Asia Cup Final : Today Ind vs Ban

Asia Cup Final: Bangladesh seek a first, India want more

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The first Asian T20 champion will be crowned on Sunday. The expected is India's appearance in the title clash; the unexpected is Pakistan and Sri Lanka's absence. But not a soul minds it in Bangladesh. After all they have earned their shot at glory.

The hosts ousted defending champions Sri Lanka and Pakistan en route their entry into the final. But in India, they face a different beast. Dhoni's boys have won 9 of their last 10 T20Is.

The game will also be the final dress rehearsal for the two teams before the ICC World Twenty20 kicks off with its qualifying phase on March 8. While India will directly enter the main stage beginning March 15, Bangladesh will be part of the eight-team qualifiers, from where two teams will go through.

But they need not think that far. An Asia Cup final has gripped everyone in Bangladesh, which will be their first major title should they manage to upset India.

Going by the ICC rankings, it's a mismatch between No. 1 India and No. 10 Bangladesh. But those who have followed the Asia Cup know that the hosts are in prime form in familiar home conditions.
Having lost the 2012 final, they would want this one to count and smarten up their empty trophy cabinet.

But Bangladesh will almost surely miss India-slayer Mustafizur Rahman, who is nursing a side strain. However, Al-Amin Hossain and Taskin Ahmed have ensured that it doesn't affect team's performance.

Al-Amin is the highest wicket-taker with 10 victims in four matches, while Taskin's pace has provided the fire up front, proving to be the perfect ally for Al-Amin.

Sabbir Rahman's, tournament's second highest scorer with 144 runs, prolific bat has given veteran Tamim Iqbal the freedom to bring his flair from the Pakistan Super League into the Asia Cup, knowing that there is a talented young man and batsmen like Mahmudullah below to prevent a bicycle-stand collapse.

Other veterans like Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahman and skipper Mashrafe Mortaza have thus changed their roles into becoming the beam that ensures the ceiling doesn't fall off while these young guns let it rip.

But there's slight question mark over Shakib's fitness as he suffers a flex injury in the left hip muscle after being hit by a delivery in training. However, if there's one match he would take pain injections in order to play, it will be Sunday. It's a double-edged sword, though, with World T20 qualifiers only 72 hours away.

Bangladesh are also well assisted by their 12th man, the home crowd, who has had a telling impact in their tremendous ODI run at home, where they have beaten Pakistan, India and South Africa in 2015. An Asia Cup triumph will be the icing on the cake.

Still, India appear overwhelming favourites, unambiguously admitted by Mortaza. "We all know that Indians are clear favourites in the final. Let there be no debates or discussions on that," the home skipper said.

Dhoni has almost every base covered, which is why he believes that the "balance" of the current T20 squad is such that it can "win in any conditions, anywhere and against anyone".

And he's not wrong.

An interesting fact is that it will be the biggest occasion yet for India's latest sensations Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya. The occasion will certainly test their nerves, but in Dhoni they have a captain who knows how to keep that in check.

To the youngsters' credit, they have held themselves very well in their short career so far. But the 25,000-strong crowd at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium will test the strength of their character.
Pandya has played more than decent knocks lower down the order in addition to his impressive haul of seven wickets. Incidentally his best knock came against Bangladesh in the tournament opener, where he scored 31 off 18 balls.

Dhoni gave a chance to Pawan Negi, Harbhajan Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the last league match against the UAE. And it's no news that Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and Ashish Nehra will walk back into the eleven on Sunday.

Virat Kohli has proved to the costliest wicket of the tournament, winning two Man-of-the-Match awards. After him, Rohit Sharma has looked the most sublime with 137 runs to his kitty, while Suresh Raina remains reliable as ever in T20s, followed by Yuvraj Singh who will like to stamp his name on this match.

Dhoni has played the tournament through spasms and seems to have improved as the tournament progressed. And you can bet on the skipper to play even if he hasn't hit 100 percent fitness yet.

If India win, it will be a record sixth title for the hosts – something none of the Asian teams has achieved. And the win will also match India's longest T20I-winning streak of 7 matches.

Asia Cup final: India hope to play hostbusters

Crowd favourites Bangladesh will square off with crown favourites India in the Asia Cup final on Sunday. Expect a packed house at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, with tickets for the contest selling out in record time. A day before the big game, both sides displayed intensity, purpose and hunger as they engaged in practice stretching for well over two hours.

The home side, however, have some big injury worries. Already missing the services of pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who has been ruled out with a side strain, there was more bad news late on Saturday with Shakib Al Hasan looking a doubtful starter.

"Shakib sustained a hipflex injury during practice on Friday. It is commonly known as thigh muscle. We are still monitoring his progress. He did feel a bit of pain on Saturday and didn't practice for long. We will take a call on whether to play him or not on Sunday," said a team official.

Going by form and ranking, India start off favourites, but MS Dhoni's team - the No. 1 side in T20s - is aware the tag won't matter much in a format where fortunes swing in a matter of deliveries. Despite dishing out a flawless performance so far, Dhoni feels there is scope for improvement. "We will have to be consistent in big games. We will have to come up with another big performance (in the final). Bangladesh are a good team and they have improved a lot," he said.

The match is bound to witness its share of battle within battles. It will be interesting to see Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal's approach against Jasprit Bumrah. The left-hander has been studying the Indian pacer closely. "He is difficult to read. We've had talks about Bumrah and done as much homework on him as possible," Tamim said.

Then there is the tussle between the experienced Ashish Nehra and the Bangladesh batsmen. Nehra, since his return to top-flight cricket, has bowled with a lot of fire. The contest between Rohit Sharma and Taskin Ahmed, which will start off the proceedings, is also being keenly anticipated.

Also, can India's slower bowlers keep things quiet in the middle overs? 

While India are used to the hype surrounding tournament finals, the same isn't the case with Bangladesh. The likes of Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh have been part of numerous triumphant campaigns, while Mashrafe Mortaza's side is yet to win a multi-team series.

The closest Bangladesh came to winning one was in 2012 where they went down to Pakistan in the Asia Cup final. "India have the experience of playing in many big matches, but it's something we are not used to. For this Bangladesh side, Sunday's game presents an ideal opportunity to show that we can compete with the best in the world," said Mashrafe. A win for the home side on Sunday could easily go down as the biggest moment in their cricketing history.