Asia Cup 2022: Three positives for India despite not reaching the final

The ongoing Asia Cup 2022 didn't go the way the Indian team and its fans expected. The Men In Blue were the defending champions of the tournament, having won in 2016 and 2018. The defending champions started well after winning two games in the Group Stages. Those games were against Pakistan and Hong Kong. They were expected to make it to the final as they are the most successful side with seven titles.

However, to the surprise of their fans, the Rohit Sharma-led side lost to Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Super Four round. With these losses, they were eliminated from the final race, In both games, the team choked in the moments when it mattered the most. Meanwhile, in this listicle, we will discuss three positives for the seven-time Asia Cup winners got despite not reaching the final.

Three positives for India during the tournament

Virat Kohli (Image source- Twitter)

1. Virat Kohli's form

The former India skipper had a forgettable form with the bat from Indian T20 League 2022 till India's tour of England. In this period, he could only score three fifties across formats. After this, he took a brief break from the game.

The 33-year-old returned ahead of the ongoing continental tournament. During the tournament, he scored two fifties in four games. In the team's dead rubber against Afghanistan, he broke the jinx going century-less. This innings might be a confidence booster for him and the team. 

Arshdeep Singh (Image Credit: Twitter)

2. Arshdeep Singh's discovery as a death bowler

During the Super four round of the tournament, the left arm bowled the final over of the game against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In both scenarios, he had the luxury of saving only seven runs. Most of the bowlers would have conceded this many runs easily.

However, the Punjab player managed to take the game to the second last ball in both games. Even the opposition teams thought that they were in trouble. At this point, the team and its fans can only imagine what if he had a few more runs to defend. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Image source- Twitter)

3. Discovery of do's and dont's for the 20-20 World Cup

The team has clearly gotten an idea of what kind of players they need for the showpiece event. The team had to experiment with players due to some unforeseen circumstances. The tournament has given the team a clear pathway to the World Cup.

It will be interesting to see how they respond to the ideas they found during the tournament. Before the World Cup, they will play against Australia and South Africa at home. These series will give the team some time to prepare for the World Cup.