18should have hit the sixes and fours, which is required. Even if he gets out, no problem. There
14:22are players behind him. But Rizwan could stick to one end. So as Ibtekhar got out, Rizwan also
14:28got frustrated and he also went for slogging and he got out as well. So then we started losing
14:34wicket on both ends. I think in 3-20 cricket, I think that they misread it or they couldn't
14:40keep up with the scoreboard. They were not keeping the score intact. They were not scoring
14:47according to the demand. They were scoring very low, what was required. So that also put them
14:52in trouble and put the last man coming in later in trouble as well. They couldn't hit. As Satish
14:58said, they are world-class spinners. So it was not easy to score 12 rounds, 13 rounds in a row.
15:05Let's broaden this conversation out a little bit. Anis, which players have impressed you
15:10most in this tournament and who do you think is going to have a really big impact at the T20
15:14World Cup in Australia next month? I have to be very honest. We have to talk about Sri Lankan
15:19openers, both Kosal Mendis and Basul Nisanka. And then Hasranga obviously has come as a brand that
15:26everybody knows he's a dangerous player. But you cannot take away anything from the captain. The
15:30guy who doesn't make a lot of noise, does his job silently. And he's played a couple of crucial
15:36knocks where Sri Lanka actually needed him, be it the first match against Bangladesh or against
15:40India. So if I have to say, if I have to pick between three, I would pick the captain because
15:46he's done the tough role of captaining a low, mediocre side and taking them to this level. So
15:52Mike, you have to pick one player, I would pick this guy.
15:56And Ash, who have you been most disappointed with in the tournament?
16:01Of course, Bawar Azam and Fakhar Zaman second.
16:07And Satish, lastly, last question for you, Satish. From what you've seen of these teams,
16:12from the Asian teams at least, who do you think is best equipped to maybe reach the
16:16final of the T20 World Cup in Australia next month?
16:21I would say all teams are test playing nations. I would still say, based on this form, Sri Lanka
16:29must be having a lot of confidence. But you can't discount Pakistan or India from reaching the
16:34final because they have the firepower, just that they didn't click at the right place. But
16:40Australian wickets are a different ballgame altogether. They are more bouncy. You don't
16:45have to worry about your toss. You don't have to worry about it comes on, whether it's day,
16:49evening, it plays a true. So all that is a factor. So I wouldn't discount both these giants to know
16:56they might make the final. Both of them could make the final as well.
16:59So they are good enough for that.
17:02Okay, guys, I think we'll end it there. So after a fortnight of thrilling action,
17:07Sri Lanka are the champions of the Asia Cup 2022. Congratulations to them.
17:12Please remember to head to gulfnews.com for the latest news, the reviews, videos and much more.
17:18And we shall see.
17:20All right. Bye. Bye. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good time. See you.
17:25Good night, guys. Good night.