Asia Cup 2018: Final, India vs Bangladesh - Match Preview

India and Bangladesh will lock horns for the Asian glory in the final of the Asia Cup 2018. Bangladesh was able to beat Pakistan in the virtual semifinal contest to set up the final with India. In fact, both these two teams were the finalists of the 2016 Asia Cup final (T20I format), which India went on to win. Therefore, the same two teams will once again battle it out.

Meanwhile, India will return to their full-strength team after a tie against Afghanistan. In fact, India has been the most impressive side in the tournament as they have dominated most of their matches. Thus, if India plays their best cricket, they will be able to defend their title.

India will like to continue their domination.

The Men in Blue has ticked the right boxes in every department of the game and would like to repeat the same in all important final. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have provided a great platform while opening the innings. They have laid down a solid platform to give India a solid start. Consequently, Indian openers are going to be the trump cards in the final of the competition.

As the openers have done the bulk of the scoring, India middle order hasn’t been tested to the limits. Ambati Rayudu has scored a couple of the fifties. However, apart from him no other batsman has got a proper hit in the middle. Therefore, it could be a matter of concern if Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have a rare off day at the office.

Bangladesh will depend on Mushfiqur Rahim.

On the other hand, it has been the other way around for Bangladesh. Their openers have failed miserably in the tournament and there is no denying the fact that they have missed the services of their talisman opener, Tamim Iqbal. Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammad Mithun were the rescuers for them in the last match. Furthermore, the onus is going to be on Mahmuduallah, who has been in good form.

In fact, it is hard to understand the think tank of Bangladesh. Mahmudullah, who is one of their best batsman bats at the number seven position. It is a good saying that your best batsman should face the maximum number of balls and Bangladesh should make sure they are taking the right decision.

Meanwhile, Mustafizur Rahman has also done a fine job for Bangladesh. Therefore, the linchpin bowler is going to hold the key once again. Subsequently, he would look to deliver the goods once again. There is no doubt that Bangladesh is going to miss the services of Shakib Al Hasan, who is not available for the final. Hence, they are going to play with the same playing XI that had taken the field against Pakistan.

India will aim to defend their title.

On the other hand, Indian bowlers have also done a good job. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have done a fine job at both ends of an inning. Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have also played their part. Furthermore, Ravindra Jadeja had taken four wickets in the last match against Bangladesh and thus he would be confident to repeat his performance.

Date and Time: 28 September 2018, 5:00 PM IST.

Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Weather Conditions: The temperature is once again going to hit 40 Degree Celsius in Dubai. Therefore, the players are going to have another hot day at the office.

Pitch Conditions: Dubai pitch has been conducive for the spinners. However, the pacers have extracted some help at the start of the inning.

India Predicted Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah.

Bangladesh Predicted Playing XI: Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmadullah, Imrul Kayes, Mashrafe Mortaza, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan.

Stats:

Ravindra Jadeja is 61 runs away from getting to the landmark of 2000 ODI runs.