Today is the much awaited final of the Asia Cup which is going to be played between India and Bangladesh. While there was no doubt that India will be one of the finalists but no one would have thought that Bangladesh will make it. There were some better teams like Pakistan and Sri Lanka but both of them had a miserable Asia Cup campaign. Credit goes to the Bangladesh for making it to the finals and today will be the real test of the mettle.
India
The number 2 ranked ODI team of the world are without their star player Virat Kohli. While they haven't lost a match yet in Asia Cup but his absence has been felt in the top middle order. Both the openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have played beautifully and given their teams big starts. Lokesh Rahul, a reserve opener, also got the opportunity in the previous match and showed his class.
The middle order of India is also doing well but they are not able convert the starts they are getting. Rayudu and D.K have played well but they to put some extra pressure on the accelerator. Dhoni and the lower middle order have looked off color and they will be keen to make an impact in the finals where it matters the most.
India's bowlers have been brilliant throughout the tournament be it the pacers or the spin bowling department. They will be expected to bowl tight line and length to restrict the Bangladeshi batters.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh have some serious problems as they are missing their two best performers in all formats of the game. Tamim Iqbal wasn't a part of the Asia Cup and Shakib Al Hasan was forced to leave because of an injury that he sustained a few days ago.
They haven't been able to find the best opening combination, they tried many but failed. All of their openers have been a disaster as none of them has made a decent score in this tournament. They are more likely to stick with Litton and Sarkar and if they have to win this final, openers will be needed to give Bangladesh a decent start.
The middle order of Bangladesh has played some good cricket with the 'little man' Mushfiqur being the most successful player of Bangladesh in Asia Cup. He along with Mahmadullah and Mithun have scored the bulk of runs for Bangladesh with consistency. Imrul Kayes came in as surprise replacement for Shakib and scored 72 in his first innings.
Their top performer with the ball has been Mustafizur Rahman. He has been taking wickets with good economical rates throughout the tournament. All the other bowlers need to step up and deliver in this final.
It will not be easy for Bangladesh to defeat India as they are one of the best ODI teams in the world with or without Kohli.
Predict the score and win 10 SCR
This is a simple contest where all you have to do is just predict the score of the team which bats first. For example if India bats first, predict their innings score and vice versa.
Here is mine:
India : 265 ;Bangladesh : 230
Rules of the contest
1. Only those will be eligible who comment before the first ball is delivered.
2. Upvoting this post is not necessary.
3. You can also add the reason why you think a particular team will score the number of runs you predicted (not compulsory).
4. If there is a tie, the prize will be distributed equally among the winners.
5. If no one will be able to predict the correct score, the prize will be given to the person whose prediction is close to the actual score.
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