India A's run in the Asia Cup 2025 Rising Stars came to a close on Friday. Facing Bangladesh A in the semi-final, the Men in Blue slipped to an embarassing Super Over defeat at the West End Park Stadium in Doha. Bangladesh A will now face the winner of the Sri Lanka A vs Pakistan Shaheens match in the final.
Bangladesh A scored 194-6 in 20 overs to set a massive target of 195 for the Jitesh Sharma-led India A. Habibur Rahman Sohan smashed a solid half-century at the top of the order. India had wrestled control in the middle overs but their final two overs gave Bangladesh the lift they needed. It was late innings fire works from SM Meherob that helped his team post a competitive total. India A conceded 50 runs from the last 2 overs, including 28 off Naman Dhir.
With the surface slowing down, the onus was on the Indian openers to provide the Men in Blue with a quick start. Vaibhav Suryavanshi took the onus on himself going big from the word go. The 14-year-old picked up 19 from the first over. The second over saw similar treatment, launching spinner Meherob for back to back sixes to finish the over. India A got to 50 in 19 balls, the fastest in the Asia Cup Rising Stars 2025. Suryavanshi departed soon after for 38, having done his job at the top of the order.
Naman Dhir struggled with the bat, while Jitesh Sharma and Priyansh Arya ensured India A were in the contest. Bangladesh A pulled themselves back in the contest with some tight bowling. Nehal Wadhera struggled to clear the fence while Ramandeep Singh injected some life into the chase.
India A needed 16 runs off the final over to win the semi-final. Ashutosh Sharma hit a towering six to reduce the equation to 8 runs of 3 balls. A fielding error saw the required margin drop down to 4 off 2 balls. Ashutosh Sharma was cleaned bowled next to hurt India's chances. Facing the final ball, Harsh Dubey hit it straight to long on for a single.
However, Bangladesh keeper made a complete mess of it. India A pushed for a second run and the keeper miss the stumps trying to affect the run out. The resulting over throw saw India sneak in a third run to force the game into a Super Over. Suyash then bowled a wide to hand Bangladesh A a famous victory.
It has been a campaign to forget for India A, despite Vaibhav Suryavanshi's heroics. He finished the tournament as the highest scorer but was surprisingly ignore for the Super Over, much to the ire of the fans. The campaign also featured a deflating loss to Pakistan A. India have a quality cricketing ecosystem and given the IPL experience in the squad, it is a rather embarrassing performance.
