Pakistan, India, or Afghanistan: Qualification Scenarios for Asia Cup 2022 Final
The Asian Cup 2022 was unforgettable with each team showing their talent throughout the tournament. As the tournament draws to a close, three teams from outside Sri Lanka are in the hunt for qualification for the all-important final.
Pakistan is in the first place to advance to the finals of the mega-event while the hopes of India and Afghanistan are on the line.
Sri Lanka and Pakistan have been sensational in the tournament so far. Sri Lanka won both games of the round, defeating Afghanistan and India, while Pakistan won their only Super 4 game and recorded a sensational win over India.
India has been disappointing in both Super 4 games, to say the least, losing the first game to rivals Pakistan followed by another loss to Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, Afghanistan failed to maintain its momentum in the first round, losing to Sri Lanka in their only match of the round so far.
With only three games remaining in the round, three teams have a chance to qualify for the finals, although teams may depend on other results later.
Let’s look at the possible scenarios for each team:
Pakistan
The men in green must win one of their last two meetings to qualify for the finals. If the Green Jerseys manage to beat Afghanistan in tonight’s game, they will secure their place in the final alongside Sri Lanka as India and Afghanistan will not be able to match the points tally of the top two.
Should Pakistan lose to Afghanistan, it will have to beat Sri Lanka and hope Afghanistan doesn’t beat India by a fair margin to achieve a higher net execution rate.
If Pakistan loses their next two games they need India to beat Afghanistan and have a better net run rate than either team.
The Men in Blue need a miracle to advance to the finals of the mega event. They need Pakistan to lose the remaining two games and beat Afghanistan by a wide margin to overtake Pakistan and Afghanistan with a higher net run rate. Any other result that goes against their favor will be eliminated from the tournament.
Also Read: Pakistan’s Super 4 Schedule Asia Cup 2022
Afghanistan
Afghanistan has two stages on its way to qualifying for its first Asian Cup final. If Afghanistan wins its remaining two games against Pakistan and India, it will qualify for the final alongside Sri Lanka. If Afghanistan wins against Pakistan and loses against India, Pakistan will have to lose badly against Sri Lanka because of a better running rate than both Pakistan and India to sneak into the final.
If Afghanistan loses to Pakistan, they are eliminated from the tournament and Pakistan advances to the final along with Sri Lanka.
Also Read: How To Watch Asia Cup 2022 Pak vs Ind Match Live?