A similar conspiracy theory was propounded when Bharat lost to England in the group game of the 2019 World Cup. The allegations were that MS Dhoni, of all people, deliberately batted slowly. Those who know MSD will vouch for the fact that he likes to take the game deep and then go bang bang. England bowled superbly so he couldn’t do it then, but the morons thought it was done deliberately to deny them a place in the semi-finals. Let’s be frank and understand that when it comes to the World Cup teams, they would do anything to ensure they get to the final. That said, why depend on another team for your team’s progress? Why don’t you win all the games and win the tournament yourself instead of pointing fingers at any other team? It must be galling to depend on Bharat to qualify for the knockout stages of a tournament.

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Earlier, there was plenty of negative comment about a reserve day for the Bharat v Pakistan game and not for the other games. However, this was something which was agreed by the Boards of the other two teams in the Super 4, so a decision by consensus was taken and not thrust upon anybody. The administrators know how important a Bharat v Pakistan game is for the broadcast revenue and the sponsorships that the Asia Cup gets. Without this marquee contest, all the revenues would dry up, so the decision was taken for the benefit of all and not just one team. So, blaming Bharat and Jay Shah in particular was totally uncalled for. With all the matches taking place with the odd rain stop which you expect in an island nation like Sri Lanka anyway, the Asia Cup has fulfilled what the teams playing in the World Cup want and that is to get an idea of their strengths and weaknesses and make changes that could make a difference.

Cricket lovers may have wanted a Bharat v Pakistan final, but as Sri Lanka have shown with their last-ball win against Pakistan and stretching Bharat fully in their Super 4 game that they fully deserve to be in the final. With a vociferous crowd supporting them in the final, don’t be surprised if they play out of their skins and join Bharat with most Asia Cups.

Professional Management Group