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Follow UsConsidered to produce some of the top talents in the world, the Indian colts have fallen on their back in back-to-back editions of the Emerging Asia Cups. In 2023, in the 50-over format in the UAE, they lost to Pakistan in the final despite dominating the entire tournament. On this occasion, in T20s, they were beaten by eventual champions Afghanistan in the semis in Muscat, Oman.
How was India A’s journey?
They beat arch-rivals Pakistan by seven runs in a match that ebbed and flowed right until the end. Eventually, India’s 183 proved to be a little too much for Pakistan, who succumbed to a closely-fought defeat. But then, they did not show teams like UAE and Oman any remorse, brushing them aside with seven and six-wicket victories, respectively.
That’s great, but who were some of India A’s top performers?
Abhishek Sharma continued on his merry way, smashing 124 runs at an impressive strike rate of 203.3 to lead the run-scorers charts for India. Skipper Tilak Varma, too, did a fair job, although his numbers (117 runs at an SR of 120.61) do not do justice to it. He came in the middle order when the call of the hour was to don the role of an anchor, which he did to perfection.
Ramandeep Singh was India’s only hope in the semi-final as his 34-ball 64 down the order kept India in the hunt, but even overall, he struck at 191.83 in the tournament, and chipped in with three wickets (Econ 5), when it mattered.
Among the bowlers, Rasikh Salam had a superb tournament, pouching nine wickets at 10.33, with an economy rate of 7.15. He made an impact in every game with spells of 2/30, 3/15, 1/23 and 3/25. Unfortunately for him, he got very little support from the other end, as the likes of Anshul Kamboj (4 wickets, Econ 10), Aaqib Khan (2 wickets, Econ 10.75), and Vaibhav Arora (1 wicket, Econ 8.2) did not deliver the goods.
On the batting front, Ayush Badoni, Nehal Wadhera, and Prabhsimran Singh were not as consistent as they should have been. Wadhera especially had a tournament to forget, managing just 52 runs at a strike rate of 106.12, which caused his reputation as a big hitter down the line-up to take a minor dent.
Who were some of the other best players from the tournament?
Well, look no further than Afghanistan A’s Sediqullah Atal. The opening batter slammed a fifty in EVERY match of the tournament, finishing with 368 runs at a strike rate of 147.79.
His innings included 83 (46), 95* (55), 52 (41), 83 (52) and in the final, he slammed 55* (55). He not just won the player of the series, he was also the player of the match in four of the five games, including the final.
His opening partner, Zubaid Akbari, is the only other player in the tournament to score multiple fifties. The 24-year-old may have been dismissed for a duck in the final, but he had an impact against India, where he scored 64 (41) in a 137-run first-wicket stand that took the game away from India. He also scored a 54-ball 57 earlier in the tournament against Sri Lanka, playing second-fiddle in a 142-run first-wicket partnership.
Sri Lanka leg-spinner Dushan Hemantha stunned Afghanistan in their group-stage match with figures of 6/23. He continued to have an impact in every game, with figures of 1/37 vs Hong Kong, 3/23 against Bangladesh, and 4/21 against Pakistan. In the finals, he finished with 1/26. Overall, he finished with 15 wickets at 8.66 and an economy rate of 6.50, which are staggering numbers. No other player picked up even 10 scalps in the tournament.
With figures of 4/24, 2/26 and 2/36, Bangladesh pacer Ripon Mondol had a fine tournament and is not far away from playing for the senior side on a regular basis. His attacking lines and lengths saw him finish with eight wickets at 10.75 and an ER of 7.16. He played in the Asian Games in China last year, and did well in the Top End T20 series in Australia, where he finished as the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 15 scalps at 14.13 (ER 7.06).
How did the associates fare?
Not bad, actually. Among the best performers, two are from Hong Kong.
Babar Hayat finished as the second-highest run-getter in the tournament, with 162 runs at 54, including a destructive 61-ball 85 with seven maximums. However, in the other two games, he was not able to score as freely, finishing with 38 (41) against Sri Lanka and 39 (37) against Afghanistan.
31-year-old Anas Khan has played 22 T20Is, but in his ONLY game in the Emerging T20 Asia Cup, he picked up six wickets against Afghanistan. The left-arm spinner ran through the middle-order as Afghanistan collapsed from 94/2 in the 14th over, to just 131 in 19.5. The Nizakat Khan-led side won by five wickets in the last over, becoming the only side to beat Afghanistan in the tournament.
Leg-spinner Muhammad Farooq made his white-ball debut for the UAE earlier this year, and he made quite the impact in the tournament. He bowled a match-winning 3/21 against Oman, and even against Pakistan, he picked up three of the four wickets to fall in their innings. He finished as the leading wicket-taker among players from associate nations, picking up seven at 9.14 ER (6.4). The 32-year-old will hope to get many more opportunities for the senior side in the near future.
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