Colombo: After beating Bangladesh ‘A’ in the semifinal of the ACC Men’s Emerging Asia Cup, India ‘A’ is all set to face off against archrival Pakistan ‘A’ in the title clash at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
What will also help India ‘A’ is that they had comprehensively defeated Pakistan ‘A’ by eight wickets in the group match, where B. Sai Sudharsan made 104 not out off 110 balls while Rajvardhan Hangargekar took 5-42.
Sudharsan, who has been in great form of late, explained the learnings he incorporated from M.S. Dhoni and Virat Kohli. “Everyone knows Mahi bhai. He is very calm and whenever I speak to him, he always insists to know more about yourself and what you can do for the team.”
“That is more important than trying and doing something or being someone else. Virat’s mind is very strong. So, I want to take that trait from him. I have had conversations with him as well,” he was quoted as saying by Star Sports.
India ‘A’ looked in discomfort in the semifinal against Bangladesh ‘A’, especially when they were stifled by the opposition’s spinners. But they came out on top courtesy of a sensational 5-20 from left-arm spinner Nishant Sindhu, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker and 66 from skipper Yash Dhull to maintain their unbeaten run in the campaign.
On the other hand, the Mohammad Haris-led Pakistan ‘A’ reached the final after beating Sri Lanka A in the first semi-final by 60 runs, with Arshad Iqbal taking five wickets.
Squads:
India A: Sai Sudharsan, Abhishek Sharma, Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Nikin Jose, Yash Dhull (captain), Akash Singh, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya, Prabhsimran Singh, Pradosh Paul, Riyan Parag, Nishant Sindhu, Manav Suthar, Harshit Rana, Nitish Reddy, Rajvardhan Hangargekar.
Pakistan A: Saim Ayub (c), Sahibzada Farhan, Omair Yousuf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Haris(w), Shahnawaz Dahani, Mehran Mumtaz, Haseebullah Khan, Mubasir Khan, Amad Butt, Tayyab Tahir, Qasim Akram, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Sufiyan Muqeem, Arshad Iqbal.
(IANS)
