Explained: How can India qualify for the Asia Cup final after its defeat to Sri Lanka

The Men In Blue, who entered as the joint favourites for Asia Cup 2022 along with Pakistan, are on the verge of not qualifying for the final of the tournament.

India has now lost two games back to back against Pakistan and Sri Lanka making their qualification chances dependent on the outcome of other matches.

The defending champions were handed a six-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka in their super four-stage match on Tuesday. This is where things stand as of now:

How can India qualify for the final?

The top two teams in the super four stage will play the final of the Asia Cup. India's chances of reaching there now depend on how Pakistan fares in its remaining two games.

For India to qualify for the final, Pakistan needs to lose both its remaining matches.  If this happens, even then, India will need to beat Afghanistan by a big margin come Thursday.

If both the conditions mentioned above, come true, the equation can narrow down to a net run rate or NRR knockout between Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.

Thus, it is unlikely that Indian fans will see the Men in Blue walk out to play the final on September 11 but mathematically they can still hope for a miracle.