It was a disappointing finish for India A in the Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023 as they lost the final against arch-rivals Pakistan A by 128 runs. Having won all four games in the run-up to the final, India A were favorites to win the trophy, however, it wasn't to be as several factors starting from the decision at the toss to poor bowling and umpiring decisions contributed to the Men in Blue's loss in the summit clash.
After being put in to bat by India A skipper Yash Dhull, Pakistan A openers Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan came out all guns blazing putting the Indian bowling on the backfoot. The second-highest wicket-taker of the tournament, Manav Suthar gave India A the first breakthrough before the Men in Blue came back strongly with four more wickets in the next 11 overs, however, Tayyab Tahir's quickfire century almost batted the Dhull-led side out of the game as the Indian batters needed to bat out of their skin to chase down 353 runs in a pressure game.
Opener Abhishek Sharma top-scored with the bat scoring 61 off 51 but with no other real contribution from other batters meant that India A were bowled out for a paltry 224. It was a disappointing show for the whole team as Pakistan Shaheens proved to be too good on the day.
While bowlers shared the blame for the loss, the batters' performance left too much to be desired considering and the viewers and readers believe the same as well. A poll was conducted across all platforms by INDIA TV in both languages, 46 per cent of people said that poor batting was the main reason for India's loss in the Emerging Asia Cup final.
30 per cent of them considered the two umpiring decisions which led to the dismissals of Sai Sudharsan and Nikin Jose played a huge part in India's loss. 14 per cent believed that the decision at the toss of bowling in a big game like final was responsible while 10 per cent thought that Pakistan playing with players above the age of 23 had to do something with the result.
INDIA TV Poll: Emerging Asia Cup: What is the main reason behind India's loss to Pakistan in the final?
Poor umpiring - 30%
Poor batting from India - 46%
Opting to bowl first after winning the toss - 14%
Pakistan playing with over-aged players - 10%
