Asia Cup: Praying for miracle, Virat Kohli sets sights on Afghanistan

Mirpur, Bangladesh:  Trying to keep his and the team’s focus away from the mathematical calculations which give India a slight chance at reaching the Asia Cup finals, skipper Virat Kohli said he is solely aiming on a bonus point win against Afghanistan in their last league match.

India now need a miracle to progress to the final as they will have to win by a bonus point against Afghanistan and hope that Sri Lanka lose both their remaining matches, one of them against Afghanistan on Monday.if both teams have the same number of points, it’s the net run rate that will come into count as per the Asian Cricket Council playing conditions.

“I’ve personally stopped putting my money on the games that are left in the tournament. All we can do is put up a strong performance in our game, try and get a bonus point, and then see. We’ll know by March 4 what happens,” Kohli said after the one-wicket loss to Pakistan which has severely jeopardised India’s chances of making the final of the event.

“We’re just looking to improve our cricket and correct our mistakes,” Kohli told reporters.

Citing the 2011-12 tri-nation Commonwealth Bank series in Australia when Sri Lanka beat Australia to progress into the final, Kohli said: “In Australia as well, we were watching another game, and Sri Lanka almost beat Australia and we could have made the finals, but that didn’t happen.”

“Last time in Asia Cup as well we were hoping Sri Lanka to beat Pakistan or Bangladesh, either of the two, but that didn’t happen.