Asia Cup 2022: India needs to learn to bat well in the middle overs – Cheteshwar Pujara

India’s Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara feels the team needs to learn to bat well in the middle overs after their six-wicket loss against Sri Lanka in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Tuesday.

India posted 173 runs on the board after they were put into bat by Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka. The Men in Blue were 110-2 after 12 overs but they failed to bat at the top of their game in the remaining overs and could not add the finishing touches.

The Rohit Sharma-led team kept losing wickets at regular intervals and thus could not get going after the 12th over. Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, and Deepak Hooda were all dismissed cheaply and they failed to add the finish of the innings on a high.

Cheteshwar Pujara said while talking to ESPN Cricinfo, “It brings a lot of comfort to the dressing room when you have over 50 runs without losing a wicket in the powerplay. I think the problem for India is the middle overs and we are not finishing well too.”

“Because we are losing a lot of wickets in the middle overs, we do not have proper batters batting from overs 15 to 20. India needs to learn to bat well in the middle overs.”

India could only manage 64 runs in the last 48 balls and scored only 48 runs in the final five overs of the game.

On the other hand, Robin Uthappa reckons India is putting players under pressure by not batting their batters in the ideal position. Deepak Hooda has been given the role to add the finishing touches but he had batted in the middle order for his IPL team Lucknow Super Giants.

“You need to have players who play well in certain positions. India have bought in personnel who are not playing in their ideal position.”
He added:

“Deepak Hooda is not a finisher, he has not finished innings for LSG [Lucknow Super Giants], you throw him in the business end of a tournament and you are putting pressure on the player. Make him play in a position where he thrives in.”

India will be disappointed with their overall performance against Sri Lanka and they are now all but knocked out of the Asia Cup.

The Rohit Sharma-led team will take on Afghanistan on Thursday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.