India look to clinch seventh Asia Cup title

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Abu Dhabi [UAE], Sep 28 : India would be aiming to lift the Asia Cup trophy for the seventh time while taking on Bangladesh in the final of the prestigious tournament at Dubai International Stadium on Friday.

Rohit Sharma-led side have been dominant in the tournament so far, having won all the matches except for their last Super Four clash against Afghanistan, which ended in a tie. Bangladesh, on the other hand, will also be riding high on confidence after producing a spectacular performance in their virtual semi-final against Pakistan on Wednesday. Mashrafe Mortaza-led side, however, suffered a major setback before the final clash as their all-rounder Shakib-Al-Hasan was ruled out of the contest following a finger injury.

Earlier, they had lost their opening batsman Tamim Iqbal on the opening day of the tournament due to a wrist fracture. Indian batting line-up, which was looking incomplete in the absence of their full-time skipper Virat Kohli, has performed exceptionally well with openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma giving a great start to the team.

In the bowling department, the spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have impressed with the ball, making life tough for the opposition batsmen. India’s comeback man Ravindra Jadeja, on the other hand, also proved his credentials by putting up a splendid performance in their Super Four clash against Bangladeshby scalping four wickets.

On paper, it is the Indian side which is favorite in the final clash having defeated Bangladesh in 10 matches out of the 11 ODIs they have played in the Asia Cup. Following are full India and Bangladesh squad: India- Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Manish Pandey, Siddarth Kaul, KL Rahul, Deepak Chahar.

Bangladesh- Masrafe Bin Mortaza (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Mithun, Litton Kumar Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Ariful Haque, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nazmul Islam Apu, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Haider Rony.