Asia Cup 2018: Final, India vs Bangladesh - India Predicted XI

Will KL Rahul retain his place in the playing XI?

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Indian team. (Photo Source: Tharaka Basnayaka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The final showdown of the Asia Cup is here. Many expected it to be the third encounter between India and Pakistan. But Bangladesh have stunned everyone and they will be challenging the unbeaten Men in Blue. Their confidence will be high after thrashing Pakistan the other day in a must-win game. India, on the other hand, are coming off a thrilling tie against Afghanistan and will be looking to put on a clinical show in the final.

However, Rohit Sharma and his men will be aware of the threat Bangladesh possess. They will definitely not taking this game for granted and with the trophy at stake, one would expect the Indian team to come hard at the opposition and play the same way they’ve been playing so far in this tournament. With the players who were rested in the previous game set to come back, will Team India manage to surprise everyone with their selection once again?

Here we bring you India’s predicted XI for the final:

Openers (Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan)

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will undoubtedly come back for India at the top of the order after resting for an extra day. They are fresh off the centuries against their arch-rivals Pakistan and would be hoping to continue in the same vein. Bangladesh’s bowling line-up is likely to pose different challenges for them with Mehidy Hasan opening the bowling who is known to bowl some tight lines up front.

Also, the pressure of the final will be there. The duo should concentrate on their game not caring about the outcome of the result. It will also be interesting to see their approach if India have to bat first in the title clash which they haven’t done in this Asia Cup so far.

Middle-Order (Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav)

The team management’s attempt to give an under-cooked middle-order a go against Afghanistan surely didn’t work. They squandered a winning position of 127/2 in the chase and though there were some poor umpiring decisions, the likes of Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni will be under the pump if the openers fail in the crunch game. Both of them should take up the responsibility of scoring the runs in the middle overs.

Ambati Rayudu is in form and the onus will be upon him to not let the pressure get to the other batsmen. He has all but nailed down the number four spot in the line-up and the time has come to celebrate it with a match-winning innings in the final. Kedar Jadhav will have to do a bit more to convince the team that he is a perfect number six for the World Cup. His bowling is like a gold dust for the captain but his primary role is to bat.

All-Rounder (Ravindra Jadeja)

It doesn’t feel like Ravindra Jadeja made a comeback to the ODI side after a year. He has seamlessly fit into the line-up and is a key member for the final. His batting in the previous game made sure that India at least tied the match and at number eight can add a few important runs quickly. His bowling has always been superb and will take confidence from the fact that he picked four wickets in the recent tussle against Bangladesh.

Bowlers (Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav)

The quartet of India’s preferred bowling attack will be back. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah will take back the new ball duties and their job will be to strike early like they’ve did almost whole tournament. The duo has shared 13 wickets between them and most of them have come in the first powerplay which has allowed the wrist spinners to spin a web around the middle-order of the opponents.

Kuldeep Yadav will feel much better to have his partner in crime back. Yuzvendra Chahal and the chinaman bowler complement each other so beautifully that there is not even a bad ball on offer for the batsmen when these two are bowling in tandem. Their temperament will be tested though as this is a big pressure final and both would love to come out on top in order to win the trophy for Team India.

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