A tournament with context and purpose

The last few editions of the Asia Cup, which is in its 16th season, have largely been a chore to those playing and of mild consequence to those watching. It’s a little something designed to ensure the cricket bug stays alive among those enthusiastic enough to tune into cricket irrespective of who is playing or why.

The Asia Cup, of late, has become a stop-gap entertainment, but it has done a fairly good job of that what with forced rivalries and some heated contests, but one wouldn’t go so far as saying it’s a tournament of significance. Well, not until now at least. 

Never has the tournament been conducted in the same year as a World Cup, let alone a month before the marquee 50-over event. In that context this is the most noteworthy Asia Cup to date, and it has all the ingredients to make for a compelling watch. 

But this isn’t one where the spotlight is on rivalries among teams from the sub-continent, especially the one between India and Pakistan. This tournament, this edition, is designed to give teams the opportunity to get a good enough look at themselves, while still casting an eye on what the opponents have going on. 

A quick glance at most of the news coming out of Sri Lanka will reveal that there are more injuries across the board than one would have expected or liked, but that also means the teams are going to ‘experiment’ more to find the right balance. 

It’s not a word Rahul Dravid is fond of, evidently, but until we find a synonym to succinctly describe all the combination changes the Indian team has made over the last few months, the coach will just have to put up with it. 

Of course, the circumstances are unavoidable for injuries are inevitable, and of course, there is reason enough to test all the moving parts to get a gauge of what could play out when the pressure is at its highest. 

There is no harm in admitting the same, but India might have pushed their luck with the timing of it. Even their treatment of KL Rahul, who is going to sit out the first two games, reeks of desperation. 

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are in a similar situation as far as injuries go, but they have gone about onboarding the best replacements given their resources without much fuss. 

Even ahead of their opener in the Sri Lankan leg of the tournament, both Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka and Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan downplayed injuries, announcing, in as many words, that they just have to get on with it. 

In that sense, Pakistan, who opened the tournament with a game against Nepal on Wednesday, look in excellent shape to go the distance. Afghanistan are capable of putting up quality games (that’s how they defeated Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series in July) but they aren’t yet the side capable of consistent victories. And then there’s Nepal. 

Five out of these six teams will feature in the World Cup, and three of them have won the major trophy at least once. With a little over a month left, none of these teams could have asked for a more appropriately timed dress rehearsal. But, given how fragile some cricketers are these days, it might seem like it goes against the very stringent ethos of work-load management. We’ll have to see how they all ‘experiment’ with that.