Captain Suryakumar Yadav made smart use of his team’s full strength in both batting and bowling as India did just enough to defeat a determined Oman side by 21 runs finishing the group stage of the Asia Cup with three wins in a row. What was the interesting move by Suryakumar Yadav? With less than two days left before facing Pakistan again in the Super 4s in Dubai Suryakumar chose to give all his teammates a chance to bat placing himself at number 11. India posted a strong total of 189 for Oman to chase with Oman playing the reigning T20 World Champions for the first time. How was Indias bowling unit? India’s bowlers had to put in extra effort on a flat pitch. Hardik Pandya ended with figures of 1 for 26 Kuldeep Yadav took 1 for 23 in his three overs and Harshit Rana impressed with pace picking up 1 for 25. The key moment came in the last over when Arshdeep Singh given the task of finishing the match not only secured the win but also reached his 100th T20I wicket becoming India’s top wicket-taker in the format. What about the batting department? In the batting line-up Sanju Samson scored a solid half-century (56) while Axar Patel (26 from 13 balls) and opener Abhishek Sharma (38 from 15 balls) followed the teams aggressive approach by scoring at a strike rate above 200. Tilak Varma also made a useful contribution with 29 from 18 balls even though he was batting at an unusual No. 7 spot. On the other hand Hardik Pandya (1) who could have used some time in the middle was unlucky to be run out by his former Baroda teammate Jiten Ramanandi. Vice-captain Shubman Gill (5 off 8 balls) also didn’t look comfortable during his short innings. How did Oman perform? For Oman captain Jatinder Singh (32 from 33 balls) opener Aamir Kaleem (64 off 46) and Hammad Mirza (51 off 34) showed great determination and fought hard but it wasn’t enough to pull off a memorable win. On the brighter side for India the match gave skipper Suryakumar Yadav a clearer picture of how his team is shaping up ahead of the crucial stages of the tournament. Sanju Samson was the biggest positive getting some valuable runs under his belt. However it’s still uncertain if he’ll continue to bat at No. 3 when India faces Pakistan next.