India were under pressure of 'not to lose' Super Four match against Sri Lanka: Deep Dasgupta

With two back-two-back losses in the hands of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, team India’s chances of qualifying for the finals of Asia Cup look thin at the moment. Captain Rohit Sharma in the post-match conference did say that the boys are relaxed but the fans are unable to keep their calm at the moment.

It was a must-win game for the Indian team but after a very poor start in the second innings, the team lost the match by 6 wickets. Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 19th over went for 14 runs and that built pressure on Arshdeep in the final over. Now, despite his best effort, Sri Lanka managed to take the match home.

Former India international Deep Dasgupta believes that the team was under pressure right from the start because of this being a must-win game. He also said how Indian cricketers should learn to carry the target on their back.

“It just felt that India were a little under pressure not to lose. If you are a good team, you have to get used to carrying that target behind your back. If you are a top team then you have to learn to live with that target. Sri Lanka is a good team but maybe is not at par in terms of names, pedigree and all that but they will be coming very, very hard at you because they have got nothing to lose. So, I think we need to learn how to handle pressure. It’s not about skill but about handling pressure,” said Deep Dasgupta on 'BatBricks7 presents Run Ki Runneeti' on CricTracker.

At this point of time, I don’t think we should panic: Deep Dasgupta

Few former cricketers as well as a section of the fans raised their concern about certain players in the team. Harbajan Singh for example questioned why India didn’t pick Umran Malik and Deepak Chahar while fans want answers of not considering Mohammad Shami in the bowling line-up.

Despite this heart-breaking loss, the 45-year-old believes that the team shouldn’t panic. Players are likely to have bad days and the team management can’t change a player every time he fails to perform.

“If every time we change a player because of their previous performance, then it will be like a musical chair. At this point of time, I don’t think we should panic. Yes, two back-to-back losses is something that’s very difficult to digest but someone doesn’t become a bad player overnight. It’s important to show faith and continue with them,” said the former cricketer on the same show.

India’s chances of qualifying for the final depends on how they and other teams perform in the tournament. For the moment, they would hope Afghanistan and Sri Lanka to defeat Pakistan while winning against Afghanistan by a huge margin. In the middle of ifs and buts, the team can finally introduce Deepak Chahar in their last match of the super four.